In yet another confessional addendum to one of his music videos, Jay-Z has released “Footnotes for 4:44†days after he shared the video for his new album’s title track. Like his “Footnotes for the Story of O.J.,†the video features a number of interviews with famous men of color — Chris Rock, Will Smith, Kendrick Lamar, Chris Paul, Jesse Williams, Aziz Ansari, Mahershala Ali, Lil Rel, Meek Mill, and more — about toxic masculinity, black love, and relationships with women. It’s an especially eye-opening account from Jay-Z about the emotional toll the near-dissolution of his marriage to Beyoncé took on them both and what led to their breaking point, without getting into specifics.
“This is my real life. I just ran into this place and we built this big, beautiful mansion of a relationship that wasn’t totally built on the 100 percent truth and it starts cracking. Things start happening that the public can see,†he says. “Then we had to get to a point of ‘Okay, tear this down and let’s start from the beginning … It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.â€
He alludes to the fact that fighting for his marriage was more difficult to overcome than growing up in Marcy Projects and being shot at, and recalls a moment on vacation with Beyoncé where he begged her not to go. “What is happening to my body right now? Did I just say … ‘Don’t leave’? All this is new for me,†he says. In a later clip filmed in his studio surrounded by his friends and team, Jay-Z also reveals that he played “4:44†for Beyoncé early on: “We just got to a place where in order for this to work, this can’t be fake. Not one ounce. I’m not saying it wasn’t uncomfortable because obviously it was.â€