JAY-Z may be a 50-something mogul and family man with a billion-dollar business empire to run, but he continues to write raps on a regular basis and is at the top of his pen game.
That’s according to The Book of Clarence director Jeymes Samuel, who shed light on his relationship with Hov — who co-produced the film — in a new interview with Level magazine.
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“For one, we’re brothers. We speak all the time. So because we’re both creatives, it’s just an organic bleed into film and music, into art of all types,” Samuel said.
“I’m a floor-to-the-ceiling creative. I wake up and create pretty much until I go to sleep, which is why I’m able to write, direct [film], and then write, compose, produce, and perform all the songs for the soundtrack.”
He continued: “But JAY-Z’s exactly the same. This guy wakes up at, like, five in the morning and he’s creating from the start. If he calls me and he’s on the treadmill, I’m gonna get new bars. That guy’s running and composing literally the illest rhymes you’ve ever heard.”
JAY-Z’s involvement with The Book of Clarence has also led to new from the rap legend — specifically his first-ever collaboration with D’Angelo.
Jeymes Samuel revealed news of the song at a recent Q&A event promoting the film where he said: “It’s so deep. D’Angelo and JAY-Z on the same track. [It’s] 9 minutes, 33 seconds of absolute soulful biblical bliss.”
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The recently unveiled tracklist for the movie soundtrack revealed that the song is titled “I Want You Forever.”
The album for the film, which is a Biblical epic starring LaKeith Stanfield, Omar Sy, David Oyelowo, Anna Diop, Benedict Cumberbatch and Teyana Taylor, features a number of other big names.
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Lil Wayne, Buju Banton and Shabba Ranks collaborate on the already released “Hallelujah Heaven,” while the likes of Doja Cat, Kodak Black, Kid Cudi and Jorja Smith also contribute new music.
Meanwhile, JAY-Z’s last album 4:44 arrived in 2017. Speculation surrounding a follow-up gained steam in November when it was reported that the Brooklyn native was auctioning off a trophy case from his “Book of HOV” library exhibit.
The autographed trophy case highlights all of Jigga’s 13 solo albums with a 14th slot left blank, leading many to believe that a new LP is in the works.
Hov previously addressed the prospect of dropping a new project while speaking to Gayle King in October, saying: “I already [used the word ‘retirement’], I can’t do that ever again. I’ll say I wanna make music, but it has to be something important.
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“I don’t wanna just make a bunch of tunes. That’s not gonna serve me. It won’t feed me, first of all. I have to be saying something important. It has to mean something, you know? It has to mean something to a larger society.”
