Jay-Z admitted cheating Beyoncé in a recent New York Times interview. In a lengthy and rather personal interview, the rapper admitted the infidelity and discussed their relationship.
Jay-Z also discussed how the difficult personal moment translated into an intimate work that resulted in his new album ‘4:44,’ which nabbed 8 Grammy nominations.
Discussing the infidelity
After Beyoncé’s claimed album ‘Lemonade’, in which she lengthy sang about her husband’s infidelities, and the rapper’s own allusions to being unfaithful on his latest album ‘4:44’, Jay-Z has finally admitted to cheating on his wife.
The rapper opened up about his relationship with Beyoncé in a recent interview for the cover story of the New York Times executive director Dean Baquet.
Jay-Z said his painful childhood has affected who he is today. Including how he behaves with women, including his wife from who he drifted away.
“You have to survive,” he said.
“So you go into survival mode, and when you go into survival mode what happens? You shut down all emotions. So even with women, you gonna shut down emotionally, so you can’t connect.”
“In my case, like it’s, it’s deep. And then all the things happen from there: infidelity…” he added.
Later in the interview, Jay said.
“You know, most people walk away, and like divorce rate is like 50 percent or something ’cause most people can’t see themselves. The hardest thing is seeing the pain on someone’s face that you caused, and then have to deal with yourself.”
While “Becky with the good hair” remains a mystery, this is the most we’re getting from him.
Music as therapy
Much later in the personal and long interview, Jay-Z said that collaborating on Beyoncé’s album ‘Lemonade‘, which she was making at the time, was crucial to their growth as a couple. In fact, it was so crucial, that it may have stopped them from getting a divorce.
Baquet did not press Jay-Z on the details, but later in the interview asked,
“I’m trying to picture the scene when you and your wife both talked about making these very confessional, open albums. Was it difficult to say: ‘I’m gonna talk about the problems in our marriage. I’m gonna talk about how we almost lost things.’”
“And for her to say: ‘I’m gonna talk about my pain and anger at you.’ What were those conversations like?” he asked.
To which Jay-Z replied.
“It didn’t happen in that way. It happened—we were using our art almost as a therapy session. And we started making music together.”
“And then the music she was making at that time was further along. So her album came out as opposed to the joint album that we were working on. Um, we still have a lot of that music,” he added.
“And this is what it became. There was never a point where it was like, ‘I’m making this album.’ I was right there the entire time.”
Baquet asked, “What was her reaction to your work and what was your reaction to hers? They must have caused pain for each of you, right?”
As for each other’s reaction to their works, the rapper admitted it was rather painful.
“Of course. Both very, very uncomfortable, but the best place in the, you know, the hurricane is like in the middle of it.”
And that’s where we were sitting. It was uncomfortable. We had a lot of conversations.”
“You know. [I was] really proud of the music she made, and she was really proud of the art I released. And, you know, at the end of the day we really have a healthy respect for one another’s craft. I think she’s amazing,” he concluded.
Personal work nabbing Grammy nominations
While Bey and Jay music making ended up serving as a couple therapy, the result of that incredible experience was a couple of claimed albums.
Bey’s ‘Lemonade’ was definitely a turning point in her career and brought a lot of issues to public’s attention, such as black identity and women’s rights.
As for Jay-Z’s follow-up album, ‘4:44,’ venture into unchartered territory by marrying Black masculinity, emotional and mental health, and a journey towards generational wealth. As well as a public admission of his infidelity ad the pain he’s caused.
In his interview with the New York Times, Jay-Z explained what it was like to make 4:44.
“It’s very difficult,” he said. “Hard to hear songs back. It’s hard to perform … songs, but, um, I feel it’s the most important work that I’ve done and I’m very proud of it and the effect that it’s having on people.”
The work has definitely paid off since he received his first Album of the Year Grammy nomination as a result of his efforts.
On the backs of what was probably the lowest moment in their marriage, the two musicians reached new heights in their careers.
Source: Bustle