Jay-Z’s newest album “4:44” is a 36 minute, 10 track project that is produced in its entirely by producer No-ID. Jay-Z pulled back the curtain and revealed himself in an introspective way the that many didn’t expect.
In fact, on the opening track, “Kill Jay-Z,” Jay immediately spoke to regrets he had over the years, including the current status of his relationship with Kanye. He revealed how he loaned $20 million to the Yeezus rapper and felt disrespected when he starting sabotaging his own tour.
You walkin’ around like you invincible
You dropped outta school, you lost your principles
I know people backstab you, I felt bad too
But this ‘f*** everybody’ attitude ain’t natural
But you ain’t a Saint, this ain’t KumbaYe
But you got hurt because you did cool by ‘Ye
You gave him 20 million without blinkin’
He gave you 20 minutes on stage, f*** was he thinkin’?
“F*** wrong with everybody?” is what you sayin’
But if everybody’s crazy, you’re the one that’s in sane
Jay-Z also addressed his wife Beyoncé and their marriage, revealing he may not have been the best husband, hilariously using Eric Benet and Future as examples of what could’ve been if he didn’t get his act together.
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 !
I don’t even know what you woulda done
In the Future, other n****s playin’ football with your son
You wouldv’e lost it
Despite this, 4:44 isn’t all introspection, we feel this album isn’t really a response to “Lemonade.” In fact, Jay-Z opens up about his regrets in multiple areas of his life, not just his marriage. He was careful to not be preachy even though he used his past mistakes to offer gems of wisdom to his listeners.
There are many themes represented with this album. The strongest has to be”Black Excellence,” but messages of generational wealth and the support of black businesses are also wrapped up in the foundation.
Fans instantly reacted on social media and began praising the album almost as soon as it became available.
We’re already seen multiple memes reciting lyrics from the album, so it’s safe to assume the messages as a whole are being well received by many.
But, we want to know what you think of the album.
So, take the poll and leave your comments below. If you haven’t listened to the album yet, check it out via Tidal or your local iHeartRadio Hip-Hop or Urban station, as they are playing the album in its entirety throughout the day.
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Still listening to it. So far so good.
Easily one of his best albums. He made up for his last album for sure with this one.
It’s a good a-s album. Now I f-ck with him and Bey but I get annoyed when people try to put him in Bey’s shadow. He was killing sh-t way before he got with Bey. This ain’t his version of Lemonade. People need to chill out with that sh-t.
Solange, Bey and Jay have all put out really great albums. Whatever happened on that elevator produced three classic albums.
Mr. Carter did that! I’ve had this on repeat all morning.
I love this album.
Solid album. The title track is my favorite.
This album goes hard and I haven’t felt that way about his music in a while to be honest.
Ugh is there any man out here that will be faithful? Damn.
So far so good
It’s grown people music. Very on time and much appreciated.
Boring