Jay-Z Releases ‘Magna Carta Holy Grail,’ Beyonce Posts Baby Picture To Praise Platinum Album; Samsung 1 Mil. Copies Will Not Count By Billboard

Jay-Z released his 13th album "Magna Carta Holy Grail" this week, and instantly went platinum with the record due to Samsung pre-ordering 1 million copies of "Magna Carta" for Samsung user fans. Jay-Z's wife Beyoncé congratulated her husband's achievement by posting a baby photo of him on Instagram.

Beyoncé shared a throwback picture of Jay-Z from his school graduation photo, with a famous line from her recent track in all white caps at the bottom: "Bow Down." She also captioned with the photo: "Platinum #MagnaCarta."

The power couple are very supportive of each other's music, and there are many references to Queen B and their daughter Blue Ivy in "Magna Carta." Jay-Z recently revealed on New York's Hot 97 radio that he and his wife have fun when testing out their new songs at home.

"Yeah, [we] dance to it in our socks!" Jay-Z said, according to The Belfast Telegraph.

Jay-Z took an untraditional route with this new album. Samsung bought one million copies of "Magna Carta" that would be available earlier than its official release date to Samsung users. Because of this deal, Jay-Z's album went platinum before it was even released.

VP Mitch Glazer and Director of Communications for the Gold & Platinum Program Liz Kennedy presented Jay-Z with his 12th platinum plaque, and posted the photo on Facebook, E! News reports.

However, Billboard refuses to count Jay's copies sold to Samsung.

"It is in this spirit that I say it wasn't as simple as you might think to turn down Jay-Z when he requested that we count the million albums that Samsung 'bought' as part of a much larger brand partnership, to give away to Samsung customers," Billboard magazine's editorial director, Bill Werde, explained.

"True, nothing was actually for sale-Samsung users will download a Jay-branded app for free and get the album for free a few days later after engaging with some Jay-Z content. The passionate and articulate argument by Jay's team that something was for sale and Samsung bought it also doesn't mesh with precedent."

Despite this limitation for Jay-Z, Billboard anticipates "Magna Carta" will be a huge success.

"I've been told that label sources expect first-week sales of the album to be in line with the 400,000-450,000 his recent albums have shifted. That will almost certainly give Jay his lucky 13th No. 1 on the Billboard 200," Werde added.

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jay z
Beyonce
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