“Holy Grail” stands as a captivating track by the renowned American rapper Jay-Z, featured on his twelfth studio album, Magna Carta Holy Grail. Collaborating with the talented American singer Justin Timberlake, the song serves as the lead single for the album.
Its production, skillfully handled by The Dream, Timbaland, and J-Roc, with an additional touch from No ID, ingeniously incorporates elements from Nirvana’s 1991 hit single “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
The song delves into the complex relationship with fame, where Jay-Z and Timberlake poignantly express the ambivalent emotions that accompany living under the constant glare of the spotlight.
The opening vocals by Timberlake resonate profoundly, reflecting on the capricious nature of stardom. Its impact was immediate and resonating, leading “Holy Grail” to soar as a commercial success, claiming the impressive positions of number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number seven on the UK Singles Chart. Notably, it garnered a well-deserved Grammy Award nomination in the category of Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.
Holy Grail Lyrics
[Intro: Justin Timberlake]
You’d take the clothes off my back and I’d let you (Yeah)
You’d steal the food right out my mouth and I’d watch you eat it
I still don’t know why (Yeah)
Why I love it so much (Thanks for warning me; yeah)
Oh (Thanks for warning me; yeah)
You curse my name in spite to put me to shame (Yeah)
Hang my laundry in the streets, dirty or clean, give it up for fame (Yeah)
But I still don’t know why (Don’t know why)
Why I love it so much (Thanks for warning me; yeah, yeah)
Yeah (Thanks for warning me; yeah, yeah)
[Chorus: Justin Timberlake & JAY-Z]
And, baby, it’s amazin’ I’m in this maze with you
I just can’t crack your code
One day, you’re screamin’ you love me loud
The next day, you’re so cold
One day, you’re here (Yeah), one day, you’re there (Yeah)
One day, you care (Yeah), you’re so unfair
Sippin’ from your cup ’til it runneth over (Uh, uh; yeah)
Holy Grail
[Verse 1: JAY-Z]
Uh, Blue told me remind you niggas, uh
Fuck that shit y’all talkin’ ’bout, I’m the nigga, uh (Yeah)
Caught up in all these lights and cameras, uh
But look what that shit did to Hammer (Yeah), uh
Goddamn it, I like it
Bright lights is enticin’
But look what it did to Tyson
All that money in one night
Thirty mil’ for one fight
But soon as all that money blows
All the pigeons take flight
Fuck the fame, keep cheatin’ on me
What I do? I took her back
Fool me twice, that’s my bad
I can’t even blame her for that
Enough to make me wanna murder
Momma, please just get my bail
I know nobody to blame
Kurt Cobain, I did it to myself, uh
[Pre-Chorus: Justin Timberlake & JAY-Z]
And we all just entertainers
And we’re stupid and contagious (Yeah)
No, we all just entertaine—
[Chorus: Justin Timberlake]
And, baby, it’s amazin’ I’m in this maze with you
I just can’t crack your code
One day, you’re screamin’ you love me loud
The next day, you’re so cold
One day, you’re here, one day, you’re there
One day, you care, you’re so unfair
Sippin’ from your cup ’til it runneth over
Holy Grail (Yeah)
[Verse 2: JAY-Z]
Now I got tattoos on my body
Psycho bitches in my lobby
I got haters in the paper
Photo shoots with paparazzi (Yeah)
Can’t even take my daughter for a walk
See ’em by the corner store
I feel like I’m cornered off
Enough is enough, I’m callin’ this off (Yeah)
Who the fuck I’m kiddin’ though?
I’m gettin’ high, sittin’ low
Slidin’ by in that big body
Curtains all in my window (Yeah)
This fame hurt, but this chain worse
I think back you asked the same person
If this is all you had to deal with
Nigga, deal with, this shit ain’t work
This light work, camera snappin’, my eyes hurt
Niggas dyin’ back where I was birthed
Fuck your iris and the IRS (Yeah)
Get the hell up off your high horse
You got the shit that niggas die for, dry yours
Why you mad? Take the good with the bad
Or throw the baby out with that bath water
[Pre-Chorus: JAY-Z]
You’re still alive, still that nigga
Nigga, you survived, still gettin’ bigger
Nigga, livin’ the life, vanilla wafers in a villa
Illest nigga alive, Michael Jackson’s Thriller
[Chorus: Justin Timberlake & Jay-Z]
And, baby, it’s amazin’ I’m in this maze with you
(Uh, uh, uh, uh)
I just can’t crack your code (Uh, uh-uh, uh, uh-uh, uh)
One day, you’re screamin’ you love me loud
The next day, you’re so cold (Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh)
One day, you’re here, one day, you’re there
One day, you care, you’re so unfair (Uh, uh, uh, uh)
Sippin’ from your cup ’til it runneth over
Holy Grail (Yeah)
[Bridge: Justin Timberlake]
You get the air out my lungs whenever you need it (Yeah)
And you take the blade right out my heart
Just so you can watch me bleed (Yeah)
And I still don’t know why (Don’t know why)
Why I love you so much (Yeah, thanks for warning me)
Yeah (Thanks for warning me)
(Yeah) And you play this game in spite to drive me insane (Yeah)
I got it tattooed on my sleeve forever in ink
With guess whose name?
But I still don’t know why (Yeah, don’t know why)
Why our love is so much (Thanks for warning me; yeah)
Yeah (Thanks for warning me; yeah)
[Chorus: Justin Timberlake & Jay-Z]
And, baby, it’s amazin’ I’m in this maze with you
(Uh, uh, uh, uh)
I just can’t crack your code (Uh, uh-uh, uh, uh-uh, uh)
One day, you’re screamin’ you love me loud
The next day, you’re so cold (Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh)
One day, you’re here, one day, you’re there
One day, you care, you’re so unfair (Uh, uh, uh, uh)
Sippin’ from your cup ’til it runneth over
Holy Grail (Yeah)
[Outro: Justin Timberlake]
Ooh-ooh-ooh
(Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy grail, yeah)
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
(Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy grail, yeah)
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
(Holy, holy, holy)
Don’t know why
[Produced by J-Roc, The-Dream & Timbaland]
