It’s the last day of Pride month, and we all got a tingle-inducing little bonus: Jay-Z‘s mother Gloria Carter just came out on her son’s new album 4:44.
In the song “Smile,” (which samples Stevie Wonder), Jay raps about his mother’s sexuality:
Mama had four kids but she’s a lesbian
Had to pretend so long/she’s a thespian
Had to hide in the closet so she medicate
Society’s shame and the pain was too much to take
Cried tears of joy when you fell in love/Don’t matter to me if it’s a him or her
I just wanna see you smile through all the hate
Marie Antoinette, baby, let them eat cake
Then, at the end of the track, Mama Carter delivers the following spoken word interlude describing the pain of her life in the closet:
Living in the shadow, can you imagine what kind of life it is to live?
In the shadows, people see you as happy and free, because that’s what you want them to see.
Living two lives, happy but not free. You live in the shadows for fear of someone hurting your family or the person you love.
The world is changing, and they say it’s time to be free.
But you live with the fear of just being me.
Living in the shadow feels like the safe place to be.
No harm for them, no harm for me.
But life is short and it’s time to be free.
Love who you love, because life isn’t guaranteed.
Smile.
Beautiful. Come out of the shadows, Gloria, and be accepted for your authentic self!
Elsewhere on the album, as I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Jay-Z (yes, he’s back yo using the hyphen – it’s so confusing) apologizes to Bey in the song “Kill JAY-Z”:
You egged Solange on, knowing all along all you had to say you was wrong
You almost went Eric Benet, let the baddest girl in the world get away…
I don’t even know what you woulda done, in the future, other niggas playing football with your son.
And on “Family Feud,” which features vocals from Beyoncé, he acknowledges “Becky with the good hair”:
Yeah, I’ll fuck up a good thing if you let me
Let me alone Becky!
(via Jezebel; top photo: Pacific Coast News; featured image from Instagram below)
