Here, bold creativity and corporate calculus attempt to occupy the same place at the same time, a tension that results in the mixed feelings expressed here. In what seems to be a direct musical response, Jay-Z is uncharacteristically revealing, which makes the album beautifully brazen and uncomfortably shallow. With this backdrop already in place, fans, music critics, and serious news outlets alike lapped up the salacious details of hip-hop’s reigning royal relationship. While the through line of the album is both introspective and apologetic, the context for nearly all of the content was provided by Jay-Z’s wife Beyoncé, who aired the couple’s problems in her 2016 album, Lemonade. The latest addition to his expansive and impressive catalogue is 4:44, a full album released on his record label Roc Nation and launched exclusively for streaming and download on Tidal, a music sharing service partly owned by Jay-Z (availability has since expanded to include every digital storefront and streaming service except for Spotify).
On June 30, 2017, the world began to devour and digest the thirteenth solo album by American rapper and business mogul Jay-Z.
