A-Trak Calls Jay-Z’s Samsung Ad “Corny”

    After Jay-Z announced the release date and marketing strategy for his next project, Magna Carta Holy Grailwith a Samsung commercial on Sunday night (June 16), Fool’s Gold Records founder, producer and deejay A-Trak shared his sentiments about the ad behind the release, calling it “corny” via Twitter.   

    As reported shortly after it was announced, Samsung has purchased one million copies of Magna Carta Holy Grail, which users of the Samsung Galaxy phone can obtain for free starting July 4, days before the scheduled release date. The ad also features producers Rick RubinPharrell WilliamsSwizz Beatz, and Timbaland. The ad can be viewed below.

    After the original tweet, A-Trak also retweeted updates from his followers about his comment. 

    In 2004, A-Trak joined Kanye West as his tour deejay. He has also contributed to albums by Common, Kid Cudi, Drake and Lupe Fiasco, among others. A-Trak has also said that he’s passed on being Jay-Z’s official tour deejay. This isn’t the first time he’s alluded to something about Jay in tweets. Last month, he commented on Jay’s taste in films. 

    A-Trak also recently helped confirm reports of Kanye West and Daft Punk collaborating.  

    RELATED: Jay-Z Announces “Magna Carta Holy Grail” Album, Free Downloads For Samsung Users

    134 thoughts on “A-Trak Calls Jay-Z’s Samsung Ad “Corny”

    1. It’s funny. Just went to youtube to check out who a-trak was and the Samsung commercial was on his music video. A-trak is now officially being funded by Jay-Z and Samsung.

    2. Anyway, Jay went platinum before the album even comes out. Who else is doing that? I’ll wait… ._.

      1. Wayne way outsells Jay the past decade, plus selling 1 million albums for $5 is nothing like going platinum off retail.

        If you can’t tell the difference you don’t understand accounting.

    3. Jay hit Platnium already lol. Is first week numbers will be sky high, smart move lol. Heck out thegrandreport, they have some cool entertainment news on there too

      1. Selling 1 million albums for $5 is nothing like going platinum off retail.

        If you can’t tell the difference you don’t understand accounting.

    4. music industry has changed record sales dont matter as much anymore after 1st week sales nobody gives a fuck. Jay-Z has the body of work so he can do this

    5. Yea I got a samsung note 2 and I’m extremely happy with this deal, that piano track at the beggening sounded awesome, jay z finding new creative ways to sell his shit a trek jealous

    6. he’s right. jay is old and stale. there are other rappers who are fresher that people want to hear. people like jay-z based off of what he used to be and not what he is now–an out of touch, 40+ year old married man, who hasn’t struggled financially in 20 or more years. wtf is he going to rap about that the average consumer is going to connect with? blu ivy? We dgaf about your millions, marriage, how you used to sell drugs DECADES ago or haters. he’s the voice of a generation. a generation of balding dudes who are going through a mid-life crisis, desperately trying to hang on to their youth by riding in a convertible while their toupee flaps in the wind. that hair club for men flow lol. #gtfoh

      1. you sound like you’re on punishment. btw, whites lose their hair by 40, walking around with a ring of hair around their neck, trying to savor their youth, with the top down on the Corvette. LOL

    7. I agree artist think their fans are stupid, jay z is all about AMERICA with his budweiser AMERICA fest but then you jump on SAMSUNG’s nuts? A-Trak your not one to talk last year your all about “BUSHMILL” whiskey now your in all the GREY GOOSE Cherry Noir ads… are you a whiskey or vodka drinker come on! consumers ain’t respecting the BS….

      1. LOL I went and watched the Grey Goose ad , and yeah , those who live in glass houses should probably not throw stones …

    8. What other artist can have four of the greatest producers of all time in one room??

      Album gonna be nutz!!

      Jay-z….GOAT

    9. it was a commercial.

      however it was a pretty epic one.

      rick rubin lounging with jay-z timbo pharrel and swizz running through trakcs building the project?

      yeah id sit through more ads if there were more ads like this.

      i like a-trak too hes a dope DJ. incredible skills. he can have an opinion.

      jigga got the world talking. everytime i think jay-z is losing luster he does shit like this. he is a powerful mind he knows how to keep climbing.

