The title track is arguably ‘4:44’’s stand out moment. In an interview with Rolling Stone, the producer recalls telling Jay: “I think people need to hear what they don't know,” giving him the push he needed to be so candid on record. that JAY-Z allowed himself to be so candid. It’s largely thanks to the support of No I.D. as sole producer and reuniting with longtime friend and hip-hop’s most celebrated engineer, Young Guru (for the first time since 2009’s ‘The Blueprint 3’) the album’s core team provide one hell of a triangle offence. Like a life coach championing black capitalism, Jay raps, “Y’all on the ‘Gram holding money to your ear / There’s a disconnect, we don’t call that money over here.’ John 4:44 sees Jesus pointing out that a prophet has no honour in his own country, and it seems that this was a clear inspiration to Jay as he continues to prove himself as a God level MC whilst offering up gems for those that will follow in his footsteps. He kills his own ego on opener, ‘Kill Jay Z’ before offering “a million dollars worth of game” on the empowering ‘The Story Of O.J.’ which sees him preaching the pursuit of financial freedom over living a superficial “high life”. This isn’t merely fodder for more gossip about the Carters, but words of wisdom, a lesson to be learned by generations to come. On 2001’s ‘Song Cry’ he went as far as admitting “I can’t see ‘em coming down my eyes, so I gotta let the song cry,” but with this confessional 13th album, the mask is finally off and he’s shedding the tears himself.

JAY-Z has given us a peep behind the curtain of his life on a few occasions - hidden gems like ‘Soon You’ll Understand’ from his often slept-on 2000 album ‘The Dynasty: Roc La Familia’ - but he’s never been as candid about his personal life as he is on ‘4:44’.

And of course he married one of the most dominant artists to ever walk the face of the earth.īut ‘4:44’ isn’t a JAY-Z album, it’s a Shawn Carter album. He’s an incredibly successful businessman (or a “business, man”). As an executive he’s given us Roc-A-Fella Records, Rihanna, Kanye West, Beanie Sigel, Freeway, Just Blaze and Young Guru - to name just a few. He’s a modern day Shakespeare, the first rapper ever inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, an extension of the late, great Notorious B.I.G. We all know JAY-Z is one of the best to ever do it.

Jay z 444 single