Jay-Z has been absent from social media for a long time, and he’s also been mostly absent from the musical landscape. When Jay appears in the news these days, it’s for something like his takeover of the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library or his performance at Pharrell’s first Louis Vuitton fashion show — real rich-guy legacy moves. Yesterday, though, Jay returned to Instagram to announce new music. Naturally, it’s part of another master-of-the-universe power move.
4:44, Jay-Z’s most recent album, came out back in 2017. His most recent single was “What It Feels Like,” a collaboration with the late Nipsey Hussle, for the soundtrack of the 2021 movie Judas And The Black Messiah. Last year, Jay had a long verse on DJ Khaled’s “God Did,” and he also appeared on Pusha T’s “Neck & Wrist,” but he didn’t release any music of his own. But Jay will apparently have new music on the soundtrack of The Book Of Clarence, a new movie that’s set to come out early next year.
In 2021, Jay produced the Netflix western The Harder They Fall, and he had a couple of songs on the soundtrack. (I thought that movie was pretty good.) Jeymes Samuel, Seal’s brother, directed The Harder They Fall, and he’s also the director of The Book Of Clarence. Jay-Z is one of that film’s producers, and he came back to Instagram to post the teaser trailer. The teaser says that the soundtrack will feature new music from Jay-Z, Jeymes Samuel, and others. (Samuel is also a musician; he’s produced music under the name the Bullitts.)
There’s no Jay-Z music in the trailer for The Book Of Samuel. Instead, the preview does the played-out slow-dramatic-orchestral remix thing, turning Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U” into a churning dirge. The movie appears to be at least as much comedy as Biblical epic. LaKeith Stanfield stars as a con man in ancient Jerusalem who sees Jesus and tries to convince people that he’s the real messiah. The cast also features Omar Sy, David Oyelowo, Alfre Woodard, Teyana Taylor, James McAvoy, Benedict Cumberbatch, and a bunch of others. You can see the trailer below.
The Book Of Clarence, originally scheduled for release this fall, is in theaters 1/12/24. There are a lot of rumors that Jay-Z, whose company Roc Nation has produced the last few Super Bowl Halftime Shows, will do next year’s Halftime Show himself, and the timing of that movie release sure seems to support those rumors.