      1. thank u bro….u saw what the REAL fans of Hip Hop saw. Tight commerical, even though I own an Iphone….lol

      2. OK!!! That’s the real issue… My only BEEF is I don’t get that free download. Hell, I have an American damn phone lol. But you know Apple cheap ass ain’t fixing to pay Jay 5 Million dollars for that album. FYI, he sold it at 5 dollars a piece.. 1 million copies…. considering he can pay the beat guys off top and his studios are in his damn kitchen now lol… and he has a personal engineer.. He’s pretty much profiting from this like a poker game. I wish all my other favorite rappers had this luxury of putting out music and making profits before it drops.. maybe we’d have better stuff.

    10. Everybody got the right to have an opinion i mean this is America,but why go on Twitter to talk about what another man doing thats that weak shit,thats the problem wit people today always tryna knock what the next man or woman do, if thats how he wanna sell his record let him do it what he eat dont make u shit at the end of the day get money whatever way u can i aint knocking it.

    11. Anyone else think Jay and Kanye are beefing behind the scenes?

      – This Jay-Z commercial and album announcement comes out less than 48 hours before Kanye’s Album is about to drop?

      – Jay doesn’t appear on Yeezus

      – Kanye’s DJ dissing the Samsung ad

      Hmmmm. Just sayin’…

      1. or maybe they want some grammys. grammy albums have to be released before a certain time to get nominated

      2. Just remember, Kanye doesn’t fuck with that suit and tie shit, which came out of his own mouth. Jay must have felt ways about it.

    12. not shocked..ANOTHER. CRACKER downing a blk man..whats new??? and shit i almost agree it was not hot no shit it was a COMMERCIAL lame smfh

    13. We all know Jay’s a businessman, that’s why he’s making this strictly business move. I don’t see any merit to it creatively or artistically, just a gimmick that distracts from the music. And me personally, I’m not that interested in hearing a businessman rap. But I guess it’s still cool seeing someone start out just as a rapper and build a whole empire.

      1. “I’m not that interested in hearing a businessman rap” – then you shouldn’t listen to any rapper who’s ever talked about selling drugs or pimping hoes. In the boardroom or the street corner, if you’re hustling something to turn a profit, your a businessman.

      2. Yeah, but street shit is entertaining and grimy and real and intense. Once a dude is rich enough to never want for anything ever again in his life, what is he supposed to rap about that interests me? Not a damn thing. Same reason I watch The Wire and not Mad Men.

      3. Jay sold around 15 million albums and started Rocawear before 2001, then dropped the Blueprint.

        By the time the Black album came out he had already sold 20 million and had opened up a chain of sports bars (40/40 club).

        He was already rich enough to not want for anything before both of those albums.

        Shit, even Nas is rich enough never to have a financial worry in his life again, but he still makes good music (Life Is Good).

        It’s guys like 50 Cent who’s lyrical content is ONLY ‘I’m a gangster’, ‘I’m a pimp’, or ‘I’m rich’ that lose their luster because they run out of shit to rap about.

      4. You sound thirsty…. So basically anybody that succeeds, but still has a quality mind and idea should forever quit their perspective craft? Michael Jackson made it successful BEFORE Thriller… he still had appeal. Michael Jordan kept going after the 3 peat.. was he still no inspiring? Anyone who is in the music “business’ is a business person.

        Stop acting like you have the market corner’d on relativity of MC’s. By those standards the only people rapping will be broke guys who haven’t made it yet. Material better hate criterion and get back to me.

      5. You know Nas doesn’t have that Jay money. And I’m not the biggest Nas fan in the first place, but I’ll give that dude credit for having content in his lyrics at least. Michael Jackson could still make great pop music, Jordan could still ball, so they still had something to offer in their respective craft. Jay may be able to put ill rhymes together, but he mostly just raps about a glorified version of himself. It was interesting when he was a hustler turned rapper, and kind of interesting watching him climb his way up from big to larger-than-life.

        But what now? There’s nowhere for him to go. That’s why he had to go all fictional in “American Ganster.” That’s why everyone knows “Watch the Throne” was in a pretty package but with 0 content. Jay’s not artistic like Kanye, not deep like Nas, not a pop star like Rihanna, and people don’t need to hear 10 albums worth of rich dude swag. That’s why Jay’s contribution to hip-hop is no longer an artistic one, he just pulls crazy business stunts like this one here.

