Jay-Z’s act of contrition in 4:44

Don’t you just wish that all confessions and apologies could be generated into money-making machines like what is happening to Jay-Z’s 4:44 album these days. Then, can you just imagine the big number of men and also women who thought beating their chests would only be too glad to own up to their wrongdoings and atone for them. 

This is what Jay-Z has done with 4:44. With seemingly everybody eager to hear what he has to say, then every stream, with every CD or vinyl sold, and soon also with every concert ticket, Jay-Z is adding more and more to the millions he already has. Jay-Z is now not only a rapper but also a businessman with his hands in sports, clothing and various fields of entertainment like the music streaming platform Tidal and the promoter Roc Nation.

I read somewhere that when pooled together Jay-Z and his wife Beyoncé are worth over a billion dollars. Not bad for a kid who once sold crack and was nearly killed in the tough streets of New York. This does not mean though that all is bliss for Jay-Z. He has problems and some of them like infidelity, are caused by his own doing. And those are what he addresses in 4:44.

Hints in Beyoncé’s album Lemonade must have been what drove Jay-Z to the confessional and he does address the issue in the title track. 4:44 is so called because it was at this time one morning when he woke up and wrote this rap as his act of contrition. But he goes beyond that. Jay-Z who is now 47 years old, has decided to take a hard totally, uncompromising look at his life, about family, about being black and rich, his friends and enemies, his gay mother, other issues and his future legacy.

It is a tall order taking on all of those. But Jay-Z must have already written and re-written and edited and edited again all that he wanted to say in his mind for a long time. As a result, he got everything off his chest in clear, precise language while taking only a little over 35 minutes. 4:44 is short but I must say heartfelt. Jay-Z has done better albums, where music and rhyme came together with exciting brilliance but this one is his masterpiece. The term “heart and soul” sounds cliché but that is what this album has.

Tracks are: Kill Jay-Z; The Story Of O.J.; Caught Their Eyes featuring Frank Ocean; Family Feud feat. Beyoncé; Bam feat. Damian Marley; Moonlight; Marcy Me; and Legacy. Best ones are Smile feat. Jay-Z’s mother, Gloria Carter, who is revealed as gay, in a bit of poetry and of course, every woman’s dream cut, the 4:44.

Here now are this week’s big-selling albums with Jay-Z’s 4:44 on top. It is his 14th album to make No. 1 in the charts. These are the other titles in the latest Top 20 list from Billboard: Issa Album by 21 Savage; Damn by Kendrick Lamar; Grateful by DJ Khaled; Divide by Ed Sheeran; Evolve by Imagine Dragons; Something To Tell You by Haim; Funk Wav Bounces Vol.1 by Calvin Harris; Moana, the motion picture soundtrack by Various Artists; More Life by Drake.

24K Magic by Bruno Mars; Pretty Girls Like Trap Music by 2 Chainz; American Teen by Khalid; Stoney by Post Malone; Ctrl by SZA; Culture by Migos; Illuminate by Shawn Mendes; Hamilton: An American Musical by the Original Broadway Cast; Trolls, another movie soundtrack; and Witness by Katy Perry.

The Top 20 singles in the Hot 100 are: Despacito by Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber; Wild Thoughts by DJ Khaled feat. Rihanna & Bryson Tiller; I’m The One by DJ Khaled feat. Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper & Lil Wayne; That’s What I Like by Bruno Mars; Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran; Humble by Kendrick Lamar; Believer by Imagine Dragons; There’s Nothing Holding Me Back by Shawn Mendes; Unforgettable by French Montana feat. Swae Lee; Body Like A Back Road by Sam Hunt.

 Congratulations by Post Malone feat. Quavo; Stay by Zedd & Alessia Cara; Attention by Charlie Puth; Redbone by Childish Gambino; Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers & Coldplay; XO TOUR Llif3 by Lil Uzi Vert; Now Or Never by Halsey; Mask Off by Future; Slow Hands by Niall Horan; and Issues by Julia Michaels.