record reviews

Jay-Z

Album: “Magna Carta Holy Grail” (Roc Nation/Universal)

Grade: C+

Kanye didn’t care about satisfying radio with his latest album.

Neither does Jay-Z.

“Magna Carta Holy Grail,” the rapper’s 12th album, doesn’t have the pop or mainstream appeal his past records have offered. The 16-track set, mostly helmed by Timbaland, is full of robust and moody hip-hop beats that maintain a nice groove, but don’t expect any booming anthems or party jams here.

With the exception of rapping about fatherhood and infant daughter Blue Ivy, lyrically, “Magna Carta” doesn’t tell us anything new about the superstar. We all know how he rose from selling drugs in the Brooklyn projects to become arguably the most important rapper of all-time, his multiplatinum feats, his awards, and the benefits of having a superstar wife — Beyonce — at his side.

But while Jay-Z continues to make headlines away from music, this album treads familiar ground, which makes the album — dare we say it? — average.

He’ll remind you that Samsung bought 1 million copies of the record and gave it away three days early — on songs such as “Somewhere In America.” There’s similar flavor lyrically on “Tom Ford,” with its freaky beats, and the bumping “Picasso Baby,” where Beyonce gets a shout-out. It’s when he talks about the other lady in his life, his 1-year-old daughter, where we see a rare side of the rapper.

“Now I got tattoos on my body, psycho [expletive] in my lobby, I got haters in the paper, photos shoots with paparazzi, can’t even take my daughter for a walk,” he raps on “Holy Grail,” a collaboration with Justin Timberlake. It’s revealing, and especially special coming from the often-unfazed Jay-Z.

While Timberlake works well with Hova, his collaborations with Beyonce and Frank Ocean on “Part II [On the Run]” and “Ocean” rely too much on the R&B singers. There are other big names on the album, such as Rick Ross, Pharrell and Nas, but “Magna Carta,” it isn’t designed like albums in the past. There are no catchy hooks to grab you in. He’s continuing to create new blueprints to debut his music. That should be congratulated, but the songs on “Magna Carta” don’t boom like his business plan. Yes, you’ve defied the odds, but we want a little more from the king.

— Mesfin Fekadu, Associated Press

Ciara

Album: “Ciara” (Epic Records)

Grade: C

The lead single from Ciara’s self-titled fifth album, “Body Party,” is an oozing, seductive R&B track that deserves rousing applause — especially when the 27-year-old matches the song with daring and sensual dance moves that scream Janet Jackson, Aaliyah and others that have come before her, as she did at the recent BET Awards.

The bedroom groove is easily the best of the 11 tracks that make up “Ciara.” There are others that shine, too: The bouncy “Livin’ It Up,” one of two songs to feature Nicki Minaj, has an empowering feel; the mid-tempo “Read My Lips” is appealing and Ciara’s sweet tone rides nicely over the semi-electronic beat of “Overdose.”

Still, the album doesn’t feel special. While it’s much better than her last two releases — the weak “Fantasy Ride” and the subpar “Basic Instinct” — the album is made up of fillers that have you still wondering what kind of singer Ciara is.

LIGHT HEAT

Album: “Light Heat” (Ribbon Music)

Grade: B

The new Philly buzz band of the moment is Light Heat, the songwriting project of Quentin Stoltzfus, whose band Mazarin was the Philly buzz band of about a decade ago. Working with members of The Walkmen — who covered Mazarin’s “Another One Goes By” on their 2006 album “A Hundred Miles Off” — Stoltzfus returns with his first set of new songs in eight years, and he doesn’t miss a beat. Listen close to tunes such as “Elevation” and “A Loyal Subject of the Status Quo,” and you might notice socially observant lyrics laced with more than a touch of cynicism. But focus on the flutter and chime of the guitars, steady lift of harmonies, and forward momentum of the Velvet Underground-style drones, and any taste of bitterness is likely to magically disappear.

— Dan DeLuca, Philadelphia Inquirer