    14. A-Trak is a representation of “when being too creative isn’t necessary to get to the point”. I think the commercial was dope, the message got through, and the assembly of the creators was genius. It showed quality, and built anticipation. A-Trak comments of Jay have seemed personal, and that’s not professional. I’m pretty sure Kanye would have done something so over the top and deeply artistic that it would have gone over peoples heads, and that’s not necessary all the time. I think that’s what A-Trak wanted or expected.

      As far as Jay being a business man and not making good music any more….that’s retarded! Only in Hip Hop do we throw away our legends! When Dylan, McCartney and Black Sabbath (who will have the #1 album in the country this week) come out, it’s all love. Hip Hop is dying because of it’s self hate and lack of history & love from it’s babies! DISGUSTING!

      1. I saw it as A-Trak dissing Jay because of corporate sponsorship. I do agree though hip-hop fans are too much about whos hot now and what have you done lately

      2. And that’s exactly what Kanye did with the Cannes-like trailer. As soon as I saw this commercial during the game I thought about all the flicks, Nas, Rae, Timbo, JT. Then Rick, Swizz, Pharrell.

        “No New N*ggas”

        Jay’s verse on ‘3 Kings’>>>>>>>>

    15. A-Trak is whack….not a coicidence that this rimes. That commericial was SMYBOLIC. Even Mr. Rubin was in the mixx…..all those producers at one meeting?? That’s hott….I didnt see Green Lantern though. That commerical was innovative and dope. case closed

    16. Im no Jay z fan but who is this culture stealing cracka to talk bad about him ? without jay z(who signed kanye who then put a trak on) where would this clown be ?

      1. Jay, Kanye and ASAP are stealing white culture by talking about high fashion and expensive cars? But it’s different when white people are racist?

    17. i dont see how this dude can say the Samsung deal is corny. Unless the information has been released, most people do not know the details of the deal.

      One thing i can say is that Jay Z is a smart business man, like him or not. So i am sure this is a good business move for Jay Z.

      JAY Z is platinum before his album even dropped. Can A Trak say that?

    18. corny or not, Jay is all about business. He’s always been that way. Dude just went platinum 2 1/2 weeks before the album is even out. I doubt he cares about how A-Trak feels.

    19. WHY DOES IT EVEN MATTER WHAT A-TRAK THINKS?

      JAY JUST CLOSED AN UNPRECEDENTED DEAL, WHICH WILL GIVE HIM MORE MONEY THAN A-TRAK WILL EVER SEE IN HIS LIFE.

      JAY IS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE WHOLE ILLUMINATI THING… BANKING OFF DUMB ASS NIGGAZ THAT HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO WORRY ABOUT!

    20. LOL jayz had samsung by 1million copies cus noone else will support this 50 year old satanic fuck

    21. ppl just wanna hear any thing on Hov and they have something to say… A crack make one smart deal fool

    22. Hov is about to pass niggas twice… He said we need to write the now rules in this ad… the world is under a management the new rule model fuck this A crack shit!

    23. THAT IS THE PROBLEM!!! (A-RUN-ON-THOUGHTS)

      You cant tell me what hip hop means to me! Only I can say what hip hop means to me. The culture, the feeling, the essence, where I was when I first heard that sound, my mind frame when I heard a particular song, saw a particular movement in a particular political or social climate. The theater of images in videos, appearances, incorporated movies and marketing gimmicks flooding my psyche. Fashion, graffiti, and art shaping and molding curiosity as album, tape, and cd covers satisfied the rush. How that may affect my view on new sounds or change in the culture as well as the ones that I deem to be recycled. There is no guru on rebellion music; there is no Overseer on expression music. You can not contain it, you can not describe it you can only channel it. How far from the supposed fundamentals of hip hop does it stretch the expected sound? That is going to be different for every ear, every heart, and every soul. Im tired of people thinking they know more about hip hop than the next, like they were delivered as it and gave it rebirth. Claim to know the history, the time line, the struggle, the acceptance, the transitions, the battles, the industry, the names, the faces, the words, the tunes that poured out the speakers. Claim to remember the clashes, the unity, the tours, the clubs, the streets, the parties. But dont claim to be the one almighty controller of the feeling and the essence. It is like arguing Who is the best? LOL exactly my point. Hip Hop is OPINION. Hip Hop is self expression. Hip Hop is infinite and undetermined.

