Damian Marley Confirms Jay Z is Working on a New Album

It’s been four years since Jay-Z released his 12th studio album Magna Carta…Holy Grail, a record which soared to the top of the Billboard 200, not to mention racking up nine nominations at the 2014 Grammy Awards, more than any other artist that year. Since, we’ve seen Hov busy with Roc Nation and Tidal, on top of raising a family with Queen Bey. The most recent verses we’ve seen from Jay-Z appear on DJ Khaled’s “Shining” feat. Beyonce and the Frank Ocean single “Biking” alongside Tyler, the Creator.

Last week, a series of mysterious ads sparked rumors regarding Jay-Z’s long-awaited follow-up to Magna Carta…Holy Grail, which has in the past been rumored as The Blueprint 4. The sparse ads read “4:44” in black font on a salmon pink background and appeared in several cities across the U.S, including New York City, where they could be seen at Times Square and the Jay St. subway stop in Brooklyn, the latter being a clear nod to Jay-Z’s roots.

Fans had plenty of evidence at their disposal to speculate these ads to be a new album announcement from the rapper/ business mogul, as both Jay-Z and Beyonce have a lot of ties to the number 4. Jay-Z and Beyonce have matching “IV” wedding tattoos; both of their birthdays take place on a 4th, their firstborn daughter is named Ivy, which, in roman numerals, is 4. Or, Hov could be signaling to the album fans have been waiting for, The Blueprint 4. Though these album rumors were momentarily hushed when the “4:44” ads turned out to be for a collaboration between Tidal and Sprint, there stands plenty of reason to keep them going.

First, the Tidal x Sprint collaboration is a movie clip featuring Danny Glover training Moonlight star Mahershala Ali to box. Sprint also released a statement when the ad went live during the NBA finals. CEO of the company, Marcelo Claure, tweeted, “Excited to bring @Sprint customers exclusive content through our partnership with @TIDALHiFi – more news coming tomorrow!!” Because of how little we know about the Tidal x Sprint collaboration, we have enough of a reason to believe the ads and movie clip could be from a new Jay-Z music video or album trailer. And this isn’t just wishful thinking, because other industry figures are beginning to speak out about Hov’s upcoming project.

Over the weekend, Hov was seen in Kingston, Jamaica with reggae artist Tarrus Riley and Tidal co-owner Damian Marley. And according to a Billboard interview with Marley, he was in fact working with Jay-Z on new material. And not only did he confirm new material, but he clarified that the session was for a Jay project and would not appear on Marley’s upcoming album Stony Hill. “We did some work in the studio recently and he wanted to come to Jamaica to get a tour of the place,” he told Billboard. “[…] Well, I did some work with him for some stuff that he’s working on. I’m not really sure of the details of his project in that sense, but we worked on some music together.

Damian Marley isn’t the only artists beginning to spill the beans about Jay-Z’s new album. Earlier this week, Roc Nation rapper Vic Mensa opened up about “4:44” and Jay’s new music. He remained coy when asked about “4:44”, stating “It’s an important number. It’s symbolic. It means things and people will find out.” Vic went on to suggest that he’d already listened to new Jay tracks, but also admitted he doesn’t know many details. “I actually don’t know any types of timelines or anything. It’s not mine,” Mensa said before he was questioned about the rumored album. “I might have heard some, a little bit.”

Though evasive, we’re grateful for these clues from Vic Mensa, who may also have a feature on the new Jay-Z album, considering he’s a Roc Nation signee and when asked if he’d appear on the album answered with a “we’ll see”. We wouldn’t be surprised if Mike WiLL Made-It and Zaytoven rack in production credits on the new Jay-Z album, considering they’ve been rumored to either be in studio with or sending beats to Jay for the past year or so. And don’t forget, back in May, Swizz Beats took to Instagram to post a picture with Jay-Z, stating the artist is in full album mode.

They don’t even know what’s about to happen ????? Album ModeZone⚡️

A post shared by therealswizzz (@therealswizzz) on May 4, 2017 at 10:02pm PDT

We’re not sure when the new Jay-Z album will surface on Tidal and beyond, but we suggest keeping your eyes peered for more “4:44” ads, as they could be signaling something big. Here’s to hoping that Hov blesses us with The Blueprint 4 or an even better record in 2017.