JAY-Z, 4:44 and The Promise of Imagination

JAY-Z has returned after a hiatus of almost 3 years with his new project 4:44. The project (is it fair to call anything an album nowadays?) was released with JAY-Z’s streaming service TIDAL and in partnership with Sprint. No conversation about JAY-Z is ever complete without mentioning his various business enterprises as they are as part of the story as the music itself. As the rapper famously said on Kanye West’s “Diamonds in Sierre Leone remix” “I’m not a businessman I’m a Business man…” and much of how we think about the artist is tied to this narrative. Add to this to his oft-discussed private life with superstar wife Beyonce and his public elevator encounter with sister in-law Solange and you have an idea of the social backdrop in which this new project greets the world. A few days after the release the praise for 4:44 is almost universal. It’s been called a return to form for an all time great whose last project Magna Carta Holy Grail was considered an artistic failure and blatant money grab. The stakes were high for JAY-Z to prove a return to relevance at an age when few rappers find either critical or commercial success.

4:44 is the rare project that excels on almost all fronts. It has solidified JAY-Z’s place in hip hop history as the best to ever grace a microphone. If there are still those who feel differently 4:44 should put that to rest. This solidifies JAY-Z’s claim to the #1 spot and in a hip hop world that embraces (and eats) its young it makes him relevant again musically. This might be the biggest accomplishment of 4:44 in the larger scheme of things. Unlike most music, particularly rock music, hip hop does not embrace its older artist as much as it neglects them. The torch is not so much passed from one generation to another as extinguished in one and then re-lit by another. The pioneers of hip hop are largely forgotten as the music landscape shifts and moves in new directions. Of course, there are those who are fans of early hip hop and “golden age” hip hop but many younger artist claim to have little knowledge or appreciation for those who came before them. An entire cottage industry has developed to defend the purity of old man rap and its acolytes. 4:44 is proof that hip hop made by older artist does not have to be nostalgic. Instead it can be as vibrant, alive and most importantly socially relevant in perhaps only the way a record made by an older artist could be. Especially if that artist is JAY-Z. With one release he has reimagined what the work of an older artist could be. The songs are deeply personal from an artist who previously only offered glimpses into his personal life. His failings and shortcomings are on full display and make up the heart of the record. For an artform that still bares the weight of toxic masculinity this is no small feat. Vulnerability is not often welcome in male spaces (and hip hop is still primarily a male space) and 4:44 is an ode to vulnerability and  failing and what impact those failures can have on future generations. JAY-Z ruminates on potentially losing his wife and what effect that will have on his children as they mature and understand more of what kind of man he is, or isn’t. He pokes and prods at what we expect from a hip hop record and it’s biggest star.

This is a record about imagination. Ours as a listening audience and his as a creator of the work. JAY-Z’s radical economic imagination is where 4:44 falls short if you can call it that. JAY-Z has thrived in a capitalist system that rewards the few at the expense of the many. As I mentioned above he is a “Business man” and business has no mercy and takes no prisoners. The only thing capitalism understands is unfettered growth and that growth can only be fueled by exploitation. JAY-Z imagination of what is possible to truly foster change for more than his family and close confidantes is limited by a strict adherence to a capitalist model and framework. In this respect, JAY-Z is no different than most of us. We are all inextricably tied into the fiber of the capitalist construct. Change to JAY-Z is summed up in lines like this “What’s better than one billionaire. Two. Especially when they are the same hue as you..” More black billionaires is not a refutation of late stage capitalism. The wealth gap between communities of color and whites is huge and not receding anytime soon more black billionaires will not address these systemic inequalities. If the “grass is greener because they keep raking it in” as JAY-Z says we have to ask at whose expense is that raking happening? I can’t condemn JAY-Z for these shortcomings of radical imagination as to how we replace capitalism. I don’t have the answers to that question either and struggle with that reality each day. JAY-Z through 4:44 has given us insight into his flawed imagination. That should not lead to condemnation but to hope. Hope that he too can become part of a larger conversation on the physical, psychological and environmental dangers of late stage capitalism on all of the Earth’s citizen. We don’t need JAY-Z to provide all the answers but we can hope his introspection will eventually lead to much better questions. 4:44 is a singular work and it’s political shortcomings won’t change that. JAY-Z delivers music that is perfectly imperfect as work of art and capitalist critique. We can only hope he continues to grow his perspective on what economic inclusion means and what potential there is to build a radical post-capitalist future.