      So as everyone gives their corny opinion as Im sure many will deem mine as; speak for yourself. HipHop

    24. Jay-z’s next tour is gonna feel weird when he walks out in a Nascar jumpsuit covered in corporate logos.

    25. Download “Black Skinhead,” “I am a God,” & “New SLaves” For FREE @

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    26. Let me speak to you dumb ass youngsters that want to keep speaking on how old this dude is and he can’t rap cause he’s to old….how ignorant are you….If you young MF’S was controlling the game like ya’ll was suppose to it would be no room for the old dudes. Second…who in this MF game today is making any kind of moves like this…..”crickets in this bitch”!!!! Stop fucking hatin a be happy we have some examples of how to create “generational money”!!! The Rolling Stones made over 100 million in 2012 (60 year old dudes) and here some lame ass youngin wanna say he to old…GTFOH

      1. Ur confusing older rappers staying around abusing there name and fame and connections compared to a lllllll the young bucks who out here hungry going to get it without the connects

    27. I can you tell how the album will sound… it will be songs about cars, watches, clothes, vacations…and tales of how Jay-Z was Scarface 25 years ago… oh yea, we’ve heard that on like 11 albums…the act is getting old like him.

      follow at noles506

      1. I LOL at this because it’s actually true…..if you listen to his 1st album til now it’s just the FLOW that is different…lol

    28. Yeah, going platinum before you even release an album is so corny. Artists are wishing they could be that corny…

    29. A-Trak seems to be tighter with Kanye than with Jay. I can see why A-Trak is being a hater towards Jay. Jay just went platinum two weeks before dropping his album. Jay just took all of Kanye’s buzz away from Yeezus. Also, remember Jay was not on Kanye’s album, and I have a feeling Kanye will not be on Jays album either. All because Kanye had a rant a couple months ago when he said ” I don’t fuck with that suit and tie shit”. Both Jay and Kanye have big egos so that one line could have pissed Jay off.

      1. I saw it like this two.. Also Jay Bey don’t want that whore KIM fucking up their image…

        Jay is the master of this shit here….

    30. Sooooooooooooooooo being the first person to figure out how to bypass the leakers and bootleggers is corny? ok.

      1. Nooooooo wasting your fucking time to complain about what someone successful is doing is! especially when you know someone is going highlight it.

        A-Trak is fucking corny! Mad there was any dick left for you to suck on A-Trak

    31. It would appear as if Jay attempted to upstage Ye, I don’t see why he could not have waited for Ye’s official release to make this announcement….
      1) The handling of the whole Rocafella situation
      2) Getting Charlamagne fired for interviewing Beans
      3) Getting Chris Brown banned from performing at the BET awards after the Rihanna incedent
      4) Attempting to upstage Ye this past weekend

      Of course idk, but there’s something about this dude that screams hoe ass nigga…But like I said, I’m tottally on the outside looking in…Nigga really aint checkin for Jay after that BP3 shit anyway…

    32. Lol…. Lil Wayne went platinum in a week.. Jay Z platinum before the album even drops, before the first single even drops!!

      Seems like the only time you hear about Jay Z is when he’s making business moves.

      When you hear negative talk, it’s mostly bullshit from hatin ass people!

      1. Last 10 years Jay’s album and single numbers are nothing compared to Wayne. Let Jay sell get his ‘platinum’ for $5, while Wayne sells Carter 5 and gets platinum at $10-$15 a piece.

        Jay-Z is a business man, washed up rapper, Nas still makes better shit than him. Jay-Z needs to focus on his business like sports agency cause his music is a$$

    33. Jay-z is a bitch made nigga who has to sell his records to a big name Tv company just to make up for the fact that nobody is checking for him. Wayne will be platinum before the end of June and Drake will go platinum first week with his, oh and J. Cole will flop selling under 100K.

      1. Jay about the only person that could pull this off. Change the game. In a couple years every rapper gone be trying do this. He getting paid for his and bypassing bootleggers. He kept the whole album under wrap most albums already leaked.

