Blue's Freestyle / We Family

Album: 4:44 (2017)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Jay's five-year-old daughter Blue Ivy Carter shows up at the beginning of this song to help her dad out by freestyling some bars. Though hard to decipher, she seems to be saying that the sky is the limit and intends to run the world like her mom.

    Never seen a ceiling in my whole life
    Everything I seen, everything is rotten
    Never sit in silence, innocent is Carter
    Innocent we seek them
    I and say we see them


    By the end of her verse, Blue seems to get stuck so boosts her rhymes with several "boom-shaka-lakas."
  • Blue Ivy first featured on her father's tribute song, "Glory," a few days after her birth. Jay-Z's tribute to his daughter, which includes her cries and coos, made history as Blue became the youngest artist to ever a to feature on a Billboard chart when the tune peaked at #63 on R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.

    A few years later, Beyoncé managed to get a guest performance from her daughter for "Blue" on which the toddler's giggles close the song. Blue Ivy also appeared in the music video for her mom's song "Formation."
  • After her opening verse, Blue Ivy allows Daddy to step back into the booth and spit some rhymes highlighting his ancestral roots:

    I got bloodlines in Benin, that explains the voodoo
    Got poison in my pen, thank god for Lulu
    And thank the heavens for BB, her Creole roots run deeply
  • No I.D.'s production samples the Colombian singer Totó la Momposina's 1983 "La Verdolaga" The beatmaker may have first come across the tune on the soundtrack for John Sayles' 1997 movie, Men With Guns.
  • Jay-Z didn't need to coach Blue Ivy before she rapped her verse. He recalled during a Rap Radar Podcast interview how his daughter started rapping on her own, without any prompting.

    "So I start playing the beat, and I went and just started doing something," Hova proudly said. "I was playing it so long that she went and got the headphones and she climbed on the little stool and started rapping. The pockets she was catching!"
  • The Artlife Studio animated video shows Blue Ivy Carter performing onstage at a recital. Meanwhile, Jay-Z and Beyoncé are sitting in the audience, watching on as their daughter's ballet number makes way for her rap freestyle. The clip was dropped on January 7, 2018, coinciding with Blue Ivy's sixth birthday.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Andrew Farriss of INXS

Andrew Farriss of INXSSongwriter Interviews

Andrew Farriss on writing with Michael Hutchence, the stories behind "Mystify" and other INXS hits, and his country-flavored debut solo album.

Danny Kortchmar

Danny KortchmarSongwriter Interviews

Danny played guitar on Sweet Baby James, Tapestry, and Running On Empty. He also co-wrote many hit songs, including "Dirty Laundry," "Sunset Grill" and "Tender Is The Night."

Chris Frantz - "Genius of Love"

Chris Frantz - "Genius of Love"They're Playing My Song

Chris and his wife Tina were the rhythm section for Talking Heads when they formed The Tom Tom Club. "Genius of Love" was their blockbuster, but David Byrne only mentioned it once.

Dean Pitchford

Dean PitchfordSongwriter Interviews

Dean wrote the screenplay and lyrics to all the songs in Footloose. His other hits include "Fame" and "All The Man That I Need."

Who's Johnny, And Why Does He Show Up In So Many Songs

Who's Johnny, And Why Does He Show Up In So Many SongsSong Writing

For songwriters, Johnny represents the American man. He has been angry, cool, magic, a rebel and, of course, marching home.

Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy and Black Star Riders

Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy and Black Star RidersSongwriter Interviews

Writing with Phil Lynott, Scott saw their ill-fated frontman move to a darker place in his life and lyrics.