This Is His First 4:44 Interview
Impact. That’s what happened when JAY-Z dropped his 13th platinum album, 4:44, Released exclusively on TIDAL and debuting later at number one on Billboard, the album is considered by many to be his best and most revealing work to date. In a rare extensive sit down, Hov discusses the making of 4:44, Black entrepreneurship, misconceptions, Kanye West, fatherhood, his classic material and so much more.
Continuing our conversation, JAY discusses his mother, Blue Ivy’s feature, Swizz Beatz vs Just Blaze, rap beefs, Prodigy, his six classic albums, health, media and more.
UPDATE: Now on Youtube
Best Hov interview in a min. Nothing was off limits. YN you finally got that Hov interview and you and B. Dot knocked it out the park. B. Dot didn’t shy away from asking questions we wanted to know. No matter how personal.
THANKS!!!
hahahahaha You must be drunk or you finally come to terms with being yourself after being exposed. Either way, good for you!
RATHER YOU THAN ME is Album of The Year.
according to who? a delusional rick ross stan?
hahahaha You edited your comment. I seen the thanks, slipping ass lame nigga
as had a tough two years to say the least. From his public breakup with Nicki Minaj to exponentially declining album sales and finally his defeat in a rap feud against Drake basically making him the butt of every meme, Philly’s favorite Rolex-wearing rapper faced a healthy dose of adversity coming into summer ’17. But as many Philly hustlers do, Meek found it within himself to bounce back in a big way with his third studio album, Wins & Losses.
The LP finds Meek at his most concise and focused in some time. All 17 songs carry that raw, kinetic emotion that has made Meek such a force to be reckoned with but they are also much more dialed in and concentrated than anything on DC4 or his Meekend Music series.
While Meek has had a tendency to a use his aggressive bars on songs where a softer edge should take place and misplace his emotions—he has previously made love songs sound like battle raps and introspective verses sound like aimless flexes—this issue doesn’t arise on Wins & Losses. The MC centers himself appropriately, opening up the album with some technically sound rhymes on title track “Wins & Losses.” With a witty reference to Psalm 23:4, Meek raps, “As I walk through the valley with my ladder in flex/I’m the realest nigga in it, I just happen to rap,” which sets the tone for the majority of the album—staying strapped, facing hardship head-on and always being realer than real.
Conversely, he isn’t afraid to let his guard down on a few occasions. On “Heavy Heart,” he admits to his recent relationship and legal woes with lines like, “That bitch left me with a heavy heart/Yeah, still on them papers, they won’t let me off,” and even admits to his lack of solid character with “Nobody’s perfect/Showed them cash, he kinda made me nervous/Maybe I’m trippin.” This is a vulnerable side of Meek that he doesn’t often showcase. He even relaxes his hyperactive flow on the Chris Brown and Ty Dolla $ign-assisted “Whatever You Want,” proving to the ladies that he’s definitely ready to love again—and ready to cop the baddest one endless Chanel bags.
Meek has previously touched on America’s current racial tensions but not to the lengths he does on the poignant track “Young Black America.” This is the album’s best written and produced track with The-Dream taking point on the second verse and outro. Produced in full by StreetSymphony, the song samples JAY-Z’s “Momma Love Me” with well-embellished organ keys—just to carry Meek’s verse even higher. “Young niggas brainwashed, they just wanna rap and hoop/Could’ve been a lawyer until they came and shackled you/Felons on your records so them jobs ain’t gettin’ back at you/Them kids ain’t eat yet, so you can’t even sleep yet,” he rhymes, giving a taste of his hauntingly honest disposition on the trials young Black Americans face daily.
Just when you think that Meek is focused solely on the “losses” portion of the album, he pops up with Lil Uzi Vert, Quavo and Young Thug for some formidable flexing. “We Ball” is an uncharacteristic banger with both Thugger and Meek using out-of-pocket flows and instead of simply bragging purposelessly over a crashing beat, they rap about turning lost friends into wins in a much more relatable way (“Fuck it, we ball/For all the soldiers we lost”). However, “Fuck That Check Up” with Uzi and “Ball Player” with Quavo are a full scoop of predictability that could have easily landed on any of Meek’s previous releases. MP 808 and Maaly Raw get major kudos for the fire beats but unfortunately the rappers don’t perform as well.
