In a typical move by the music mogul, JAY-Z has announced the upcoming release of his new album 4:44 following the globally-anticipated birth of his and Beyonce’s twins earlier in the week.
JAY-Z (aka Shawn Carter) has a track record of dropping album announcements to coincide with memorable life experiences. Cast your minds back to 2008 when his and Beyoncé’s marriage propelled his Heart of the City tour with Mary J. Blige; and the intense speculations of adultery and marital troubles that drove their On the Run tour, of which Beyoncé later reignited with her visual album Lemonade.
The new album was announced via a tweet from TIDAL, linking a short clip from an upcoming song titled Adnis.
.@S_C_ ‘4:44’ https://t.co/mM3hBjHr84 #TIDALXSprint pic.twitter.com/dZIddQsz5t
— TIDAL (@TIDALHiFi) June 19, 2017
The clip hints of a visual album release, with the Adnis video featuring Mahershala Ali and Danny Glover. According to a longer teaser trailer that aired during the NBA finals, Lupita Nyong’o will also be making an appearance in Adnis. Speculation is rife that 4:44 will be Jay Z’s version of Lemonade, perhaps without the blatant themes of adultery since, you know… Beyoncé just gifted him with twins.
As per Mr. Carter’s lucrative business philosophy, the album announcement also promoted his Sprint-backed streaming service, TIDAL. The album will be available exclusively to Sprint and TIDAL customers, following their recent partnership. Whether the album will eventually be released on a wider scale is yet to be confirmed.
4:44 will be dropping on the 30th of June, exclusively on streaming service TIDAL.
