4:44 Welcome Back Mr. Carter!

Welcome Back Mr. Carter! Jay-Z, Sean "Hov" Carter dropped his 13th studio album this past Friday titled 4:44, produced by No I.D. in totality! As a music connoisseur and lover of all things Jay-Z touches, I've got to say Friday definitely felt like Christmas. Don't worry if you don't have Tidal and haven't heard the album yet, the album is set for physical release and will include two bonus tracks!

This body of work is the most intimate release from Jay-Z since Reasonable Doubt.  Unfortunately this album is being diminished to gossip as a response to Beyonce's Lemonade album, confirming cheating rumors, but it's soo soo much more than that. The sample heavy album brings back a sound that we've been missing in mainstream rap albums (aside from Kendrick Lamar and  Kanye).

Here's my breakdown of each track on 4:44

1. Kill Jay-Z: Track 1 immediately kills the ego that is Jay-Z. He journeys through his past and the purpose of his future, Fatherhood, being a Husband, being a great Friend, enjoying the fruits of his labor. The death to the ego is the beginning of healing. On this track I imagine Jay-Z taking a real good look at himself in the mirror and thinking look at all I've done, from shooting his brother to selling drugs, and look where I am and look what I've become. "How do I enjoy this life without healing the wounds of my past?" which includes him addressing the breakdown in his relationship with his brother Kanye West and his wife Beyonce. The track ends with him saying "Nah Jay-Z, Bye Jay-Z". 

2. The Story of O.J.: Track two rapped over a Nina Simone sample is a "million dollars worth of game for 9.99". The song is the realization that as a black man in America, no matter how much green you earn, you're still a black man in America. So don't get too big for your britches. Don't think your celebrity will last forever. It's also a lesson in economics! When I heard this song I immediately wanted to break out a notepad, create a budget, and define and manifest some wealth goals in my life! Jay-Z urges us  to invest in our communities and invest in ourselves and  create real legacies, where OJ Simpson's legacy is overshadowed by his legal troubles . Our material possessions should be investments and not for pure consumption. Some of the most significant lines on this track is "You want to know what's more important than throwing away money in the strip club? Credit!" "You ever wonder why Jewish people own all the property in America, this how they did it: Financial Freedom my only hope!" ...Wise up folks.  

3. Smile: (my favorite song on the album): A story of intimacy paired with a sample of Stevie Wonder's "Love's in Need of Love today", Jay-Z raps about his mother's struggles with being a lesbian but not being out and free, and self-medicating that pain through drug use. This song also hits on the theme of legacy but legacy in a way that doesn't involve wealth, but the freedom that wealth brings, and creating good memories through the freedom of being one's self. Jay-Z dropped lessons in bars about owning your own publishing: " N***** playing for Power/ Till our Music is ours N*****only own Houses/ Ours was f**k you pay me/ Now its I pay you/ put the rest aside for Blue" . The song ends with a beautiful poem recited by his mother about living in the shadows and being free from judgement, including self-judgement. 

4. Caught Their Eyes ft. Frank Ocean: Jay-Z urges us to keep our eyes open to what's true and what's not, what's real and what's fake. He touches on his disdain with Prince's family selling the use of his  masters to Universal Music Group. To understand the significance of what Hov raps on this track in a few bars, you'd have to understand the huge battle Prince went through prior to his death to gain ownership of his masters in order to control his own publishing.

5. 4:44:  The apology. Jay-Z opens up about his relationship with his wife Beyonce. How he wasn't ready for her and who she is as a woman. For all his mishaps as a man. Its rumored that 4:44's title comes from Jay-Z waking up at 4:44 am to record on Beyonce's mic. If this is true, it makes since to me that the apology is the title track. When a man, or human at that, has done something to cause conflict in their relationship, when those things are unsettled, there's a lot of sleepless nights. There's waking up at 4:44 am and turning to your spouse and saying I apologize. This song is the most intimate I've heard Jay-Z. With Beyonce and Jay-Z being so private as a unit, it's a little uncomfortable as a listener to hear all the shit they've been through from miscarriages to infidelity, there's some heart strings pulled in this song. It continues the theme of death to the ego in track 1 as he realizes the exchange of an amazing wife and family, for Becky with the good hair. He publicly weighs what he's giving up in being ratchet lol. He ends the song by realizing the impact of cheating on his legacy with his children. Its beautiful how he metaphorically intertwines the ending of childhood with the ending of his legacy as a great father if Blue ever knew the things he had been up to. Essentially saying, if my Father ruined our family, he isn't as great as I thought he was...if he's fake, than so was Santa and the toothfairy. Deep!

