Rick Rubin Speaks On His Involvement With Jay's Album

Despite what it may seem like in the commercials, Rick Rubin surprisingly had nothing to do with Jay's Magna Carta Holy Grail. Surrounded by a supergroup of producers such as Rubin, Swizz, Pharrell, & Timbaland, only 3 out of the 4 will have involvement on the album. Rick says that he was merely in town ironically when the commercials were being shot, thus, leading to his presence. XXL recently caught up with Rick over the phone and here's what he had to say: 

“The point of me being in the commercials was that he was filming a documentary and he asked me—I imagine he’s just comfortable talking to me—to come listen to the songs with him and just talk about the songs. Just listen to it and talk about it, and that’s what we did. It was fun.” He went on to divulge what he initially thought of Magna Carta, saying, “I liked what I heard, but it was a little difficult—after just coming from the Kanye sessions—to listen to Jay’s album, because they’re so different. I was in a very alternative and progressive headspace, and Jay’s record is a more traditional hip-hop record.”