In “4:44,” a 10-track album, the 47-year-old artist addressed Beyonce’s suggestions that he was unfaithful and threatened their family unit.
Many lyrics were seemingly aimed Beyonce’s claims.
“Leave me alone, Becky,” Jay-Z wraps in “Family Feud,” a response to Beyonce’s “He better call Becky with the good hair,” line in her single, “Sorry.” In the same song, Beyonce crooned, “Looking at my watch, he shoulda been home / Today I regret the night I put that ring on.”
In the album’s title song, “4:44,” Jay-Z says, “I apologize, often womanize, took my child to be born, see through a woman's eyes. Took for these natural twins to believe in miracles. Took me too long for this song. I don’t deserve you.
“If my children knew, I don't even know what I would do / If they ain’t look at me the same, I would prolly die with all the shame / You did what with who? What good is a ménage à trois when you have a soulmate, you risked that for Blue?”
In the song, “Kill Jay-Z” the rapper says, “You almost went Eric Benét/Let the baddest girl in the world get away.” The line is in reference to the demise of Benét and Halle Berry’s marriage after is was revealed that Benét cheated on his former actress wife. It also responds to a line in Beyonce’s “Hold Up”: “Never had the baddest woman in the game up in your sheets.”
Credit: Christopher Polk
Credit: Christopher Polk
Jay-Z also revealed that his mother is a lesbian in a track on the album, and many have speculated he targeted Kanye West in pointed jabs.
“Mama had four kids, but she’s a lesbian / 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,” Jay-Z said in the song “Smile.”
“You ain’t the same, this ain’t Kumba ‘Ye/But you got hurt because you did cool by ‘Ye ... If everyone is crazy, you’re the one that’s insane,” Jay-Z rapped, potentially in reference to West.
The album “4:44” was released exclusively on music streaming platform Tidal, which is owned, in part, by Jay-Z.
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