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On his 2017 album, “4:44,” rapper Jay-Z sang in his song “Smile” about his mother coming out as a lesbian, a secret she kept while raising him and his siblings:
So all the ladies havin’ babies, see a sacrifice
Mama had four kids, but she’s a lesbian
Had to pretend so long that she’s a thespian
Had to hide in the closet, so she medicate
Society shame and the pain was too much to take
Cried tears of joy when you fell in love
Don’t matter to me if it’s a him or her
I just wanna see you smile through all the hate
Marie Antoinette, baby, let ’em eat cake
In an interview on David Letterman’s Netflix show “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction,” Jay-Z opened up about his experience upon learning that his mother, Gloria Carter, lived a closeted life. Though Jay-Z “knew” the truth about his mom, the rapper said it “was the first time we had the conversation.”
“Imagine having lived your life for someone else. And you think you’re protecting your kids,” Jay-Z said. “And for my mother to have to live as someone that she wasn’t and hide and like, protect her kids ― and didn’t want to embarrass her kids, and you know, for all this time.”
Jay-Z reportedly “cried” tears of joy when he heard the news.
“I mean, I really cried. I cried because I was so happy for her that she was free,” he said, adding it was “the first time I heard her say she loved her partner. Like, ‘I feel like I love somebody.’ She said ‘I feel like.’ She held that little bit back, still. And I just, I cried. I don’t even believe in crying because you’re happy. I don’t even know what that is. What is that?”
Jay-Z’s mother has also spoken publicly about leading a closet life while raising her children. Speaking on the D’usse Friday podcast in September, Gloria Carter said she was “never ashamed” of her private life but never “discussed” it among her family.
“I don’t hide who I am … I’m tired of all the mystery,” she said. “Now it’s time for me to be live my life and be happy, be free.”
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