Watch the Throne, his full-length 2011 collaboration with fellow narcissist and frenemy Kanye West, has aged far better, its own “I’m planking on a million” crassness nicely undercut by the occasional burst of sincerely goofy exuberance. Even the highs got awfully cheesy-don’t forget that this is still Jay-Z’s only solo no.

His last two solo albums, 2013’s Magna Carta Holy Grail and 2009’s The Blueprint 3, were largely soulless and corporate affairs. (Not very metal, but definitely emo.) Making just the song cry would no longer suffice.īut even lifelong fans might’ve worried that tabloid prurience was all Jay had left to offer. Track 1: “Kill Jay-Z,” wherein he goads himself into a psychological breakdown (“Cry Jay-Z / We know the pain is real / But you can’t heal what you never reveal”) and grimly imagines a future where his marriage fails completely and he’s stuck watching other men play football with his son.

Tabloid prurience alone made 4:44 a sensation upon its release in late June, offering the spectacle of a very famous person groveling at the feet of his more famous wife.

Jay z 444 album of the year