Just weeks after he and wife Beyonce welcomed their newborn twins, Sir and Rumi, Jay-Z dropped his new album 4:44.
And boy, is there a lot to unpack!
Here are the biggest bombshells the rapper revealed on what’s already been dubbed his own version of Bey’s no-hold-barred visual album Lemonade, which famously revealed her husband had been unfaithful.
That cheating scandal
Bey famously hinted that Jay-Z cheated on her with “Becky with the good hair” on her track Sorry, and now he’s seemingly confirmed the infidelity rumours.
Yep, in the song Family Feud, which features vocals from Bey, the rapper addresses the cheating accusations and even name-checks Becky!
“Yeah, I’ll f**k up a good thing if you let me. Leave me alone, Becky. A man that don’t take care his family can’t be rich,” he raps.
He also makes what appears to be an apology for his wandering eye before revealing how his eldest daughter Blue Ivy, five, was his saving grace.
“I apologise, often womanise, took my child to be born, see through a woman’s eyes. Took for these natural twins to believe in miracles. Took me too long for this song. I don’t deserve you,” he spits.
“If my children knew, I don’t even know what I would do / If they ain’t look at me the same, I would prolly die with all the shame / You did what with who? What good is a ménage à trois when you have a soulmate, you risked that for Blue?”
Bey may have had more than one miscarriage
You’ll need the tissues for this one.
While Bey has previously revealed she’d suffered a heartbreaking miscarriage a few years before falling pregnant with Blue, it seems she actually suffered more than one, as Jay refers to multiple stillborn births on the title track 4:44.
“I still mourn this death, I apologise for all the stillborns/’Cause I wasn’t present, your body wouldn’t accept it,” Jay-Z sings.
His mum comes clean on her sexuality
In one of his most personal revelations, on the song Smile it appears Jay’s mum Gloria comes out as a lesbian.
“Mama had four kids, but she’s a lesbian/Had to pretend so long that she’s a thespian,” the 47-year-old says.
“Had to hide in the closet, so she medicate/Society shame and the pain was too much to take,” he sings.
Jay-Z and his mum, Gloria.
It is the first time he or his mother have publicly spoken about her sexual orientation but Jay-Z has long been a supporter of LGBT equality.
What’s more, later in the track Jay-Z says his mum has found love again and that he is supporting her 100%.
“Cried tears of joy when you fell in love/Don’t matter to me if it’s a him or her,” he sings.
He’s finally addressing that elevator incident with Solange
ICYMI, Beyonce’s younger sister was caught on security camera attacking Jay-Z in an elevator after the 2014 Met Ball, allegedly because of his womanising ways.
“Solange is super protective of Beyonce,” a source told People.
It was rumoured that the fight broke out because Solange spotted the rapper flirting with Rachel Roy – once rumoured to be Becky – during the A-list event.
And, Jay has finally hinted at what really went down.
“You egged Solange on/Knowin’ all along, all you had to say you was wrong/ You almost went Eric Benét/ Let the baddest girl in the world get away,” he raps.
His fraught relationship with Kanye West
Jay-Z dissed his ex-pal Kanye, calling his former protégé – who suffered a minor mental breakdown last November – “insane” on the song Kill Jay-Z.
“‘F**k wrong with everybody?’ is what you sayin’/ But if everybody’s crazy, you’re the one that’s insane,” he fumes.
Ouch!
He also claims he lent Ye $20 million to help cover his debts.
“I know people backstab you, I feel bad too / But this ‘f*** everybody’ attitude ain’t natural / But you ain’t the same, this ain’t KumbaYe / But you got hurt because you did cool by ‘Ye / You gave him 20 million without thinkin’ / He gave you 20 minutes on stage, f–k was he thinkin’?”
But apparently the lyrics didn’t go down too well with Kanye.
In fact, he has since cut ties with TIDAL, Jay-Z’s music streaming service, claiming they owe him more than $3 million in royalties – although his decision to leave is rumoured to predate the album release which throws shade at Kanye.
