Jay Z released his new album 4:44 last week on the streaming service Tidal, which he co-owns.

Initial reviews have been gushing over the American rap king's thirteenth album like ice cream in the sun, and the fact is that the 36 minutes in ten tracks are much deeper than they (or people outside of hip hop) might think at first listen. In fact, every word and every phrase is masterfully woven into the whole mosaic, and once again, Jay-Z produced the whole thing himself in collaboration with No. I.D., a well-known beatmaker from Chicago.

There's a lot of discussion over the album's title track, 4:44 (Jay Z reportedly got up at this time of dawn to write the song into its final form), as well as references to his wife Beyoncé, around whom the entire album revolves in themes and backing vocals. But of course, the media is mainly interested in the personal lives of the two, and looking for connections between Beyoncé's latest album Lemonade and this album. Frank Ocean is again the guest of 4:44 for the third time in a row, and for the first time ever, Damian Marley is here! Not only is he now a business partner of Jay-Z (co-owner of the new streaming platform Tidal), but he personally accompanied President Carter (as Jay-Z is nicknamed after his civilian name Shawn Carter and his music empire) to Jamaica after Tuff Gong Studio, causing a similar uproar on the island as when President Obama arrived there. It was from Kingston that the header photo, featuring Sister Nancy posing with Carter and Damian, originated. She is said to have been bought a ticket by Jay-Z to be there with them, because the track she and Zilla share is called Bam and is based on her notorious Bam Bam track on the Stalag riddim, sampled by Kanye West and many others

taken from jahmusic.net