Legacy

Album: 4:44 (2017)

Songfacts®:

  • Here, Jay-Z describes how he wants his financial legacy to be divided. He explained to iHeart radio:

    "The song is just about what it is, it's like a verbal will. Just a song about speaking to my daughter. She starts the song off, and she says 'Daddy, what's a will?'"
  • During the second verse, Jay describes how his preacher grandfather, Adnis Reeves, Sr., molested his daughter—Jay's paternal aunt. He explains how the effects of that sexual assault made him reject religion but after studying Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity and forgiving his grandfather Hova feels he has found his place in this world.
  • Producer No I.D. chopped up for this song the horns and vocals from Donny Hathaway's 1973 track "Someday We'll All Be Free." The Chicago beatmaker also borrows elements from El Michels Affair's tune "Glaciers of Ice."

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