The Message Behind ‘Kill Jay Z’ Is Revealed, And It’s Deep - WATCH

25 July 2017, 11:28

Jay addresses the two sides of his personality that have helped his achieve greatness and almost destroyed him.

The opening track on Jay Z's new album ‘4:44’ is one of the most personal, with Hov not holding back in his self-criticism.

“Cry Jay Z, we know the pain is real / But you can't heal what you never reveal / What's up, Jay Z? You know you owe the truth / To all the youth that fell in love with Jay Z,” he raps, suggesting his music persona is done.

In the latest footnotes video for ‘4:44’, in which he explains his work, he says how Jay Z the persona needs to move aside so he can move on:

“It’s about killing off the ego so we can have this conversation in a place of vulnerability and honesty,” he says. “So it’s really Shawn Carter speaking to Jay Z and he has to convince him to move aside.”

A snippet of the footnotes video was posted on Twitter from the Tidal account. In it comedian Trevor Noah and commentator Van Jones elaborate on the theme of ego.

“Your ego is always your best friend and your worst enemy,” Jones says. 

“If you have ambition then you have to have that engine of some ego to get you there. But I think as an African-American man you have to have it twice because the grade is steeper, the obstacles are bigger.”

Noah talks more about the danger of ego: “If you’re talking about that ego and that arrogance, I think I’m afraid of it, because I’ve only seen its negative effects.”

The full footnotes for ‘Kill Jay Z’ can be watched exclusively through Tidal.

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