Rapper Jay Z addresses infidelity, newborn twins in ‘4:44’ album

LOS ANGELES | Rapper Jay Z let his music do the talking with his new album “4:44” on Friday as he addressed cheating on his wife Beyonce, the birth of his twins and this year’s Oscars best picture.

In the title track, Jay Z admitted in his lyrics that he “often womanize”, more than a year after R&B star Beyonce first shed light on his infidelities in her album “Lemonade”.

Jay Z pens a remorseful ode to his fractured marriage in “4:44”, rapping that it “took for my child to be born, see through a woman’s eyes” in reference to the couple’s daughter Blue Ivy.

He also mentioned their twins, who were reported to have been born this month but whose arrival has yet to be officially confirmed, saying it “took for these natural twins to believe in miracles, took me too long for this song, I don’t deserve you”.

Jay Z added: “What good is a menage a trois when you have a soul mate? You risked that for Blue? … my heart breaks for the day I had to explain my mistakes.”

Fans were left stunned last year when Beyonce made accusations in “Lemonade” that Jay Z had cheated on her, a rare crack in the seemingly perfect facade of one of music’s highest-profile couples.

In her song “Sorry”, Beyonce referred to a mystery woman, calling her “Becky with the good hair”, which is echoed in Jay Z’s track “Family Feud”, a duet with Beyonce in which he raps “Let me alone Becky”.

“4:44” was released exclusively on premium music streaming platform Tidal, founded by Jay Z, in partnership with U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Corp, which purchased a 33 percent stake in Tidal this year and made the album available via a six-month Tidal subscription to Sprint mobile customers.

It can also be heard throughout Friday across 160 U.S. radio stations on iHeartRadio, the digital music service for a network of traditional radio stations.

The 35-minute album features Blue Ivy on the track “Legacy”, in which the five-year-old asks “Daddy, what’s a will?” as the rapper expresses hope that his children use their wealth to promote “black excellence”.

In “Moonlight”, Jay Z tackles the impact of the film being named best picture at this year’s Oscars while in “The Story of O.J.”, the rapper explores black identity in America.

source: interaksyon.com

Beyonce gives birth to twins: celebrity news websites

U.S. singer Beyonce has given birth to twins in Los Angeles, several celebrity news websites reported on Saturday, citing unidentified sources.

Beyonce, 35, and rapper and music producer Jay Z, already have a five-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy.

E! News, citing multiple unidentified sources, reported the birth and that Jay Z and Blue Ivy were seen at a Los Angeles area hospital on Thursday.

Us Weekly, also citing multiple unidentified sources, reported that the couple welcomed twins earlier this week.

“Bey and Jay are thrilled and have started sharing the news with their family and closest friends,” one unidentified source told PEOPLE.

Reuters could not verify the reports. A representative for Beyonce did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

The celebrity news websites did not provide additional details, such as the date and time the twins were born or the sex of the infants.

The “Lemonade” singer, one of the most powerful women in the music business, announced the pregnancy on her Instagram account in February along with an image of her posed in lingerie and caressing a noticeable baby bump.

The announcement got more than 8 million “likes” in the first 24 hours to become the “most-liked” Instagram ever.

The R&B singer performed live at the Grammy awards in Los Angeles two weeks later, proudly displaying her swelling belly in a motherhood-themed show. She has since posted numerous pictures of her bare baby bump on her social media accounts.

The birth of Blue Ivy caused a paparazzi storm in 2012, with New York’s Lenox Hill hospital shutting down part of its maternity wing to accommodate music’s royal couple.

News of the pregnancy came less than a year after the release of Beyonce’s 2016 album “Lemonade,” in which she appeared to address long-standing rumors of trouble in her eight-year marriage.

The lyrics of several songs spoke about being cheated on, and regretting being married. But Beyonce made clear in the final tracks of the album and in music videos featuring Jay-Z that she had decided to stay in the relationship.

The couple have never addressed the rumors publicly.

source: interaksyon.com

Rihanna releases long-awaited album in streaming exclusive

NEW YORK | R&B superstar Rihanna late Wednesday released her long-awaited eighth album “Anti” as she offered exclusive early access through commercial tie-ups.

“Anti,” Rihanna’s first album since 2012, had been announced late last year but the timing of the release was a surprise and came hours after she put out the first single.

Tidal, the streaming service led by rap mogul Jay Z in which Rihanna is a partner, premiered “Anti” and said it would not appear elsewhere for the first week.

Rihanna signed a deal reported to be worth $25 million with South Korean electronics giant Samsung, which set up an “Anti” interactive website accessible on its smartphones.

Tidal said that Samsung users who used the website would be able to download “Anti” and receive a two-month free trial of the streaming service.

The release marks the latest effort by an upstart streaming companies to challenge the dominance of streaming leader Spotify through exclusive releases.

Prince put out his two last albums on Tidal while pop superstar Taylor Swift released a tour video only on Apple Music.

Streaming services, which offer on-demand access online, have grown rapidly in recent years and become a key part of the music industry’s commercial strategies.

Rihanna earlier Wednesday put out a first single from “Anti” that features chart-topping rapper Drake.

Entitled “Work,” the song is set to tropical house, the light-feeling electronic genre that has become increasingly popular in the past year.

The song returns to Rihanna’s familiar theme of feeling taken advantage of in a relationship, while Drake in his verse raps of his struggle finding intimacy.

“Anti” starts off with the track “Consideration,” a collaboration with SZA, an R&B singer who has come to prominence more recently.

“Anti” does not include “FourFiveSeconds,” a song that Rihanna released a year ago in a collaboration with Paul McCartney and Kanye West.

Rihanna quickly became one of the 21st century’s top-selling artists after releasing her debut album in 2005, but the Barbados-born singer’s prolific output stopped after a seven-year stretch.

The two-month delay between the launch of the Samsung website and the album triggered speculation among fans who wondered if there were disagreements behind the scenes.

Some music industry observers suspected that Rihanna did not want to compete with British ballad singer Adele, whose album “25″ broke first-week sales records in November.

However, it is unclear how Rihanna will fare on the charts as her album is not available for conventional purchase.

Rihanna has already announced a world tour to promote “Anti,” which will begin on February 26 in San Diego.

source: interaksyon.com