What does Jay-Z say in his new album "4:44"?

We've been waiting for it for a long time, so many things have been said about it and last Friday it was officially launched online. We're talking about 4:44, the latest Jay-Z's album, available exclusively on Tidal. 

Many rumors are shot around the rapper's 13th studio work and today, a few days after releasing, we are ready for a brief analysis of 4:44, trying to figure out what lies behind the ten tracks of the visual album - and the reference to Beyoncé's visual album is not random, as it may be a response to Lemonade, the singer's album that has put naked on the couple's private life.

It is surely the most introspective and personal rapper's album, which, in about thirty-five minutes of music, mentions his marriage and refers to the couple's twin babies and even to his mother, Gloria Carter.

But what exactly does Jay-Z say in his visual album?

#1 4:44

The key track is definitely the 4:44, the song that was interpreted as a direct response to Beyoncé's Lemonade album. As No I.D., the producer of the album, said:

"We just wanted him to respond and then let it be and still touch on other things. I created that beat to box him in telling that story ... He went home, wakes up at 4:44 [a.m.] and calls Guru over [to record]. I have blown away. I just walked out of the studio and wanted to go find my wife and hug her. I told him that's the best song he's ever written".

Jay-Z himself told his producer he wanted to make an album "where I talk about things that I've never talked about". And 4:44 seems to be the essence of the whole album, in which the rapper speaks openly of his private life.

The song is a statement of apology to his wife Beyoncé, where he admits his own guilty – and betrayal – but also wants to strengthen the great love that unites the couple for almost fifteen years. Not only that, the rapper also mentions the drama of abortion that the wife has lived few years ago and speaks of newly born twins as a miracle.

#2 Smile

Not just Beyoncé, another very important woman in Jay-Z's life appears in the album. It is Gloria Carter, the rapper's mother, to whom the song Smile is dedicated:

"Mama had four kids, but she was a lesbian / Had to pretend so long that she was a thespian / Had to hide in the closet, so she medicate / Cried tears of joy when you fell In love / Do not matter to me if it's a he or her".

The verses refer openly to the homosexuality of the mother, which appears at the end of the song with a short poem that further confirms its coming out.

#3 Special features

In the song Caught Their Eyes appears Frank Ocean, while in the Legacy there is a very special cameo, that is Blue Ivy, the firstborn of Jay-Z who opens the song asking his dad "Daddy, what's a will? ".

#4 Solange

In the song Kill Jay Z, the rapper mentions Solange, Beyonce's sister, referring to the scandal that convulsed the trio at the 2014 MET Gala, which revealed the rapper's infidelity

"Let go your ego over your right shoulder / Your Left is sayin'
Finish your breakfast! / You egged Solange on / Knowin 'all along, all you had to say you were wrong"-