JAY-Z has just made 4:44 an album even more people are desperate to get their hands on thanks to one certain bonus song. Blue Ivy Carter's freestyle rap lyrics from "Blue's Freestyle/We Are Family" represent a whole new opportunity to get amped about this record, but exactly what the 5-year-old is saying is a little tough to parse. Some lines do stand out in the 45-second cameo, however.
Fans with TIDAL had already been listening to 4:44 nonstop since its June 30 release, combing through all 10 tracks for everything from potential disses to Beyoncé references. But the physical edition came out on July 7, and, not to be outdone, it includes three bonus tracks — "Adnis," "MaNyfaCedGod," and "Blue's Freestyle/We Family." Genius contributors have interpreted her opening lines as:
"Everything everything this my only single thing
Everything I hear is my answer"
These lines seem to suggest a belief in some sort of a higher power, one that guides her movements and answers her questions. A possible further reading is that Blue Ivy feels keyed into the universe, taking in the world with a bird's eye view and leaving herself open to information, which is really deep stuff from a child.
The next few beats are a little more difficult, because Blue Ivy's enunciation makes it tricky to puzzle out what she's trying to say. But a few moments later, another line stands out: "Never seen a ceiling in my whole life." This could pretty easily be interpreted as a reference to a glass ceiling, a metaphor often used to describe the way society can tend to hold some of its members back. It's traditionally applied to women, but one woman who's blasted her way through and dusted the shards off her shoulders is her mother Beyoncé. So it would make sense for Blue to be rapping about her unfamiliarity with the concept of ceilings.
But then, of course, less than a minute later, the lyrics devolve into a repetition of "Boom shakalaka / Boom shakalaka / Everything in shaka / Everything in faka," which serves as a reminder not to get too deep about the whole thing. What's so fun about these lyrics is that they sound different to everybody, and the interpretation varies wildly based on what you hear. Fans have been delighting in the rap's vague, childlike quality.
Blue Ivy had already changed the game by becoming the youngest person ever to chart on Billboard, because of her credit as "B.I.C" on JAY-Z's "Glory" back in 2012. And now the famous progeny has raised the bar even further on her dad's 13th studio album. She's spitting bars that are tough to even follow, so the music industry better sleep with one eye open from now on.
