When JAY-Z released his new visual album 4:44 last month, and appeared to respond to accusations of his infidelity on Beyoncé's album Lemonade, fans of the couple were taken aback by his openness and honesty when it came to apologising to the leading lady in his life.
However, reactions to the rapper's new music took a turn for the worse this week, after the 47-year-old released the video for the title track '4:44'.
In the eight-minute montage, released exclusively on TIDAL (annoying if you don't have a subscription, but you can watch a snippet here), footage can be seen of a young boy singing Nina Simone's song 'Feeling Good', before it segues into a clip of singer/activist Eartha Kitt from her 1983 documentary All by Myself: The Eartha Kitt Story, in which she discusses love and compromise.
According to Billboard, the video then includes concert footage of JAY-Z and Queen B performing 'Drunk in Love', with the couple's daughter Blue Ivy in a clip at the end.
Bustle has described the video as 'a tapestry of black culture, black love, black struggle, black pride, and black excellence', with references to Simone, Kitt and artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.
But following suggestions 4:44 is the perfect accompaniment/response to Beyoncé's Lemonade – in which she appears to discuss her husband's infidelity by highlighting the wider power and strength of black women – her fans aren't impressed with the personal nature of JAY's new video.
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Beyoncé's fans argue that while Beyoncé removed herself from the context of her music and videos from Lemonade, JAY-Z rides on his wife's coat-tails and disrespects her privacy by including footage of their family in the video.
However, last week JAY-Z's 4:44 producer No ID revealed Beyoncé had a far more important role in the creation of the album than was previously thought and served as, what he calls, a "de facto A&R" for the project, so we have a feeling JAY-Z wouldn't have made the visuals for 4:44 without consulting and getting approval from Beyoncé first.
Which leaves us with one word of advice for JAY-Z: don't rumble the Bey Hive – they'll sting you hard.
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Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
