Glory

Album: Single Release Only (2012)
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Songfacts®:

  • On January 7, 2012 Jay-Z became a father for the first time when his wife Beyoncé gave birth to their daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. Within 48 hours the elated rapper had recorded this song, which pays tribute to his newborn child. On January 17, he posted the track on his Life + Times website.
  • The song reveals that Beyoncé suffered a miscarriage before Blue Ivy, and Jay-Z raps about the couple's elation and relief: "Last time the miscarriage was tragic/ We was afraid you'd disappear, but nah, baby, you're magic."
  • "Glory" reveals that Blue Ivy was conceived in the French capital: "You don't yet know what swagger is/ But you was made in Paris/ and Momma woke up the next day and shot her album package."
  • Pharrell Williams provided the song's gentle beat. Previous collaborations between the superstar pair include Jay Z's hits "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)," "Excuse Me Miss" "Blue Magic" and "Change Clothes" plus the Blueprint 3 track "So Ambitious" and "Gotta Have It" from his collaboration album with Kanye West, Watch The Throne.
  • The song features Blue Ivy Carter's cries and coos and she is listed as B.I.C. in the song credits as a featured artist. At less than two days old the heiress to the throne became the youngest ever credited artist to feature on a Billboard chart when the song debuted on R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at #74. In case you're wondering, Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely," which also opens with the sounds of his newly born daughter Aisha, didn't actually officially credit his bundle of joy.
  • Blue Ivy's father has already warned her about the consequences of having a famous father and mother. On the Watch The Throne track "New Day" Jay-Z raps: "Sorry, junior, I already ruined ya, 'cause you ain't even alive, paparazzi pursuin' ya."
  • Here's a chart coincidence for those of you who like that sort of thing. The song marks Jay-Z's 107th career entry on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, mirroring Blue Ivy's birth date of 1/07.

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