4:44… The dream is to be sold, never told

samplexample
Jul 21, 2017 · 3 min read

4:44 is sonically awesome. It sounds absolutely amazing.

Not sold on much of the content though.

A songwriting Hall of Famer and as adept at employing literary techniques as any other great, Jay is practicing subversion and containment here. He’s pulling the coin from behind our ears. The album is the work of a man championing capitalism, albeit of the black variety. Not as a man without a seat at the table either. Rocking brand new J’s, he’s hoping we’re receptive to a new face handing us financial advice as we scramble for what’s left after the last supper.

4:44 is the handbook scribed by Jay Z on his way to amassing a billion dollars, after referencing a lofty lifestyle, expensive liquor and obscure art in his music for the most part of the last decade. He also got to rub shoulders with Obama… who, incidentally, is still a nigga.

Both these men have achieved near mythical status, with Obama in charge of the ‘free world’ and Jay having lorded over The Throne. But, they’re still black… like us. So despite championing a personal brand that distinguished him both from other rappers and his core audience; and encouraged conspicuous consumption… it seems his hue has been at the center of his thoughts all along.

Capitalism is so effective because it acts as though it’s the patron saint of the poor. Patron Saint, used advisedly. Jay Z’s capitalism doesn’t differ; he’s read the current climate and tied in a ‘wokeness’ that many other brands have tried to capitalise on too. Teen Vogue. Pepsi. Nike.

Jay isn’t asking for a change of habit but merely a change of who’s at the receiving end of your spending. The rub is, he’s not your grass-roots black owned company. He’s long left the block and even though he’s rubbed shoulders with the former president of the United States, he’d like to remind us that he’s still a nigga.

Too.

4:44 seems to be the realisation that a consumer base rooting for you — rather than resenting you — is probably better for your bottom line. Especially when they’re behind you precisely because of your shared ‘roots’. Perhaps this is the perfect segue to this album acting as a companion piece to Lemonade, itself a project constructed by a team of writers and producers and disguised as ‘intimately personal’ — linking us through our shared experiences.

We know Jay rarely writes, but there’s a glaring paradox with Beyoncé not penning a large chunk of Lemonade’s glorious lyrics. It’s the same irony of receiving Jay Z’s million-dollar-advice for the low, low price of $9.99. It’s the black community contributing to Jay Z’ s pursuit of the billion mark. A transaction underpinned by unity, in the hopes of us sharing in his eventual attainment of #blackexcellence. It’s just. There is no ‘us’. Rarely do multi-millionaires see a ‘we’ when they stare into their consumers’ purple eyes. But Shawn Carter has definitely told/sold a marvelous story here and reinvented his brand simultaneously. A large part of this is due to how the story sounds. The project owes a lot to its production.

No I.D perfectly captures the sense of reinvention with his sonic landscape. The brilliance of the sampling is in its mimicry of the album’s themes and the rejuvenation of the artist. Shawn Carter the man and Jay Z the brand are undergoing a metamorphosis, and you can hear it. Whether the content speaks to us or not, that’s why 4:44 works. It’s like every other great product: it has a riveting back story, is easily digestible and more importantly… it’s affordable.

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