    34. Samsung buying 1 million copies at 50% or more discount is not the same as an artist going retail platinum, so lets not go and throw around “Platinum already”.

      lil’ wayne can sell 5 million $1 Carter V to Apple, that doesn’t make him 5X Platinum…

      1. LOL right.

        And selling a 50,000 stadium at 1 penny a ticket is the same as Rolling Stones selling 50,000 tickets at $125 bucks, both are sell-out stadiums…? (LOL)

        This is what Jay-Z has come to, just to get ‘platinum’ since he can’t do it retail at $10-$15 a CD.

      2. @Blayze
        To me, this kind of sounds like somebody in the grocery game selling apples, and finding a way to sell his inventory easily. And then the apple seller next to him crying and basically saying “why didn’t I think of that? I’m hating…” LOL Quit wasting your time and resources hating Blayze, and get yours. Worrying about the next mans food smh

      3. Blayze got that hate in his veins because Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Rihanna, Adele all have had their CD’s on Amazon for 99 cents, $3.99, $4.99, and are still RIAA certified. What happens when the retail starts, does your logic still apply? Slap yourself.

      4. 5 dollars an album is more than most rappers see for an album at retail. You think they getting all that money. Brilliant cut out best buy and all that distribution mark up

    35. Jay-Z has done it all. Do you think he cares what you think? You’re hating a man who has sold out concerts, had number 1 singles/albums, been in movies, all over television, became a household name, made millions, had the hottest chick in the game wearin his chain, wifed her, got her pregnant and REALLY RAN THE STREET.

      Even the people like beans, dehaven and dash couldn’t deny that!

      Yet the hate still thrives in the blood of these suckas.

      He can’t win anymore than this.

      Accept it.

    36. Wow, what is with all the hate on hip hop artists nowadays? You have cats straight trash talking Weezy, complaining about Yeezy and now Jay? It’s been going on a while, but damn…You know somebody has a plug up their butt when they stoop down to saying “Jay has a very bad taste in movies.” I mean, what? You a movie critic? Everybody is entitled an opinion but dang. They should NEVER have invented Twitter. Straight up!

      1. It’s b/c overtly commercial hip hop is now considered Pop, and by virtue it becomes an easy target for those whose entire sentiment is anti-establishment.

    37. Yall check out that Young Dro Day 2 mixtape yet, its got a few bangers on it, and you already know B.o.B. and T.I. both kill the tracks theyre on. I got mines at www. HipHopGood .com they got all the albums and music on it HipHopGood be haven that new Ye Cole and Miller too, and im sure theyll hav the deluxe edition of That Yeezus up first too

    38. How is A-Trak gonna go in on Jay for going corporate when he still gets paid to be in multiple Grey Goose ads?

      Dudes live in glass houses still wanna throw stones.

    39. As far as marketing his album with a popular product is marketing genius. But that commercial was corny than a muhfucka

    40. Why does Jay-Z have a medallion of a Jesus head on one of his chains? Doesn’t he supposed to not believe in Christ? I don’t want to sound like a hater but Jay-Z is making an anti-christ-like statement by wearing a Jesus head. Because he doesn’t worship Christ, so why have his head? is he trying to make a symbolize that he’s a headhunter and he has Christ’s head. I’m tired of Jay-Z denying devil worship but then turns around and does blatant shit like wear a Jesus head. Kanye has really gone overboard lately to be anti-christ.

      1. Jayz always grows his hair to record albums and that is Biggie’s old chain that he gave him. it’s what he does when working on albums. stop reaching geeez lol

    41. I CHOSE AN ARTICLE OF A BLACK MALE THAT HAPPENS TO HAVE THE SAME FAMILY NAME OF THE GOAT WEEZY. THIS IS IT FRIENDS…YESSIR HAS CALLED IT QUITS. BEING FULLY AWARE I HAVE SINGLE-HANDEDLY CHANGED THE C-SECTION ON HIPHOPDX, I WOULD NOT HAVE THE STATUS AND THE POPULARITY THAT I GAINED WITHOUT YOU. I HAD MANY LAUGHS READING YOUR REPLIES AND WE WILL ALWAYS OWN THESE WANNABE HIPHOP HEADS.

