Jay Z, Justin Timberlake – Holy Grail (Video)

The semi-title track from Jay Z’s monumental (for several reasons) Magna Carta… Holy Grail has been hailed (and in some occasions, panned) for it’s anthemic, best-of-both-worlds approach, but there is no denying that the song has made an impact. With the highly creative video to the anthemic song, the Jay Z/Justin Timberlake combination adds to the flair of the already-amplified sense of artistic style permeating the MCHG project, as well as Jay’s current life and times.

Less abstract, but not necessarily less artistically-inclined, than his 75-hour-long “performance art” video for “Picasso Baby” (we exaggerate  but only slightly), the Anthony Mandler-directed “Holy Grail” video toys with tried and true video protocol, reworking the song in a couple of interesting ways, including arrangement, continuity and, at points, speed, with certain phrases receiving an audio/visual chop and screw.

Without actually acting out what he’s expressing, Jay Z does manage to translate some of the emotions the song encapsulates. The video is certainly cinematic, both in visual styling and in how the audio gets reworked. It captures your attention, seems to do a good job evoking feeling, and attempts to subtly re-define the music video concept.

It’s tough to immediately understand what the artists were going for. We like how it relays the emotions, fears, highs, lows and (potential) downfalls, something the song did a good job at exposing.

You may feel different. But that’s art.

Watch: Jay Z, Justin Timberlake “Holy Grail” (Video)