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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Guardian Music

Jay-Z announces release of Magna Carta Holy Grail

Jay-Z has surprised fans by revealing details of a 12th studio album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, due for release in less than three weeks' time.

Jay-Z made the announcement during an advert break of the NBA Finals. In a three-minute promo video featuring Rick Rubin, Pharrell Williams and Timbaland, he says: "The album is about this duality of how do you navigate your way through this whole thing, through success and through failures, and remain yourself?"

The hip-hop singer won't be worrying to much about sales. According to the album's website, Samsung has already snapped up a million copies of the record to give away free to the first one million Samsung Galaxy S3, Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 2 owners who download a special app. The app goes on sale from 24 June.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Samsung paid $5 for each album download, which means Jay-Z will be the first artist to have a platinum album before it's been released.

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