Picasso Baby Video: Watch Jay Z's New Art Film

Culture

Dropping the most hyped album of the year and single-handedly changing RIAA certification rules was probably a bit tiring for Jay-Z. He followed that by rapping continuously for six hours Wednesday at New York City's Pace Gallery, drawing a horde of onlookers and a few famous faces for his upcoming music video of "Picasso Baby."

The old man's still got something left.

"Picasso Baby," the second song off Magna Carta Holy Grail, features sinister bass backed by wailing synth and boasts about Jay's luxurious lifestyle. Though the subject matter's not too original, the song's focused verses and cool flow make for radio appeal. "Picasso Baby" would be the first music video released from the album; no singles have dropped thus far.

Did Hov rap for six hours to prove something? Is this music video going to be longer than we'd expect? Perhaps the process was prolonged by outtakes? Like everything else about the promotion and production of MCHG, not much is known about Wednesday's video shoot. What we do know is that Jay drew a pretty considerable crowd to watch, be it the cluster of spectators who lined the walls of the museum room or the celebrities who broadcast their experiences over social media.

The Huffington Post was the first one to report that rapper Wale, Girls actor Adam Driver, director Judd Apatow, and artists Marina Abramovic and George Condo were all present for what the story dubs as "personal performances." It's quite a strange crew, especially Wale, considering Jay's working relationships with so many other rappers and labelmates.

While we don't have a great grip of what's going on, we can assume the visual accompaniment of a track as lush as "Picasso Baby" has to be pretty extravagant. Art museums and hip-hop don't have much of a history together, so this one should be pretty interesting. Check out the Instagram clips dropped by HuffPo's entertainment editor, Kia Makarechi, which have found their way around the Internet this morning.