Rick Rubin Did Not Produce on Jay-Z's 'Magna Carta' Album

In a recent interview with XXL Magazine, storied producer Rick Rubin shines light on the true extent of his involvement on Jay-Z‘s Magna Carta Holy Grail. Despite being heavily featured in many of the videos that make up the album’s Samsung-backed advertising campaign, it turns out Rubin did not play a hands-on role in the making of the album. Rather, he was asked to simply listen to it and provide his opinion. While Jay-Z’s camp never officially claimed Rick Rubin presence as anything more than what it’s turned out to be, the news has many labeling that the promotional push as misleading. Read an excerpt from the interview below to see what Rubin said in his own words.

“The point of me being in the commercials was that he was filming a documentary and he asked me—I imagine he’s just comfortable talking to me—to come listen to the songs with him and just talk about the songs. Just listen to it and talk about it, and that’s what we did. It was fun.

I liked what I heard, but it was a little difficult– after just coming from the Kanye sessions– to listen to Jay’s album, because they’re so different. I was in a very alternative and progressive headspace, and Jay’s record is a more traditional hip-hop record.”