Despite these minor stumbles towards the album’s end, “Price” reminds listeners that in one short hour, Meek has visibly shifted his dial from “completely lost” to “approaching victory.” He details that in order to be great you have to face setbacks that consistently make you stronger, which we all know is inherently true. If nothing else, Wins & Losses is a display of optimism from a rapper who briefly yet substantially fell from hip-hop’s good graces but aims to make his way back in a major way.
This interview might be the only thing keeping this shitty site alive and I already heard it on another website! Saggy cheeks and Bitch Dot still out here losing! Shut this piece of shit down!
This blog was tolerable when 90% of the people commenting weren’t trying to be Mac Diesel, and Elliott and B.Dot weren’t trying to be celebrities. *shrug*
Care212j
Cast248j
Elliott ruined xxl with his dick riding ways and now he has done the same with this site lol
I’m shocked, this site or any site like it still exists in 2017.. I was doing this blog thing before anyone heard of a rap radar.. and I left it long ago lol…
Funny Elliot Wilson, same guy who called all bloggers nerds LOL and made himself out to be BIGGER because he worked for a magazine & not the web..what a clown.
You sound bitter and broke!
Why would I be bitter about someone else contradicting themselves 100%? They look stupid..not me… no one getting rich off blog money.
u sound like a pussy broke nigga as well ..
Yea, I am broke.. you got me.. because I stopped blogging. Your hanging on to someone else’s idea like it’s your own. Blogs are for teenagers.
GET A JOB LOSER!!! FK YO FEELINGS YOU SLIMY LIL BAMA!!!
You are about 5 timezones behind your own ass. Guy who runs this thing made fun of bloggers..
Didn’t I see you last week on the news with a helmet, bat & some kind of a uniform? I thought you were headed to T Ball til I saw the NAZI BS.. grow up… Hitler died a long time ago.
#IRONY
Blogs are for teenagers. Enjoy being forever a pre teen.
Great interview !
I wonder how many ass did elliot kiss just to get this hov interview.
Fuck you taco bitch!
Fuck you too kris
This guy sucks elliot’s penis every morning..with a side of eggs.
😭😭😭
Someone is easily triggered. You don’t have a human mother… you were birthed by a retarded monkey.
elliot sucks cock like ur beaner ass lmao
You ride dick like b dot
Homo ass nigga, how you know about b dot riding skills…?
Your mother
Only a homo would know about homo moves like you. Booty bandit ass nigga
@Kris kompute get off this brotha dick, Aight?
You the only faggot @’n other niggas in a comment section. Get off my dick.
Shut up faggle monroe
i resurrected just for one comment and that is: jay z’s album was boring, lame and full of bitching drama. Im out
Damn the guys interviewing Jay Z are soooo bad I cant watch the entire
video. Elliot Spencer has on a fucking sports coat.. That nigga does
NOT connect with the culture. How can he have on a suit jacket and Jay Z
has a sweat suit… I see why Drink Champs is the number podcast for
the culture….
I love how B.Dot called Hov on his B.S. talking about people “children” but he still ducked the question.
Dope interview and a good luck for RapRadar……..
Why would so of the people who commented discount the entire site and interview yet you clicked on the link of the website you do not like to listen to the owner of the site speak to his friend in an interview. Folks have to wake up
I really dont give a fuck what Jay-Z has to say
Sad day y’all.. Viperial closed down. No more free music..smh
Will this be posted on sites outside of Tidal, like iTunes or other podcast sites?
Elliott was was like “I’m sorry master , no disrespect master” LMAO
making fools with no stripes , Official
rap radar hires there own trolls lmaooooooo
CHECK OUT MAINE HUNTIT NEW SINGLE, GET THE BANDS ON SPOTIFY HERE https://open.spotify.com/album/3Sdul2qCCpUvo251sCn9GV
I wonder if Jay z is Penny Penny child . DNA tests are needed .