Jay-Z 'Magna Carta Holy Grail' New Album 2013 Already Gone Platinum, Release Date July 4

Jay-Z drove the social media universe into a tizzy on Sunday night, announcing via a Samsung advertisement that he would be releasing a new album, "Magna Carta Holy Grail" on July 4. Was the sensation generated enough to drive the album to platinum status within one day of its announcement? 

Not really. But the fact that Samsung is using the album as a promotional tool in its advertising campaign...that might be enough to make the album go platinum. 

The July 4 release date isn't entirely accurate. Technically, "Magna Carta" drops on July 7, but owners of Samsung's Galaxy smartphone will be able to purchase the album a few days early. To ensure that only Galaxy owners end up with the album early, Samsung bought the albums so that they could distribute them themselves (digital copies, of course). 

The number of copies Samsung bought? One million, just enough to justify "platinum status." Yes, it's more-or-less cheating the system because there's no guarantee that Samsung users will actually buy up all those copies. In fact, it's highly unlikely. But combined with regular album downloads, a high-profile rapper Jay-Z has a solid shot at going platinum within the week, maybe two weeks. 

Viewers of the NBA Championship were surprised to see the announcement as they watched commercials on Sunday night. In the modern age of social media, it's tough for an artists to do anything secretly. Jay was somewhat lucky that label partner Kanye West has been hogging all of the headlines with his new album "Yeezus," which will be officially released on Tuesday.