2013Released
5:38

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about Holy Grail. By Songfacts®.

This song about the pitfalls of fame interpolates Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." As well as borrowing the lines, "And we all just. Entertainers. And we're stupid. And contagious," Jay also raps, "Nobody to blame. Kurt Cobain. I did it to myself." Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, gave permission for the rapper to use words from Nirvana's classic tune. "I'm letting Jay-Z use lyrics - Frances [Bean Cobain] would freak [if she knew about it]," she told The Huffington Post. "Jay-Z's huge and we're friends. I mean we're not besties or anything...." Jay made the comment in a Pharrell Williams 2012 book, Places and Spaces I've Been, that Nirvana "stopped" Hip-Hop for a second.

The song features Justin Timberlake. The pair also collaborated on the former N'Sync member's 2013 hit single "Suit and Tie."

Running 5:39, this is far longer than most hit songs. Getting right to the vocals with no intro, there are also no bridges or instrumental breaks in the song; structurally it consists of four Jay-Z verses, each followed by a Justin Timberlake chorus. The song takes its time, with a tempo of just 73 Beats Per Minute (Dance songs are closer to 125).

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of Holy Grail.
DKey
MinorMode
4/4Time Signature
145BPM

Album

The album Holy Grail is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released Holy Grail.
Roc Nation / Jay-Z
© 2013 S. Carter Enterprises
℗ 2013 S. Carter Enterprises

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