JAY-Z and D’Angelo have joined forces for the first time on a newly released single called “I Want You Forever” — listen to it below.
The track, which also features director/musician Jeymes Samuel, appears on the soundtrack to Samuel’s new film The Book of Clarence, which Hov is also producing.
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The nine-minute song features lush production and loved-up vocals and harmonies from D’Angelo, who hasn’t released any new material since 2019.
JAY-Z contributes a spoken word-style guest verse that finds him waxing poetic about the apple of his own eye: “Life don’t taste the same without you/ Tears in my champagne ’bout you/ Quit playin’ girl, you know I’m crazy ’bout you.”
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He also raps: “Luther songs looped up in my head/ Love you for my life and I put that on my dead/ Put that on my daddy’s new porch, cigarettes/ He blew cancer rings, I got toxic traits.”
Listen to the track below.
“I Want You Forever” was previously teased by Jeymes Samuel, who said during a screening for The Book of Clarence: “It’s so deep. D’Angelo and JAY-Z on the same track. [It’s] 9 minutes, 33 seconds of absolute soulful biblical bliss.”
The Roc Nation mogul also discussed the making of the track on an X Spaces event to promote the film on Thursday (January 11).
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“As far as this song, it was just a feeling,” he said. “I didn’t wanna stop there actually. I didn’t wanna stop where I stopped. I was in Paris at the time and it was just a beautiful time, and I think [Beyoncé] was rehearsing for her tour.”
He added: “I didn’t wanna stop there. It was like, okay, let me put a placeholder in there saying, ‘Finish this.’ You listen to it and you vibe to it and it’s like, ‘You know what? It’s complete.'”
On the subject of lengthy verses, JAY-Z also revealed during the broadcast that his acclaimed four-minute verse on DJ Khaled’s “God Did” was not planned.
“It’s really the song that dictates the vibe of what’s going on. I didn’t start out to do ‘God Did’ as a four-minute verse. That’s not how it happened,” he explained.
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The Book of Clarence soundtrack arrived on streaming services on Friday (January 12) and also features new music from Lil Wayne, Doja Cat, Kid Cudi, Kodak Black, Jorja Smith and more.
The film itself, which also hit theaters today, is a biblical comedy starring LaKeith Stanfield, Omar Sy, David Oyelowo, Teyana Taylor and Stranger Things star Caleb McLaughlin, among others.
Stream the soundtrack in full below.
