A photograph of a very young Jay-Z has surfaced online - and it's at the same time pretty cool, and a bit weird. We say 'surfaced' online - what we actually mean is it was posted on Instagram by his wife Beyonce following news that Hova's new album Magna Carta Holy Grail has gone platinum.

Wearing a graduation cap and gown, the young Jay has the whole 'I really don't want to be sat here' thing going on, but his faked smile gives the photograph an air of distinct eeriness.

Though Magna Carta has smashed the platinum sales barrier, Billboard said on Friday (July 5, 2013) it will not include 1 million album downloads the rapper gave to Samsung Galaxy smart phone users when compiling its latest chart ranking. 

Check out the Jay-Z 'graduation' picture here.

In a letter posted on Billboard's website, editorial director Bill Werde said it will not count the downloads because the mobile phone retailer is not selling the downloads. You may remember that Jay-Z sold a guaranteed one million copies of his twelfth studio album at $5 a pop, though, as Werde writes, "The passionate and articulate argument by Jay's team that something was for sale and Samsung bought it ... doesn't mesh with precedent."

Magna Carta Holy Grail has received mixed reviews from music journalists, generally putting it behind Kanye West's Yeezus in terms of critical reception. Much has been made of Timbaland's recognizable production littering the record, with the Independent saying, "Musically, the album leans heavily on Timbaland productions, with occasional input from the likes of Pharrell, Swizz Beats, The-Dream and Mike Dean," and the Observer musing, "It's the varied production - the sinuous work of Timbaland, in the main - that really elevates Magna Carta Holy Grail beyond the usual Jay-Z document."

Magna Carta Holy Grail is out now.

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Magna Carta Holy Grail
The Artwork For Jay-Z's Magna Carta Holy Grail