MCHG features some of the most uninspired, pathetic name-dropping I've seen since The Game. Maybe Jay-Z is really into art, but his focus on the most well known and obvious pieces strikes me as a sign of fronting. Like a book enthusiast name drops Dean Koontz and Dan Brown. I'm not comparing Da Vinci and Basquiat to The Da Vinci Code of course, just saying if those are the only artists you can discuss despite being a "big" art fan...I'm probably going to assume you have a very thin surface interest in art. The gaming equivalent would probably be a "huge" Final Fantasy fan who has only played VII.
I thought Jay was going to drop a personal album. He just had a daughter, how does that impact his view on women in hip hop or his past behavior. He's married to a icon and thus can barely take her anywhere for a truly intimate evening. But instead he pretty much dismisses all of that with casual throwaway lines here or there, which we're left to stitch together to form any type of portrait.
Ultimately this is the work of someone who has never truly been a great writer. Great writers can not only express themselves through music, they can paint pictures of others, walk in shoes that aren't their own, give us a glimpse of something we're not familiar with, etc. Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, etc have done that in their respected genres. In hip hop KRS-One, 2pac, and Nas (the "projects window" view) come to mind. Jay-Z still talks and acts like he's living in someone else's shadow, trying to impress the big man (Jaz, Big, etc).
