Yeezus vs. Magna Carta Holy Grail; [LISTEN] Kanye West's Album Different from Jay-Z's, Rick Rubin Says
Despite being featured in Jay Z's Magna Carta Holy Grail commercials, producer Rick Rubin said he had nothing to do with rapper's upcoming album, but did promise that the 43-year-old's latest creation is much different than Kanye West's, Yeezus.
According to a phone interview with XXL magazine, Rubin, 50, said the the 99 Problems rapper invited him to listen to the album and offer his input.
"The point of me being in the commercials was that he was filming a documentary and he asked me--I imagine he's just comfortable talking to me--to come listen to the songs with him and just talk about the songs," Rubin said.
The producer added that he struggled to listen to Jay's album after listening to Kanye's album.
"I liked what I heard, but it was a little difficult--after just coming from the Kanye sessions--to listen to Jay's album, because they're so different. I was in a very alternative and progressive headspace, and Jay's record is a more traditional hip-hop record," he said.
Jay Z's highly anticipated 12th solo studio album will be available to Samsung mobile users on Thursday and will hit retail stores on July 7.
The rapper is scheduled to perform at the Ed Sullivan Theater marquee in New York, where The Late Show with David Letterman is filmed, as part of his appearance on the late night talk show on July 8. The mayor granted Jay-Z special permission for the rooftop performance.
Last week, Jay-Z released several commercials for Magna Carta Holy Grail, one of which included an indepth conversation about the song, "Jay-Z Blue."
The video for the song, which was inspired by his one-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy, features the rapper opening up about his family and discussing the absence of his father.
"It's most obvious on a song called 'Jay-Z Blue,' and it deals like with how my pop left when I was young, so he didn't teach me how to be a man nor how to raise a child or treat a woman. So of course, with my karma, the two things I needed I don't have and I have a daughter. It's the paranoia of not being a great dad," Jay says.
