"Picasso Baby" is a song by American hip hop artist

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

from his twelfth studio album '' Magna Carta... Holy Grail''. It is the second track on the album and features additional vocals by

The-Dream Terius Adamu Ya Gesteelde-Diamant ('' né'' Youngdell Nash; born September 20, 1977), known professionally as The-Dream, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for having written or co-produced songs for artists in ...

and Zofia Borucka Moreno. The song was produced by

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer and rapper. Born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, he is widely acclaimed for his distinctive production work and "stuttering" rhythm ...

and Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon and contains a sample of "Sirens" by Adrian Younge. Following the release of the album, the song peaked at number 91 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 based on downloads only.

Background and recording

After collaborating on '' The Blueprint 3'' in 2009,

and

parted ways due to creative differences, but reunited again while working with

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...

on '' The 20/20 Experience''. When

Beyoncé Knowles Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most culturally significant figu ...

started working on her next studio album in late 2012, Jay-Z invited Timbaland to handle some of the production on it. While both in the studio, Timbaland played Jay the instrumental for "Picasso Baby". At the time, Jay-Z didn't have plans to record a whole album, but after they made the song, the two decided to "go for it". In an interview with

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

, Jay-Z stated that "Picasso Baby" "built the sound of" '' Magna Carta... Holy Grail'' and Timbaland ended up handling most of the production on the album. According to Jay-Z, while the two have recorded many songs in the past, it was not until ''MCHG'' that they got "the chemistry" to collaborate for a whole project. Producer J-Roc described "Picasso Baby" as "just New York". He told XXL that he and Timbaland "were really just feeling the city, the energy that it gives out" and were inspired by the "numerous different cultures and different dialects or sounds." Adrian Younge, whose song "Sirens" was sampled to create the instrumental, commented that he was "very happy ith how it came out" Despite usually being critical of how people sample his music, Young thought that "especially for 'Picasso Baby', they literally just looped the top, and it worked. Sometimes you just do a loop and it just works."

Composition

"Picasso Baby" makes many references to popular artists such as

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

Mark Rothko Mark Rothko ( ; Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz until 1940; September 25, 1903February 25, 1970) was an American abstract art, abstract painter. He is best known for his color field paintings that depicted irregular and painterly rectangular reg ...

Jeff Koons Jeffrey Lynn Koons (; born January 21, 1955) is an American artist recognized for his work dealing with popular culture and his sculptures depicting everyday objects, including balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror- finish s ...

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...

Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved notoriety in the late 1970s as part of the graffiti ...

, and

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

, as well as world-famous painting ''

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, ...

''.

Music video

The music video for the song, titled "Picasso Baby: A Performance Art Film" was shot on July 10, 2013, at the

Pace Gallery The Pace Gallery is a contemporary and modern art gallery with 9 locations worldwide. It was founded in Boston by Arne Glimcher in 1960. His son, Marc Glimcher, is now president and CEO. Pace Gallery operates in New York, London, Hong Kong, ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The video, directed by

Mark Romanek Mark Lee Romanek (; born September 18, 1959) is an American film, music video and commercial director and photographer. He is best known for directing the films ''One Hour Photo'' (2002) and ''Never Let Me Go (2010 film), Never Let Me Go'' (2010) ...

, was inspired by the work of performance artist

Marina Abramović Marina Abramović ( sr-Cyrl, Марина Абрамовић, ; born November 30, 1946) is a Serbian conceptual and performance artist. Her work explores body art, endurance art, the relationship between the performer and audience, the limit ...

and in particular by her 2010 installation "The Artist Is Present". In the video, Jay-Z is on a central stage and people queue to get the chance of having him perform the song with them. The shoot was attended by director

Judd Apatow Judd Apatow (; born December 6, 1967) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and comedian known for his work in comedy films. Apatow is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he wrote, produced, and directed his films ''The 4 ...

, rapper Wale, '' Performa'' Director and Chief Curator RoseLee Goldberg, as well as artists Laurie Simmons, Rashid Johnson,

Jerry Saltz Jerry Saltz (born February 19, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American art critic. Since 2006, he has been senior art critic and columnist for ''New York magazine, New York'' magazine. Formerly the senior art critic for ''The Village Voice'', ...

, Marilyn Minter, Fred Wilson, Jacolby Satterwhite,

Glenn O'Brien Glenn O'Brien (March 2, 1947 – April 7, 2017) was an American writer who focused largely on the subjects of art, music, and fashion. He was featured for many years as "The Style Guy" in ''GQ'' magazine and published a book with that title. He ...

, Andres Serrano,

Lawrence Weiner Lawrence Charles Weiner (February 10, 1942December 2, 2021) was an artist born and raised in New York City. One of the central figures in the formation of Conceptual Art in the 1960s, Lawrence Weiner explored the potentials of language as a scu ...

, and Marina Abramović herself, among many other "important figures from the gallery and sales side of fine art." On August 2, 2013, the music video premiered on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

at 11 p.m. EST. ''Picasso Baby: A Performance Art Film'' was nominated for Best Music Video at the

56th Annual Grammy Awards The 56th Annual Grammy Awards presentation was held on January 26, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the third time by LL Cool J. The show was moved to January to avoid co ...

, where it lost to the music video for Jay-Z's collaboration with

, "

Suit & Tie "Suit & Tie" is a song by American singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake from his third studio album ''The 20/20 Experience'' (2013). It features a verse from American rapper Jay-Z. It was written and produced by Timberlake, Tim "Timbaland" Mosley ...

Controversy with Abramović

After her involvement in "Picasso Baby: A Performance Art Film", Abramović told in an interview that the rapper had used her. She claimed Jay Z never fulfilled his promise to make a donation to the Marina Abramović Institute in return of her grant to use "The Artist is Present" concept and her own appearance in the video. Jay Z then replied he had made the donation. In the end, the Institute issued a statement apologizing to both the rapper and Abramović because they never informed the performance artist of the donation.

Critical reception

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' ranked "Picasso Baby" at number 19, on their list of the 100 Best Songs of 2013, calling it "the standout track from Jay Z's lackluster ''Magna Carta... Holy Grail''".

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

also listed "Picasso Baby" as one of their 100 favorite songs of 2013, praising in particular the production work of

Chart performance

References

{{Authority control 2013 songs Jay-Z songs Music videos directed by Mark Romanek Song recordings produced by Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon Song recordings produced by Timbaland Songs written by Jay-Z Songs written by Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon Songs written by Timbaland