On “Adnis” Jay pens an open letter to his late father Adnis “AJ” Reeves, who passed away from liver failure on June 19, 2003.
On Father’s Day 2017 JAY-Z dropped a snippet from “Adnis” to build hype for his thirteenth studio album 4:44, ahead of its release on June 30. The physical copies of the alb...
[Verse 1]
Uh, 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
Jotted on dotted lines, "I'ma fight you, nigga"
From stories that I heard, I'm just like you, nigga
Must've been some pain in your past, too
Must've been a karma that was past due
Must it be the energy that passed through
Must've been a pastor, many snafus
Started a good man, you married my mama
I was in her belly, you hurried that Summer
She had two kids from a previous mister
One family, I don't believe in half-sisters
Never treated my brother like a step, Pop
Remembered the many lessons when we stepped out
[Chorus]
What was you preparing us—
For?
[Verse 2]
Did you see the runt as the front-runner
Leader of the pack, you see that in your youngins
What ancestors did you summon to the summit
To give me what I needed, what you need to take from 'em
The tsunamis that I swum in to become in
Had the cable with the anchor for the places that I sunk in
Unc in a better place but you couldn't function
Shot junk in your arms, more than your veins was punctured
I punted on feelings, 'cause you said you was coming
You couldn't kick the habit, I wish you said something
You can't avenge these many sins with your own hands
You wanna make God laugh, just tell him your plans
Who would've thought I'd be the dad I never had
Be the husband I've become, usually nothing come from that
I forgive you as I live through the beautiful present of the past
I'm just thankful that I get all these gifts to unwrap
[Chorus]
What was you preparing us—
For?
Adnis was written by JAY-Z & No I.D. & James Blake.
Adnis was produced by James Blake.
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Anger. At the whole situation. Because when you’re growing up, your dad is your superhero. Once you’ve let yourself fall that in love with someone, once you put him on such a high pedestal and he lets you down, you never want to experience that pain again. So I remember just being really quiet and r...
In 2002 Jay told his mom Gloria Carter that “You know, Ma, I’ve really been trying to look inward, and maybe I’m just not meant to fall in love like other people do.” She knew at this moment that she needed to have her youngest son reconcile with his father—at the time they hadn’t seen each other in...
On the desk in JAY-Z’s Roc Nation corner office stands the only public photograph of Adnis “AJ” Reeves, taken on his and Gloria Carter’s wedding day.