The Meaning Behind Jay-Z’s Numerical Hit “4:44”

It has been six years since Jay-Z released his most recent album 4:44 in June 2017. However, as one of his most personal and introspective full-length efforts to date, it’s hard for fans to complain about this drought. With 13 songs full of intimate storytelling and thoroughly crafted raps, it’s only fair that Jay-Z is allowed to take his time working on his next potential LP.

The climax of 4:44 comes with its fifth song “4:44,” which inspired the name of the album and the direction it went in. Overall, Jay used the project as a quasi-response to his wife Beyoncé’s 2016 album Lemonade, where she sang about her feelings towards the scandal regarding Jay’s rumored infidelity. On “4:44,” Jay-Z is the most direct about this topic and uses the track to apologize to his superstar spouse for taking her for granted.

“‘4:44’ is a song that I wrote, and it’s the crux of the album, just right in the middle of the album,” Jay said in a 2017 interview with iHeartRadio. “I woke up, literally, at 4:44 in the morning, 4:44 a.m., to write this song. So it became the title of the album and everything. It’s the title track because it’s such a powerful song, and I just believe one of the best songs I’ve ever written.”

[RELATED: Behind the Musical Marriage of Jay-Z and Beyoncé]

“4:44” samples the song “Late Nights & Heartbreak” by soul band Hannah Williams and the Affirmations, and its, I’m never gonna treat you like I should, chorus is sung by Texan Jazz singer Kim Burrell. Throughout the verses, Jay includes many different allusions to his missteps in his marriage, whether it be his pettiness with Beyoncé or not being a good role model for his daughter Blue Ivy and his twins Rumi and Sir.

And if my children knew
I don’t even know what I would do
If they ain’t look at me the same
I would prob’ly die with all the shame
“You did what with who?”
What good is a ménage à trois when you have a soulmate?
“You risked that for Blue?”

The track, along with the rest of the entire album, was produced by No I.D., whom Jay previously worked with on hits like “D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)” and “Run This Town” with Kanye West and Rihanna. When speaking about the song in an interview with Rolling Stone, No I.D. shared how he pushed Jay to use “4:44” as a catharsis.

“That whole piece of music was created with me knowing: I’m going to make you say it on this song, and this song will be the only song you need to say it on so it wouldn’t turn into a full LEMONADE response album,” he said. “I boxed all of those parts in and said, here, what are you going do with this?”

Following the 4:44‘s release, the title track peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 and eventually earned a lengthy music video. For these visuals, Jay got a man and woman to give an interpretive dance to depict the harmony of a relationship, while also inserting clips of him and Beyoncé performing together, Al Green singing his 1972 hit “Judy,” and more.

Check out the thought-provoking music video below.

Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy