It’s official. Jay Z’s 13th album, 4:44, is no longer a rumor. The highly-anticipated project will be released at 12:01 a.m. on June 30 through Sprint and TIDAL.
In preparation for the project, Hov premiered a snippet of his song “Adnis” on TIDAL. The lyrics to the track show a reflective Jigga, pondering what he never wrote and never spoke to his late father, Adnis Reeves.
“Letter to my dad that I never wrote,” he raps. “Speeches I prepared that I never spoke / Words on a paper that I never read / Proses never penned, they stayed in my head.”
Jay Z’s complicated relationship with his father has been referenced throughout his career. In the trailer, it appears to be represented by Mahershala Ali, who plays a boxer, and Danny Glover, who appears and disappears as his trainer.
The album announcement follows a reported $200 million deal with Sprint and TIDAL. 4:44 will be available exclusively to Sprint and TIDAL users.
“Today is an exciting day to be a Sprint customer,” said Marcelo Claure, Sprint president and CEO. “Jay Z is a global icon and we’re giving customers an incredible opportunity to be among the first to experience his new album 4:44. Our loyal, existing customers, and customers who switch to Sprint, can experience the album exclusively, plus access a complimentary six-month trial of TIDAL HiFi, giving them access to content they can’t get anywhere else.”
Earlier this month, banners emblazoned with 4:44 mysteriously popped up across the country and online. A trailer for the album appeared during the NBA Finals, prompting speculation about a possible LEMONADE-like visual to accompany the LP.
4:44 will be Jay’s first studio album since 2013’s Magna Carta…Holy Grail, which spawned the hit singles “Holy Grail” and “Tom Ford.”
RapUP.com