It's official: Jay Z will release his 13th studio album 4:44 on Friday, June 30th. He will headline Made in America, Austin City Limits, and Meadows this summer and likely take the album on a lucrative world tour.
Roc Nation has successfully kept details about the project under wraps; they started teasing mysterious 4:44 billboards started popping up across New York City earlier this month and formally announced the album Monday morning. Here's everything we know about the project.
This "Adnis" snippet
Shortly after formally announcing the album Monday morning, Hov shared a 30-second snippet from a song called "Adnis."
"Letter to my dad that I never wrote
Speeches I prepared that I never spoke
Words on a paper that I never read
Proses never penned, they stayed in my head"
It might be a visual album
During Game 3 of the NBA Finals, TIDAL debuted this following minute-long trailer featuring Mahershala Ali, Lupita Nyong’o, and Danny Glover. Don't be surprised if Jay released 4:44 as a visual album a la Beyonce's Lemonade.
Producers
Jay Z has logged time in the studio this year with Swizz Beatz and Zaytoven. According to LA-based filmmaker Chris Black, 4:44 is produced entirely by No I.D. More likely, No I.D. is the album's executive producer.
It will be available exclusively on Sprint and TIDAL
It should come as a surprise as no one who has followed Jay Z's ownership of TIDAL that 4:44 will be released as a Sprint and TIDAL exclusive. Sprint acquired a 33% ownership stake in TIDAL for $200 million earlier this year. Hov released Magna Carta Holy Grail as a Samsung exclusive in 2013.