JAY-Z appears to have confirmed his mum is in a same-sex relationship.
According to lyrics on his new album, 4:44, the rapper says: “Mama had four kids but she’s a lesbian/Had to pretend so long, that she’s a thespian.
“Don’t matter to me if it’s a him or her/I just want to see you smile through all the hate.”
Early in his career, JAY-Z wrote tracks containing homophobic lyrics but he’s stopped recording songs with gay slurs in them.
The lyrics feature on a track called Smile, which also features a cameo from JAY-Z’s mum, Gloria Carter, reading a poem.
Given her appearance on the track, it seems likely that she knew about her son’s plans to talk about her sexuality.
“The world is changing and they say it’s time to be free/But you live with the fear of just being me,” she says.
“Living in the shadow feels like the safe place to be/No harm for them, no harm for me/But life is short, and it’s time to be free.”
It had been rumoured a number of years ago that Ms Carter was in a long-term relationship with a former teacher, Dania Diaz.
JAY-Z and his mum started a charity in his name – the Shawn Carter Foundation – and Ms Diaz was later named the executor for the charity.
Fans are speculating that elsewhere on the album, JAY-Z responds to Beyonce’s Lemonade album and apologises for cheating.
“I apologise/Our love was one for the ages and I contained us,” he raps.
“What good is a menage-a-trois when you have a soulmate? You risked that for Blue [the name of their eldest child]?”
The record, which is exclusively streaming on Tidal, features vocals from Beyonce as well as contributions from Frank Ocean and Damian Marley.
JAY-Z’s last studio album was Magna Carta… Holy Grail, which was released in July 2013.
He’s scheduled to headline V Festival which takes place on 19 and 20 August.
