Rick Rubin Talks "Magna Carta Holy Grail"

Famed superproducer Rick Rubin recently spoke to XXL about Jay-Z's upcoming album,Magna Carta Holy Grail and revealed that he enjoyed the project, but that it was very different from what he's just done with Kanye West on West's new album Yeezus.

“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,” Rubin revealed.

He also shared that he isn't actually a producer on Jay's album, and explained why he was featured in a Samsung commercial promoting the project.

“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. "Just listen to it and talk about it, and that’s what we did. It was fun.”

Samsung to Give Away 1 Million Copies of Jay-Z’s New Album

By Hannah Karp

Getty Images

Jay-Z on February 17, 2013 in Houston, Texas.

As the Miami Heat faced off against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the NBA finals Sunday night, a curious TV ad aired near the end of the second quarter featuring rap star Jay-Z in a studio, riffing with a cast of characters including producer Rick Rubin and artist Pharrell Williams. At one point, a member of the posse is shown taking notes on a tablet device. More than two minutes into the three-minute video Samsung Electronics Co. 005930.SE +0.51%’s tagline flashes across the screen: “The Next Big Thing.”

The connection: Samsung has purchased 1 million copies of Jay-Z’s coming album, entitled “Magna Carta Holy Grail,” slated for release July 4, and plans to give them to Samsung Galaxy smartphone users for free – 72 hours ahead of the release. The users are to receive the music through an app they’ll receive later this month. (Recipients won’t be able to share it until the official release date.)

Samsung paid $5 apiece for the albums, according to a person familiar with the matter. It wasn’t immediately clear if Nielsen SoundScan will count Samsung’s purchases in its sales tallies.

The partnership could help Samsung compete with Apple Inc. AAPL -1.36%, which recently announced the launch of iTunes Radio – an online radio service bundled onto Apple devices that promises to offer listeners access to certain tracks before they’re available elsewhere.

For Jay-Z, the deal is a precious advertising opportunity and gives him $5 million in sales before the album is even released. The agreement signals the increasing importance of corporate sponsors to the music industry, which has seen sales tank over the past decade.

Jay-Z hinted at the partnership on Twitter two days ago with a photo of a Samsung smartphone displaying text telling fans to “tune in” to the game.

Neither Samsung nor Jay-Z could immediately be reached for comment.

Russell Simmons & Rick Rubin Reunite

Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin, co-founders of seminal hip hop label Def Jam Recordings, will re-team for an intimate conversation to commemorate the release of a new book entitled Def Jam Recordings: The First 25 Years of the Last Great Record Label. The event will take place on October 15th at New York’s Stephen A Schwarzman Building in New York City.

The book was written by renowned Def Jam publicist/Hip-Hop historian, Bill Adler.

Simmons and Rubin's conversation will describe the images in the book and discuss Def Jam's impact on hip hop and popular culture over the past 25 years.