Jay Z. Photo / Getty Images
By Sonia Rao
It's been quite a month for the Carters. Just a couple weeks after Beyoncé reportedly gave birth to twins - though the family has yet to release an official statement - Jay-Z dropped his 13th solo album.
4:44 debuted Thursday night at midnight on the rapper's music streaming platform, Tidal, and the internet has been buzzing about it since. We know you have questions, so let's get started.
Hov's all grown up. The title track of 4:44 is being interpreted as an apology to Beyoncé, as he appears to own up to the infidelity Beyoncé seemed to condemn in her album "Lemonade," and lament his absence during critical moments of their relationship. In an interview with iHeartRadio, Jay-Z described the song as "the crux" of the album, and says it was written at 4:44 am.
4:44 explores other aspects of the rapper's personal life as well. His mother, Gloria Carter, comes out as a lesbian on the track Smile, in which he says she "had to pretend so long that she's a thespian."
"Had to hide in the closet, so she medicate / Society shame and the pain was too much to take," he raps. "Cried tears of joy when you fell in love / Don't matter to me if it's a him or her."
They've been through the wringer, but they persevered. Emily Nussbaum, The New Yorker's TV critic, put it well in a tweet:
"I usually root for musicians to divorce & make brilliant post-divorce albums, but it's crazily impressive to make the albums & STAY married."
Ah, yes. It's been almost six years since the frequent collaborators - and, now, potential frenemies - JAY-Z and Kanye West put out their triumphant work Watch The Throne. During a Sacramento concert last December, West called out Beyonce and Jay-Z, among others, and ended the performance early.
"Beyoncé - I was hurt ... because I heard that you said you wouldn't perform unless you won Video of the Year over me and over 'Hotline Bling,'" he said about the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, according to Entertainment Weekly. "Sometimes we be playing the politics too much and forget who we are just to win."
He later added, "I've been sent here to give y'all my truth even at the risk of my own life, even at the risk of my own success, my own career. I've been sent here to give y'all the truth. Jay Z - call me, bruh. You still ain't called me. Jay Z, call me, Jay Z - I know you got killers. Please don't send them at my head. Just call me. Talk to me like a man."
On the 4:44 track Kill Jay Z, which presumably also refers to the rapper's stylistic name change, Jay-Z responds.
"I know people backstab you, I felt bad too / But this 'f- everybody' attitude ain't natural," he raps. "But you ain't a Saint, this ain't KumbaYe / But you got hurt because you did cool by 'Ye."
West isn't the only one burned on Kill Jay Z. While referring to his own infidelities, Jay-Z raps, "You almost went Eric Benét / Let the baddest girl in the world get away / I don't even know what else to say / N--, never go Eric Benét."
Benét, a neo-soul singer, was married to actress Halle Berry for a few years in the early 2000s, but their marriage fell apart after he notably admitted to cheating on Berry and went to rehab for sex addiction.
Benét responded to the lyric, firing off a tweet early this morning. (He is currently married to Manuela Testolini, who was married to Prince at the time of the Berry drama.)
"Hey yo #Jayz! Just so ya know, I got the baddest girl in the world as my wife....like right now!"
That's a right reserved for Tidal subscribers only. Tidal offers a 30-day free trial, though.
The Australian site cited a 'heightened threat level' as the issue.