Social media has been abuzz with excitement around Jay-Z for the last 12 hours since a couple of Instagram Stories hinting that the acclaimed rapper may be working on a new album in 2024 went viral.
To date, Jay-Z has released 13 solo studio albums, four collaboration albums, one live album, one compilation album, one soundtrack album, and two extended plays. His last solo studio album was 4:44, released in 2017. The album topped music charts in the US and Canada.
All about the rumours around the Jay-Z album of 2024
Two Instagram Stories that went viral
The conversation around Jay-Z possibly working on a new album in 2024 started when director Hidji World took to Instagram to share a screenshot of a conversation and a picture of a first-take film slate in two separate Stories.
The screenshot is seen in the first Story, in which the director is seen telling a friend via text message that he is “shooting today.” When the friend asks who he is filming, Hidji World replies “Jay-Z.”
Around two hours after posting the screenshot, Hidji World shared a new Instagram Story showing a film slate bearing the production title ‘JAY-Z – 2024 ALBUM.’
The slate can be seen carrying the names of Hidji as director, Leroy Farrell as the person behind the camera, and shooting of 28 January 2024.
Roc Nation responds to rumours
As the rumours intensified, Jay-Z’s entertainment company Roc Nation took to social media via a comment on X (formerly Twitter) on a post on the possibility of the rapper releasing an album in 2024.
“That’s news to us,” Roc Nation commented in a retweet of a post by NFR Podcast which reported that “A NEW JAY-Z ALBUM IS BEING TEASED FOR 2024.”
That’s news to us https://t.co/19LGtkhtlN
— Roc Nation (@RocNation) January 28, 2024
Neither Roc Nation nor Hidji World have so far issued a formal comment on whether or not Jay-Z is working on an album. At the time of writing, Hidji World hadn’t shared any more Stories following the picture of the film slate.
Jay-Z’s recent works
As for Jay-Z, the billionaire rapper — one of the richest musicians in the world by net worth — hasn’t released any album since the collaborative studio album Everything Is Love in 2018 with his wife, music icon Beyoncé. The album was the first joint set from the husband-and-wife duo.
Since 2018, Jay-Z has been part of singles by other artists such as Kanye West, Drake and DJ Khaled.
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In an interview with Gayle King in 2023, Jay-Z, who has won 24 Grammy awards, explained what makes him drop a new album.
“I don’t wanna just make a bunch of tunes,” he said. “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.”
This article first appeared on Augustman Malaysia
(Hero and Featured images: JAY-Z/@jayzz_official/Instagram)
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Manas Sen Gupta writes at the intersection of tech, entertainment and history. His works have appeared in publications such as The Statesman, Myanmar Matters, Hindustan Times and News18/ETV. In his spare time, Manas loves studying interactive charts and topographic maps. When not doing either, he prefers reading detective fiction. Spring is his favourite season and he can happily eat a bowl of noodles any time of the day.