      FROM YESSIR WITH LOVE.

    42. [Jay-Z]
      Jay-Z this, Jay-Z that (Jay-Z won’t hold my hand no more)
      Jay-Z this, Jay-Z that
      Jay-Z that, Jay-Z this (Jay-Z won’t give me no money)
      Get off Jay-Z dick
      What y’all niggas get front page articles, y’all mention Jay-Z name
      (This thing on?) Jay-Z, Jay-Z, in Jay-Z news
      I understand what y’all trying to do
      I brought the flutes this time, though
      I unleashed the flutes on them, guru
      Gimme some more music in the headphone
      Let’s get the proceedings proceeding this evening
      Let’s do this thing (let’s do it right this time)
      C’mon

      H, O V A
      I got my mojo back baby, oh behave
      Naw, naw, don’t be afraid
      Y’all and your articles, hard to spit at Jay
      Y’all from afar threw thoughts my way
      What you thought, I would naught have nothing to say? Nope!
      Y’all fell into the booby trap
      I set the trap just to see dude react, and now
      And now you’se can’t leave
      You opened the door god, I’m at you annually
      And I’m sorry Miss Rosie Perez
      I call a spade a spade, it just is what it is
      But you can’t give cred to anything dude says
      Same dude to give you ice and you owe him some head
      (Shortyyyy!) It’s time to wake up the dead
      You sound a little naive in them articles that I read

      [Hook (x2)]
      H, O V A
      The Blueprint 2 baby, on the way
      H, O V A
      I got my mojo back baby, oh behave

      [Jay-Z]
      Can’t y’all, see that he’s fake, the rap version of TD jakes
      Prophesizing on your CDs and tapes
      Won’t break you a crumb of the little bit that he makes
      And this is with whom you want to place your faith?
      I put dollars on mine, ask Columbine
      When the Twin Towers dropped, I was the first in line
      Donating proceeds off every ticket sold
      When I was out on the road, that’s how you judge Hov, no?
      Ain’t I supposed to be absorbed myself?
      Every time there’s a tragedy, I’m the first one to help
      They call me this misogynist, but they don’t call me the dude
      To take his dollars to give gifts at the projects
      These dudes is all politics, depositing checks
      they put in they pocket, all you get in return is a lot of lip
      And y’all buy the shit, caught up in the hype
      Cause the nigga wear a coofie, it don’t mean that he bright
      Cause you don’t understand him, it don’t mean that he nice
      It just means you don’t understand all the bullshit that he write
      Is it “Oochie Wally Wally” or is it “One Mic”?
      Is it “Black Girl Lost” or shorty owe you for ice?
      I’ve been real all my life, they confuse it with conceit
      Since I will not lose, they try to help him cheat
      But I will not lose, for even in defeat
      There’s a valuable lesson learned, so it evens it up for me
      When the grass is cut, the snakes will show
      I gotta thank the little homie Nas for that though
      Saving me the hassle of speaking to half of these assholes
      And I’ma let karma catch up to Jaz-O, whoa
      I’m back before you had a chance to miss me
      My mama can’t save you this time, niggas is history
      Who you know flow vicious as me?
      Yet so religiously, that’s why they call me Hov
      I get the spoils cause the victor is me (me, nigga)
      You’re an actor, you’re not who you’re depicted to be
      The street dreamin, all y’all niggas living through me
      I gave you life when niggas was forgetting you emcee
      I’m a legend, you should take a picture with me
      You should be happy to be in my presence, I should charge you a fee
      I’m Big Dog, Glenn Rob, listen God you a flea
      And the little homey Jungle is a garden to me
      What’s the problem B? You not as hard as me
      Nigga hard as we, nigga R O C, nigga
      That’s why they follow me, they feel my pain and my agony, nigga
      I won’t rest till you on one knee
      You want war then it’s war’s gonna be, nigga
      Until you on one knee, you want war then it’s war’s gonna be, nigga

    43. thing like this is why i hate hip hop sometimes. a man cant say something is corny without it being news? what was the last a-trak story on the site. i guess its all about clicks

    44. Born Sinner out now. Gon sell WAY MORE than mothertruckers think!

      BORN SINNER! Dreamville! Cole World!

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