Hip Hop is an art-form despite what a lot of people may think about it this day in age, and although it has grown to become harder and harder to defend (See Chris Rock’s stand up about it), it started off as an underground form of art to work its way into the mainstream light that has overpowered the world in a major way, and it’s a beautiful thing. When things become commercialized, the fear is that they’ll become saturated and get lost in the shuffle (look at Radio over the past few years), but there are still people who keep themselves grounded and never lose perspective of where the art began. Who better to help preserve and re-instill Hip Hop as an art than Jay Z? I mean, there are a lot of new artists coming up, but not enough Jay Zs, and when I say that, I mean there aren’t enough artists who come in and do something significant to change the game a little bit to move the culture forward. The songs may be different, the production changes, and the lyrics seem to often be dumbed down, but there’s still passion, and there’s an exponential amount of potential that has yet to be tapped, and Jay Z (alongside Kanye West) has been one to help move things forward, as was clearly seen with the marketing behind his latest album Magna Carta Holy Grail (read the review here).

This video film is an example of making creative decisions that will change the game yet again, and a ‘blueprint’ for newer artists to follow (keyword: follow). This was great as Jay Z portrayed himself as a piece of art for people to witness and experience. The concept of it is great, and to add in the many cameos that were in it (people across all art mediums), it brought in yet again that Hip Hop is an art, so hopefully this opens some eyes and perks up some ears. Kanye West had a movie for MBDTF, and that was something innovative and creative. It seems like the Roc is always one step ahead waiting for others to catch up. Let’s hope for more innovators of this great genre that will step to the plate. Enjoy.