![]() Jay-Z may no longer conjure the poetical flights of fancy and enigmatically cool flows he achieved on past classics like 1996’s “22 Two’s” and 2000’s “Change the Game.” His rhythm and cadence often lands awkwardly, especially on “Caught Their Eyes” and “Bam.” But his occasional lack of vocal grace is the reason why 4:44 is so mesmerizing. ![]() Save for a few modest cameos – a poem from his mother on “Smile,” and vocals from Frank Ocean, The-Dream, Kim Burrell, Damian Marley, and, of course, his wife – there are few distractions from Jay-Z killing his much-celebrated ego on “Kill Jay Z,” and admitting, “This ‘fuck everybody’ attitude ain’t natural.” More deeply crate-dug loops of Eighties prog-rockers the Alan Parsons Project (“Kill Jay-Z”) and a 1970 tune from Portuguese psych crew Quarteto 1111 (“Marcy Me”) sound warm and earthy. No I.D.’s use of black music standards like Stevie Wonder’s “Love’s in Need of Love Today” (“Smile”), Nina Simone’s “Four Women” (“The Story of O.J.”) and Donny Hathaway’s “Someday We’ll All Be Free” sets a tone of familial warmth. Some listeners have complained about the album’s grungy mixing, but given the world-class reputation of Jay’s longtime engineer Young Guru, its lack of sonic clarity feels intentional. The Democratic Plot To Take Down Their Impeachment HeroĬomplementing this more down-to-earth Jay is the stark and muddy sound of 4:44. On the same song, he riffs, “Rich nigger, poor nigger, house nigger, field nigger/Still nigger.” Elsewhere on “Family Feud,” he argues for black unity at home and in the community and raps, “What’s better than one billionaire? Two/Especially if it’s from the same hue as you.” It’s not exactly a progressive call for economic justice, but it’s a far cry from “Niggas in Paris,” where he and Kanye raved at being the rare black faces in a sea of lily-white plutocrats, or when he bragged about velvet rope exclusivity on Drake’s “Pound Cake” (“Less is more, niggas, there’s plenty of us”). “Financial freedom my only hope/Fuck living rich and dying broke,” he raps on “The Story of O.J.” However, he now seems to acknowledge that self-help strategies are not a panacea for the world’s ills. ![]() and Danica Patrick in Monaco in the video for 2006’s “Show Me What You Got” and collaborating with famed performance artist Marina Abramović in the clip for 2013’s “Picasso Baby.” And while he may be at his most unguarded here, Jay-Z’s interest in black capitalism, and the monetization of black celebrity excellence as a means to enhance personal wealth hasn’t dimmed. In the years starting with 2006’s Kingdom Come, he has manipulated the popcorn gallery’s interest in his adventures into a bulwark against irrelevance, leveraging it for bigger-is-better pretensions, like racing cars with Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jay-Z has long exulted in his reputation as the Most Interesting Man in Hip-Hop. ![]()
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