The Jay-Z song that serves as a verbal will for his daughter: “She starts the song off”
Jay-Z has been no stranger to concept songs throughout his life, channelling his thoughts across 13 studio albums and countless features. However, decades into his rap career, he miraculously released one of his most impressive yet.
Hov dropped his 4:44 album in 2017, serving as one of the best LPs of his career so far. The project tackled topics such as his family, racism, and relationships. One of the highlight moments on the album was ‘Legacy’, a No ID-produced song dedicated to his daughter.
The track opens with five-year-old Blue Ivy asking, “Daddy, what’s a will?” From there, Jay begins to list out all of the things he plans to leave to her in the form of a verbal will. As a billionaire with many revenue streams, Hov has big decisions to make regarding where his money goes after he passes.
Throughout the song, Jay references various family members, including his wife, Beyoncé, his sisters, his mother, and his niece. Much of the lyrics are directed towards Blue Ivy, who was his only child until twins Rumi and Sir were born just weeks before 4:44 was released.
He raps in the first verse, “My stake in Roc Nation should go to you/ Leave a piece for your siblings to give to their children too/ TIDAL, the champagne, D’USSÉ, I’d like to see/ A nice peace fund ideas from people who look like we.”
Jay-Z spoke about the song during an interview with iHeartRadio. “The song is just about what it is, it’s like a verbal will,” he said. “Just a song about speaking to my daughter. She starts the song off, and she says, ‘Daddy, what’s a will?'”
Elsewhere in the verse, Hov credits his mother for purchasing him bonds. “Generational wealth, that’s the key/ My parents ain’t have shit, so that shift started with me/ My mom took her money, she bought me bonds/ That was the sweetest thing of all time,” he spits.
This isn’t the first time Jay has touched on his wealth. Speaking in 1999, he explained his long-term goals when it comes to his finances. It was at the front of his mind to pass things down to his family, given the fact his ancestors didn’t have the opportunity to do so.
“You know Black people don’t really inherit businesses that our fathers left for us, so it was to do something like that, something for my sons,” he said. “That was the big picture right there, for us to build a company that could be passed down to our kids and their kids.
“[I want] to create a comfortable position for me and everybody around me. ‘Cause, like, Blacks, when we come up , we don’t normally inherit businesses. It’s not a common thing for us to have old money, like three, four generations of businesses. But that’s what I’m working on right now. A legacy.”
‘Legacy’ is a fitting end to a remarkably honest project from Hov. Complete with a sample of Donny Hathaway’s ‘Someday We’ll All Be Free’, it will likely go down as one of his finest performances when his career is all said and done.