It has been 4 years since Jay Z last released an album (2013’s Magna Carta Holy Grail ) but he’s now back with a brand new project called, 4:44 (Four-Forty Four). (You can stream the album exclusively on Tidal HERE)

4:44 features appearances from Beyonce, Frank Ocean, The Dream and Gloria Carter.

On the record, ‘Kill Jay-Z’, Hov addresses the elevator fight with his sister-in-law Solange at the Met Gala from a few years ago where she allegedly attacked him for cheating on Beyonce; Hov admits he made mistakes when on ‘Kill Jay-Z he says he nearly lost ‘the baddest girl in the world’ and warns others to not be the next Eric Benet, a reference to the actor who cheated on Halle Berry.

 

 

On the album’s title track 4:44 is where Jay-Z really reveals a lot, where he admits, “I suck at love, I think I need a do over. I would be emotionally available before I invited you over.” He also raps,“And if my children knew/I don’t even know what I would do/If they ain’t look at me the same/I would probably die with all this shame /’You did what with who?’/What good is a menage-a-trois when you have a soulmate/You risk that for Blue?” Another admission that he has taken Beyonce for granted throughout their relationship. He gets even more personal saying, “Do I find it so hard, when I know in my heart I’m letting you down everyday. Letting you down everyday. Why do I keep on running away.”

Hov continues to address his own infidelity on the track, ‘Family Feud’ when he raps,  “Leave me alone, Becky.” ‘Becky’ refers to Beyoncé’s iconic “Sorry” lyric about “Becky with the good hair” , the woman Jay was cheating with.

 

 

The ironic thing is that ‘Family Feud’ is Jay’s apology to Beyonce for cheating on her with multiple women, and she provides backup vocals on the track. Her entrance onto ‘Family Feud’ is also perfect as it comes right after Jay asks, “What’s better than one billionaire? Two.” Enter Queen Bey like…

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You can also tell that ‘Family Feud’ was one of the last tracks that Jay recorded because he references Al Sharpton taking selfies in the mirror, (something he did a few weeks ago, see below) and asks how Bill Cosby is supposed to help him (considering his legal troubles that is).

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVec_JAgpah/

 

Jay-Z’s new album was exclusively by the legendary producer No I.D.

 

https://twitter.com/TheBlack/status/876773295869239297?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.complex.com%2Fmusic%2F2017%2F06%2Feverything-we-know-about-jay-z-444-album

 

Prior to the release of 4:44, little was known about how the project would sound, but Jay-Z did release a trailer of a song called, ‘Adnis’ via his streaming service TIDAL; ‘Adnis’ happens to be the name of Hov’s father, Adnis Reeves.

 

 

He’s mentioned his father in previous songs.  On ‘Can’t Knock the Hustle’ he raps, “My pops knew exactly what he did when he made me…”

 

 

On ‘Moment of Clarity’ he says, “So, Pop, I forgive you for all the s**t that I lived through/It wasn’t all your fault, homie, you got caught…I’m just glad we got to see each other/Talk and re-meet each other…”

 

 

And most recently on the song, ‘Spiritual’, Jay-Z says, “We call her Blue cuz it’s sad that/How can I be a dad that, I never had that.”

Prior to the release of 4:44, JAY-Z released two other trailers, one titled ‘Kill Jay-Z and another featuring Lupita Nyong’o.

Suspicions of a new Hov album began to surface earlier this month after TIDAL, Jay-Z’s streaming service, began a mysterious ad campaign in New York City that featured billboards with ‘4:44’ written on them.

 

https://twitter.com/HipHopDX/status/875822582162796544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.complex.com%2Fmusic%2F2017%2F06%2Feverything-we-know-about-jay-z-444-album

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BU-IigIAxE8/

 

 

Fans began to think it meant a new project was coming because the number ‘4’ has proven to be meaningful and significant to both Jay Z and Beyonce.

 

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They are both born on the 4th of the month (Jay Z in December, Beyonce in September) and they were married on April 4th.

Beyonce’s fourth studio album was called, 4 and in a post on his Life + Times website a few years back, Jay Z spoke about his affinity for the number ‘4’.

The release of 4:44 isn’t the only thing JAY-Z has to celebrate this year.

His wife Beyonce recently gave birth to twins, and he recently became the first rapper ever inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame; Former US President Barack Obama did the honours and inducted him.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrqwMDlhZ3E

 

Take a listen to JAY-Z’s brand new album 4:44 HERE and let us know what you think!

Filed under: Beyonce, jay-z, tidal