Cracking The Code To 4:44

Jay Z gets candid in his come-back album “4:44” 

The hip-hop artist addresses infidelity rumors circulating around his marriage to 22 time Grammy award winner, Beyonce, his fallout with former friend turned foe, Kanye West, and the direction he feels our society is headed in his first album release since 2013. 

In his crux track 4:44, Mr. Carter finally exudes a bit of acceptance for his actions in regards to his cheating scandal. He described this song as “one of the best songs he’s ever written” where he 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 the shame.
What good is a ménage à trois when you have a soulmate?

After Beyonce's Lemonade  release it’s no secret what went down in the Carter home.  

You almost went Eric Benét, Let the baddest girl in the world get away.

In his track “Kill Jay Z” he raps about the essence of an ego and it’s elimination. When it comes to an ego we know that Kanye’s got a big one, and there’s no denying it’s what put a wedge between Jay who decided to cut his, and ‘Ye whose still got his. 

But this f**k 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
But if everybody’s crazy, you’re the one that’s insane. 

In another track titled “The Story of O.J.” Jay flows in reference to the trial of O.J. Simpson and its surrounding controversy in the Los Angeles community. “It really is a song about we as a culture, having a plan, how we’re gonna push this forward. We all make money, and then we all lose money, as artists especially. But how, when you have some type of success, to transform that into something bigger” Jay tells iHeart Radio. 

I’mma play the corners where the hustlers be
I told him, “Please don’t die over the neighborhood that your mama rentin’
Take your drug money and buy the neighborhood,
That’s how you rinse it

Jay Z’s 4:44 is the realest, rawest, most authentic version we've seen of the rapper in the past decade and we're anticipating a tour to see this more vulnerable version of him in action. 

The album is out now exclusively on Tidal.

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Written by Melody Amirkhanian