Privacy concerns aside for a minute, the reviews of Jay-Z’s new album "Magna Carta…Holy Grail" are in. And they’re not good. From Chris Richards at the Washington Post:

Throughout "Magna Carta," the 43-year-old pretends he’s a threat to a system he’s so eagerly become a part of, as if his life as a champion capitalist is some perpetually escalating act of subversion. Hooray? Rooting for this man in 2013 is like rooting for Pfizer. Or PepsiCo. Or PRISM.

Plus, all of this Samsung hullabaloo has only distracted listeners from the fact that, musically and lyrically, "Magna Carta" is one of Jay-Z’s blandest offerings. Over 16 joylessly professional tracks, our hero laces up his sneakers for his bazillion-thousandth victory lap around the hip-hop universe. There’s no mood, no verve, no vision to this music. It’s the sound of champagne being sprayed around an empty locker room.

Ouch.

During an impromptu Twitter chat with fans, Jay-Z even admitted that MCHG wasn’t his best effort. When one fan asked if the new album was his best work, the rapper responded, "Hard to beat RD (Reasonable Doubt),BP1 (The Blueprint),TBA (The Black Album). it can fight for 4th #factsonly."