Jay-Z’s legacy-minded 2026 continues with a marking of the ninth anniversary of 4:44, which still stands as his most recent solo full-length as of this writing.
Released to unanimous acclaim in 2017, the album, HOV’s thirteenth, saw three bonus tracks included on a physical edition. Those same three tracks—“Adnis,” “Blue’s Freestyle/We Family” f/ Blue Ivy Carter, and “MaNyfaCedGod” f/ James Blake—were also made available as Tidal exclusives.
Now, after nearly a decade of Tidal and physical edition exclusivity, the songs have been added to all streaming platforms, including Apple Music and Spotify.
In the wake of 4:44’s release back in 2017, yours truly spoke with Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz, directors of the video for album highlight “Kill Jay Z.” As the duo explained at the time, they viewed HOV’s album as “a transformative and transportive body of work.” Their involvement with its rollout, meanwhile, required the utmost level of secrecy to avoid leaks.
“We actually had everyone that was working directly for us on the filming of the project to sign ironclad non-disclosures, including cast, grips, parents/relatives of cast, etc.,” Bush and Renz told Complex at the time. “We had a zero-tolerance policy on any discussion of the project, period. No phone use was allowed on set whatsoever. We couldn't even tell our own family members fearing that information on 4:44 could potentially leak.”
The 4:44 anniversary isn’t alone in being celebrated by fans and HOV himself this year. Such milestones have been a defining feature of the 25-time Grammy winner’s 2026 so far, all culminating with the debut of a new HBO documentary series directed by Rick Rubin this fall.
