Anyone who listened to Lemonade last year knows that Jay-Z fucked up. We don't know the exact circumstances that inspired Beyoncé's stunning visual album and lyrics about Becky with the good hair. But what we do know is that any material that Jay-Z released afterward would be involved in the same conversation as Lemonade.
Then on Friday he released 4:44, a subtle and intimate album that directly addresses his relationship with Beyoncé and his many past transgressions. It's his best album in a decade—honest and real. This is thanks to the production from No I.D., who—in a rare move in hip-hop—produced the entire album on his own, using a sampling of Jay-Z's favorite classic soul and funk songs. And while No I.D. and Jay-Z worked closely as a duo on the project, they had some important input from a third party, as the producer told The New York Times:
I always call Bey our de facto A&R. Pillow talk is the strongest conversation on the planet. Every song has to get past her ears, in my eyes. She came by a lot and played a good part in helping us get over hurdles on certain records. Of course she's genius-level with that.
Damn right she did.
She even sings on one of Jay-Z's big apology songs, 'Family Feud', on which he raps ""I'll fuck up a good thing if you let me / Let me alone Becky."
Nice to see things mending in the Beyoncé household.
