Jay-Z
“Magna Carta . . . Holy Grail”
★★
SIX tracks into “Magna Carta . . . Holy Grail,” on “F.U.T.W.,” you hear Jay-Z plead, “Just let me be great” — almost as if he needs permission. He seems to have forgotten that true greatness needs to be earned over and over again, and on his 12th album, he’s just not putting in the work he once did. There are glimpses of innovation and adventure but, for the most part, both he and his collaborators seem surprisingly content to walk the beaten path. The bleep-beats of “Tom Ford,” for example, threaten to become interesting, but Hova sounds disengaged in his delivery. “Heaven” could have been airlifted in from any of his past three albums, while “BBC” was clearly separated at birth from Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines.” Hova’s lights are most definitely on, but “Magna Carta . . . Holy Grail” makes you wonder if anyone is really home.