By now, fans and critics alike have had ample time to fully digest JAY-Z’s 13th studio album, 4:44, which came loaded with a hefty number of subliminal disses and a few more direct shots.
Fellow Hip Hop titan Kanye West seemed to take the brunt of Hov’s lyrical wrath, but Future, Halle Berry’s ex Eric Benét, Rev. Al Sharpton, Bill Cosby and The Source owner/Prince’s former lawyer Londell McMillan weren’t safe from his verbal assaults.
Here’s how they’ve all responded (so far).
Eric Benét
JAY-Z started a whole new hashtag with his lines about Halle Berry’s ex-husband Eric Benét who famously cheated on his then wife. On “Kill Jay Z,” Hov warns to “never go Eric Benét” and lose the “baddest girl in the world.”
Benét clearly caught wind of it the day the album dropped and tweeted, “Hey yo #Jayz! Just so ya know, I got the baddest girl in the world as my wife….like right now!”
Future
“Kill Jay Z” featured a not-so-subliminal shot aimed at Future — about his ex Ciara and her new husband Russell Wilson being stepfather to Future’s son. Future later took to Snapchat, with what was considered by many as a response of his own. On “The Story Of O.J.”, JAY raps, “Y’all on the ‘gram holdin’ money to your ear / There’s a disconnect, we don’t call that money over here.” Future posted an image of himself with money to his ear with the caption, “U ain’t got the juice like dat. MOOD”
Boosie Badazz
Though he wasn’t named specifically on 4:44, apparently after Boosie Badazz heard “The Story Of O.J.,” he felt inclined to post a nearly 10-minute video to defend his braggadocious actions on the Gram. Much like Future, the same line caught his attention: “Y’all on the Gram holdin’ money to your ear/ There’s a disconnect, we don’t call that money over here,” JAY spits.
“In Louisiana, his words don’t fly,” Boosie said in response. “If you’re trying to get JAY-Z money, you shouldn’t put stacks to your ear. JAY-Z don’t tell me what to do. I don’t know about ya but he doesn’t tell me what to do.”
Although he claims JAY is “not a god” to him, he ends the video by saying how much he’d love to work with him one day. “I’d love to do a record with you too but your words don’t move me, homie,” he said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=25&v=0IXnD9D_g50
Londell McMillan
Owner of The Source and Prince’s estate lawyer Londell McMillan got name checked on “Caught Their Eyes.” JAY-Z essentially calls McMillan out for only seeing Prince as a source of revenue. Prince, who passed away in April 2016, had been entangled in a lawsuit with Warner Bros. throughout the ’90s, which prompted him to change his name to a symbol and write “slave” across his face. Since his death, there have been disputes over who will inherit his estate.
“I sat down with Prince, eye to eye/ He told me his wishes before he died / Now, Londell McMillan, he must be color blind/ They only see green from them purple eyes / This guy had ‘slave’ on his face/ You think he wanted the masters with his masters?/ You greedy bastards sold tickets to walk through his house/ I’m surprised you ain’t auction off the casket.”
McMillan responded by talking about his relationship to the late music icon. He told Billboard: “I like the beat, but I wonder who he thinks helped Prince to take ‘slave’ off of his face. It was a homie Jay Z grew up with in the same neighborhood, Londell McMillan.”
He also tweeted on the day 4:44 came out, “Yes, I heard the track! Not focusing on a diss track now. Focused on not letting WBR control masters. I do like the beat. #Emancipation2.”
Solange Knowles
Beyoncé’s sister Solange is reportedly thrilled her brother-in-law owned up to his past indiscretions and apologized to his wife. He mentions the “Cranes In The Sky” singer on the song “Kill Jay Z,” along with the infamous elevator fight caught on CCTV. “You egged Solange on/ Knowin’ all along/ All you had to say you was wrong,” he spits.
