Download "4:44"
Album 4:44
- #1
Kill Jay ZJAY-Z
- #2The Story of O.J.
JAY-Z
- #3Smile
JAY-Z & Gloria Carter
- #4Caught Their Eyes
JAY-Z & Frank Ocean
- #54:44
JAY-Z
- #6Family Feud
JAY-Z & Beyoncé
- #7Bam
JAY-Z & Damian Marley
- #8Moonlight
JAY-Z
- #9Marcy Me
JAY-Z
- #10Legacy
JAY-Z
- #11Adnis
JAY-Z
- #12Blue’s Freestyle/We Family
JAY-Z & Blue Ivy Carter
- #13MaNyfaCedGod
JAY-Z & James Blake
4:44 by JAY-Z
Release Date
Performed by
JAY-ZAbout
“4:44” is the title track from Jay Z’s 13th studio album. It is an open love/apology letter to his wife Beyoncé and is the 5th track of 4:44. In the song he discusses being a bad husband and the possibility of cheating on her. It samples Hannah Williams & The Affirmations' “Late Nights & Hea...
4:44 Lyrics
[Intro: Hannah Williams]
Do I find it so hard
When I know in my heart
I'm letting you down every day
Letting you down every day
Why do I keep on running away?
[Verse 1: JAY-Z]
Look, I apologize, often womanize
Took for my child to be born, see through a woman's eyes
Took for these natural twins to believe in miracles
Took me too long for this song, I don't deserve you
I harassed you out in Paris
"Please come back to Rome, you make it home"
We talked for hours when you were on tour
"Please pick up the phone, pick up the phone!"
I said: "Don't embarrass me" instead of "Be mine"
That was my proposal for us to go steady
That was your 21st birthday
You matured faster than me, I wasn't ready
So I apologize
I seen the innocence leave your eyes
I still mourn its death and
I apologize for all the stillborns
'Cause I wasn't present, your body wouldn't accept it
I apologize to all the women whom I toyed with your emotions
'Cause I was emotionless
And I apologize 'cause at your best, you are love
And because I fall short of what I say I'm all about
Your eyes leave with the soul that your body once housed
And you stare blankly into space
Thinkin' of all the time, you wasted it on all this basic shit
So I apologize
[Chorus: Kim Burrell]
I'm never gonna treat you
I'm never gonna treat you like I should
Oh
[Verse 2: JAY-Z]
I apologize
Our love was one for the ages and I contained us
And all this ratchet shit and we more expansive
Not meant to cry and die alone in these mansions
Or sleep with our back turned
We supposed to vacay 'til our backs burn
We're supposed to laugh 'til our heart stops
And then meet in a space where the dark stop
And let love light the way
Like the men before me, I cut off my nose to spite my face
I never wanted another woman to know
Something about me that you didn't know
I promised, I cried, I couldn't hold
I suck at love, I think I need a do-over
I will be emotionally available if I invited you over
I stew over; "What if—"
"You over my shit?"
[Chorus: Kim Burrell]
I'm never gonna treat you
I'm never gonna treat you like I should
Oh
[Verse 3: JAY-Z]
And if my children knew
I don't even know what I would do
If they ain't look at me the same
I would prob'ly die with all the shame
"You did what with who?"
What good is a ménage à trois when you have a soulmate?
"You risked that for Blue?"
If I wasn't a superhero in your face
My heart breaks for the day I have to explain my mistakes
And the mask goes away
And Santa Claus is fake
And you go online and see
For Blue's tooth, the tooth fairy didn't pay
[Chorus: Hannah Williams]
I'm never gonna treat you like I should
4:44 Q&A
Who wrote 4:44's ?
4:44 was written by JAY-Z & No I.D. & Kanan Keeney & Hannah Williams.
What did JAY-Z say about "4:44"?
‘4:44’ is a song that I wrote, and it’s the crux of the album, just right in the middle of the album. And I woke up, literally, at 4:44 in the morning, 4:44 AM, to write this song. So it became the title of the album and everything. It’s the title track because it’s such a powerful song, and I just...
Who is this song about?
This song is vividly dedicated to JAY-Z’s evolving bond with his wife, Beyoncé. On this song, he goes over his flaws and regrets that have effected the bond–JAY-Z finishes off the song with the epiphany that without Beyoncé, his reality is no longer the fantasy it is currently.
What has producer No I.D. said about the track?
[With] the song ‘4:44,’ Guru had told me Jay had the idea of writing a song like that. So I went and made a piece of music that would box him in to telling that story. I remember him just looking at me, sighing. ‘Okay, I’m going home.’ True story, at 4:44 he wakes up in the morning and writes that s...
What are the clips in the music video?
The clips are viral videos that are meant to exemplify different facets of African-American culture as put by MTV.
These viral videos range from World Star Hip Hop fight footage to the news report of the Crichton Leprechaun sighting in Mobile, Alabama to interviews with singer Eartha Kitt and the o...
What has the engineer Jimmy Douglass said about his role in mixing the track?
In my head, it was like an apology. You don’t yell apologies, you know, you come somber, and you come in peace. That was my feeling about that. So to have it be as much of that as possible yet poke it through so you can, once again, hear the message.