JAY-Z is officially four for four with the 4:44 visuals, closing out last week with one for the intro track, “Kill JAY-Z.” And like “The Story Of O.J.,” “4:44” and “Bam,” he follows up with a “footnotes” clip where he discusses the song’s theme with a collective of celebrities ranging from Kendrick Lamar to Chris Rock.
Although the main headlines about “Kill JAY-Z” revolve around a line about Kanye West, the entirety of the song is actually about killing off the JAY-Z moniker in order to get down to the nitty gritty truth.
“It’s really about the ego. It’s about killing off the ego, so you can have this conversation in a place of vulnerability and honesty,” Jay says in the clip. “JAY-Z, the public persona, couldn’t have this conversation. He has to be eliminated. It’s really Shawn Carter speaking to JAY-Z and he has to convince him to move aside.”
With thoughts provided by Trevor Noah, Roc Nation’s Van Jones, Chris Rock, Anthony Anderson and Mahershala Ali, the “Kill JAY-Z” footnotes can be seen below (via Tidal, of course).
