4:44: How Jay-Z just pulled a Tom Brady on Hip-Hop
There comes a time in every rapper, sports figure dominance where their immortality gets questioned. For Tom Brady, it happened in the first 3 quarters of Super Bowl 51 against the Atlanta Falcons. Down 28-3 Brady led the New England Patriots back to cement his stake as G.O.A.T in the NFL. Well, for the 2nd time in 2017 we witnessed history as Jay-Z dropped his most personal album–4:44.
Hip-Hop and sports heads have put Jay and Brady on a pedestal a long time ago. Then those same fans began to question their place in history among the greats. For Brady, it was the shadow of Joe Montana. For Jay, it was the existence of Biggie Smalls. But over the years each performer has truthfully passed their competition whether dead or alive.
While many feel as if Brady passed Montana a season or two ago with his 4th Super Bowl Victory–the jury wasn’t convinced until that 28-3 comeback victory over the Atlanta Falcons. It looked as if Brady was headed for a down offseason as questions regarding not only his place in history but his immortality were sure to be brought up. However, he made what will go down as the greatest comeback in SB history thus cementing his claim as G.O.A.T.
As for Jay– there are no scores kept in Hip-Hop. Album sales do not measure one’s success– if that was so then DMX would be considered the best. But Jay vanished from the music scene 4 years ago after the release of Magna Carter Holy Grail. He’s been around– featured on a few artist songs but a solo album was seen as an afterthought until he decided to drop one out of nowhere.
The big question was– what else does Jay-Z have left to prove? He’s done it all. Sold millions of records, made The Songwriter Hall of Fame, sold out concerts in minutes time and been mentioned with the likes of B.I.G. and Nas as the Greatest of All-Time. But little did we know that Jay had one more trick up his sleeve.
I remember watching SB51 and saying ” It’s over for the New England Patriots and Brady. No way Atlanta was letting them come back from a 28-3 deficit in the third quarter of the biggest game of the season”. Guess I had that one wrong.
I guess the same can be said for Jay. But it wasn’t due to any Hip-Hop beef. This was from his own wife. Beyonce drilled Jay-Z numerous times on her album Lemonade in which she went after the Hip-Hop mogul and the father of her 3 kids concerning his infidelity. For a person like Jay who’s kept his personal life private– this was a blow to his business and ego. There was no way coming back from this as rumors started to circulate that Jay and Beyonce were heading towards a divorce.
It was looking bad for HOV until June 30th, 2017. When listeners hit play on 4:44 his place as G.O.A.T was cemented and so was the greatest comeback in Hip-Hop history.
Not saying that Jay’s career was over but the one thing he held dear to him was– his personal life. Beyonce put their business on blast and Jay responded with his most personal album ever.
Brady proved his worth as the world counted him out against the Falcons and Jay just did the same after a vicious blow from Beyonce. While we counted both out, they never broke a sweat, just proved to us why they’re the best at their craft.
Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
