JAY-Z & Justin Timberlake
JAY-Z
JAY-Z
JAY-Z & Rick Ross
JAY-Z & Frank Ocean
JAY-Z
JAY-Z
JAY-Z & Travis Scott
JAY-Z & Justin Timberlake
JAY-Z
JAY-Z & Beyoncé
JAY-Z
JAY-Z & Nas & Justin Timberlake & Beyoncé & Swizz Beatz
JAY-Z
JAY-Z
JAY-Z
JAY-Z
In a video preview Jay explains the meaning behind the song. “It sounds like a celebration of where we are now on some big yacht, throwing champagne in the water,” he tells Rick Rubin. “But the undertow of the thing is that this is the same water that brought us here originally as slaves, so it has...
[Intro]
(You see this motherfucking face)
Blessings, blessings, yeah, I see..
[Chorus: Frank Ocean]
Elephant tusk on the bow of a sailing lady, docked on the Ivory Coast
Mercedes in a row winding down the road
I hope my black skin don't dirt this white tuxedo before the Basquiat show
And if so, well fuck it, fuck it
Because this water drown my family, this water mixed my blood
This water tells my story, this water knows it all
Go ahead and spill some champagne in the water
Go ahead and watch the sun blaze on the waves of the ocean
[Verse 1: Jay-Z]
Dope boy still smelling like cocaina
White boat, white robe, can he be more cleaner?
The oil spill that BP ain't clean up
I'm anti-Santa Maria
Only Christopher we acknowledge is Wallace
I don't even like Washingtons in my pocket
Black card go hard when I'm shopping
Boat docked in front of Hermès picking cotton
Silk and fleeces, lay on my Jesus
Oh my God, I hope y'all don't get seasick
See me in shit you never saw
If it wasn't for these pictures they wouldn't see me at all
Aww, whole world's in awe
I crash through glass ceilings, I break through closed doors
I'm on the ocean, I'm in heaven
Yachting, Ocean 11
[Chorus: Frank Ocean]
Elephant tusk on the bow of a sailing lady, docked on the Ivory Coast
Mercedes in a row winding down the road
I hope my black skin don't dirt this white tuxedo before the Basquiat show
And if so, well fuck it, fuck it
Because this water drown my family, this water mixed my blood
This water tells my story, this water knows it all
Go ahead and spill some champagne in the water
Go ahead and watch the sun blaze on the waves of the ocean
[Verse 2: Jay-Z]
Me and Ty Ty is like Pablo and Popeye
Winding dirt roads on mopeds spilling Opus
Welcome to the magnum opus, the Magna Carta
The best-selling author Decoded
On the holiday playin' "Strange Fruit"
If I'ma make it to a billi, I can't take the same route
Swoosh, that's the sound of the border
Swoosh, and that's the sound of a baller
Muhammad Hovi my back against the rope
The black Maybach, I'm back inside the boat
Shepard Fairey they finally gave me some hope
Can't believe they got a nigga to vote
Democrat? Nope, I sold dope
In trouble waters I had to learn how to float
On the ocean, I'm in heaven
Yachting, Ocean 11
[Chorus: Frank Ocean]
Elephant tusk on the bow of a sailing lady, docked on the Ivory Coast
Mercedes in a row winding down the road
I hope my black skin don't dirt this white tuxedo before the Basquiat show
And if so, well fuck it, fuck it
Because this water drown my family, this water mixed my blood
This water tells my story, this water knows it all
Go ahead and spill some champagne in the water
Go ahead and watch the sun blaze on the waves of the ocean
Oceans was written by JAY-Z & Frank Ocean & Pharrell Williams.
Oceans was produced by Pharrell Williams.
Yes. Jay Z and Kanye West reportedly argued over it. Jay Z said:
[There were] no lyrics on “Holy Grail” and I recorded “Oceans” and I played those records for Kanye. And he was like, ‘No those have to go on Watch the Throne,’ so we spent four days arguing about those records and I was explaining to...
It’s like me now, everywhere I go in life, and the things that I accomplish, you know when I walk in that room your past still come in with you. You know, people talk ‘Oh that guys, that’s the dealer from the projects,’ then back again to that duality. It sounds like a celebration of you know where...
This is likely the first time the two ever put pen to paper on a collaboration, although it was released fully 2 years after Watch The Throne, which featured Frank twice, on opener “No Church In The Wild” and “Made In America.”
Jay is referring to the Atlantic Ocean and the Trans-Atlantic slave trade which forcibly brought over 10 million Africans to America and the Caribbean.
On December 4, 2023, “Oceans” was certified gold by the RIAA.