6.Family Feud ft. Beyonce: Jay-Z samples the Clark Sisters intertwined with those beautiful Beyonce vocals. He raps about being a unit, as a family and  a culture, and investing in each other, "black owned things" My favorite and most notable lines are "What's better than one billionaire/Two/ Especially when they the same hue as you/ yaw stop me when I stop telling the truth". "Al Sharpton in the mirror taking selfies/ how is him or Bill Cosby supposed to help me" Family Feud, again, this album has a theme of legacy in every song. Al Sharpton and Bill Cosby were two prominent black male leaders in our community. One's legacy rides on exploiting the community and not giving back and the other is a sexual predator, who's idea of giving back is to tour as a speaker and give talks about how to be acquitted of sexual assault. These are figures we all looked up to (not so much Al Sharpton) and look at their legacy. Who's going to take charge? Who's going to teach young men to build wealth? Its like finding out your favorite Uncle that you looked up to as a child, stole from your sick dying Grandma.... Family Feud. 

7. Bam ft. Damian Marley: Yas! I have a feeling this will be a single. Jay-Z starts the track with "F*** all this pretty Sean Carter sh**/ N**** Hov!" so you know he's snappin on the song. He's proving that despite being far removed from the new wave of what the rap genre has become, he still reigns king . He's "calling out names" in a less than Kurupt way, but in a way that challenges the thinking of any of these young men that think they've made it, when they've only just begun. He calls them out for not building wealth, for not having a legacy, for celebrating as if they've made it, when they've really haven't done anything yet...for skipping leg day, when they don't run s***" Metaphors galore!

8. Moonlight: Jay-z raps over a Fugees sample "we stuck in la la land/ even we win we gon lose"  which is a metaphor in itself  based on the title of the song, Moonlight and the "mix-up" (insert side eye) of La La Land winning best picture at the Oscars over Moonlight, when its actually Moonlight that won. As a society, we've seen the work of people of  color be overshadowed by their white counterparts and peers. We can't just win off of the strength of our hard work without being snubbed. In this track Jay is telling rappers, don't let them Moonlight you. Don't let them put you in a box of being all the same "with the same flows" and telling you Macklemore gets the best rapper award over Kendrick Lamar.... Don't let them snub you. Wise up, stand out, and win!

9. Marcy Me: Jay-Z samples the sounds of Jose Cid's Todos o Mundo e No nadie mixed with the vocals of the-Dream; he travels home to where he started. He goes home. The song is play on Marvin Gaye's Mercy Me. A view of looking at what's going on around him and within him. I really love the vibe of his song. 

10. Legacy: The theme of the entire album starts with sweet little Blue Ivy (is it me or does she have a British accent? lol) asking her Father, "what's a will"...the song includes a sample of Donny Hathaway's -"Someday We'll be Free". Still airing on the side of intimacy and Jay-Z opening up with his struggles with religion because  one  of his earliest example of a Christian was his Grandfather, a preacher and a molester. Giving the word on Sunday, but living in sin everyday of the week. I think the purpose of Jay-Z exposing such heavy information is to show us how he's come full circle, as a man, in his spirituality, in his marriage , as a father , and coming full circle allows him to create a legacy that isn't tainted by his past. He's letting it all go. He raps about black excellence again and opening our eyes to the opportunities that are before us. We are not our past, we are not slaves, or at least we don't have to be. There's room for us to build a legacy. 

I love this album and everything it encompasses. I love the raw realness of Jay-Z. I've always respected his art of storytelling and his finesse as a businessman. But this album feels like his guard is down and the mask is off. He always talks about how he did it his way, and that feels real in this album. I think this album in itself is a legacy especially since he retired like 4 albums ago LOL! It feels like Kobe's last game with the Lakers.  

I feel like the response to this album is going to be similar to Beyonce's Lemonade, when people discovered that they're Black. That their wealth doesn't change their experiences of navigating the world with more melanin. 

Sign-up for Tidal, get you listen on and tell me what you think of this album!