To mark the upcoming release of his new album-cum-viral-marketing-stunt, Magna Carta Holy Grail, Jay-Z created some shiny, mostly contentless promotional books, then sent fans on a scavenger hunt to find them. Inside was the album’s tracklist accompanied by black bars that look like censored lyrics–I’d call it some kind of comment on NSA surveillance, but even that heavy-handed interpretation feels generous.
Luckily, graffiti writers SKI and 2ESAE got their hands on a copy and decided to do a little beautifying. The artists painted all 20 pages of the book that celebrate the NYC rap legend, and will conduct a scavenger hunt of their own, placing five wheat-pasted copy of the works in each of the five boroughs. Each piece will be given to the first person to find its corresponding poster and tweet a picture.
“We weren’t able to get the lyrics, so we played off the titles and the meaning of the Magna Carta,” SKI told ANIMAL. “‘No king is above the law.'”
“He gave us art, and we’re giving art back,” he added.
Watch the video above to see SKI and 2ESAE creating the work and a take a look at these two finished pieces.