According to a source close to Solange who spoke to Hollywood Life, “Solange isn’t angry anymore and accepts that Jay has changed and loves how he has manned up and has become the man that her sister deserves.”
Al Sharpton
Rev. Al Sharpton was quick to respond to JAY’s reference to him on “Family Feud,” the sole track to feature Beyoncé. “Y’all whole pass is in danger, 10 Mississippi/ Al Sharpton in the mirror takin’ selfies/ How is him or Bill Cosby s’posed to help me?,” Hov asks.
Sharpton’s response? To post more selfies. “Tell Jay Z we still taking selfies…but I’m taking care of business down here too!,” he captioned a photo.
Kanye West
*crickets*
and people give Game grief for name dropping….
Jay-Z smart he no how to sell albums
He no how? What in sweet fuck? He NO how??? Yall need to stop jammin to this fuckin mumble rap shit and learn the language. Unless you’re 7 or foreign n still learning the ropes, you have no excuses.
Ok hhdx. Let’s get back to hip hop as a whole. How many Jay articles must we endure?
Would you rather have the usual onslaught of Drake articles?
Actually. No. You have a point.
Jay said Pill Cosby, not Bill Cosby. I swear it.
F^ck Gay-Z! F^ck his mediocre album! F^ck all ’em N.i.g.g.a.z responding to him! F^ck HHDX!
F^ck you.
You’re doing exactly Jay-Z wants you to do!
Yo you guys are reaching sooo hard with this Future diss shit. Jay didn’t diss Future. Stop it.
Nas fans are maaaaddd! Hahaha! Jay is as relevant as ever with a quality album and Nas is still wondering if A.I and Hova deep dicked Camen. NAS LOST… end. of, story.
Well Nas only has 1 classic album, while Jay Z has a few, so no contest there.
Gtfoh, only one? Jay and Nas both can be considered owners of 2-plus (2+) classics: Reasonable Doubt, Blueprint, and Illmatic, Stillmatic. Black Album, God’s Son, Life and Times and Hip Hop Is Dead, among others, are stronger albums than other rappers will ever put down on wax. Im not even a Jay fan, but call a spade a spade. Just kuz it wasnt your flavor don’t mean it aint quality. PS: Illmatic, by all accounts, trumps 85% of all american made musical albums ever created. Thats why even Congress added it to their national archives when nothing else quasi-represented hip hop in it but The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. No Jigga there, little man.
Why would Nas fans be mad? Him and Jay squashed their beef well over a decade ago.
Hahaha broke ass and homeless modafuckaz are on hatin shit, thank God you knew who Nas was but he didn’t know who you are. Now tell me who is a looser?
Stop supporting pedophilia by acknowledging this racist global elitist piece of trash
lol “Racist”. You exposted yourself as a jealous white boy.
I’m confused. Are you talking about the internet you’re using?
Seems like someone is lost on what racist means. A man of color can never be a racist dummy. You need to do your research about that word before you throw it around. Jive Turkey
I’m confused as well. What are you talking about? Jay-Z dropped R. Kelly (the REAL pedophile) from his tour YEARS ago because of the allegations. I think you’re confused in who the pedophile is!
jay z just took a page out of EMINEM’ S book. Em a master at that getting people to check out his albums by talking shit about a lot of differnet celebrities .
Im with boosie on it guys like jay got rich fron sucking peoples dicks and constantly playing with other peoples money and other peoples bussinesses never independant always just a puppet at least guys like boosie young dolph and alot of these artists on the come up are smart enough to stay independant and work with what they got get plenty rich (obviously not diddy or jay rich) and keep there souls at the end of the day unlike jay z or guys like diddy
Man you need to shut the fuck up and learn how to read
You do realize he came in the game on his own label that he started with his own money (and two other people). Also, he is independent, u do realize he owns his own Masters right? Also, how do u think the rich get richer? By spending other people’s money.
EASTCOAST is number one we still running dig deep u’ll SEE!