JAY-Z’s Mom Comes Out as a Lesbian, Congrats Momma!
JAY-Z’s mom, Gloria Carter, came out as a lesbian in a new track on the rapper’s album 4:44.
The song is called “Smile,” and in it she and her son discuss in a touching tribute about her sexual identity and falling in love with a woman.
“Mama had four kids, but she’s a lesbian / Had to pretend so long that she’s a thespian,” he raps. “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.”
Then Gloria shows up on the track in a spoken word intro:
“Living in the shadow / Can you imagine what kind of life it is to live?” she starts. “In the shadows people see you as happy and free / Because that’s what you want them to see,” she continues. “The world is changing and they say it’s time to be free / But you live with the fear of just being me… Living in the shadow feels like the safe place to be / No harm for them, no harm for me / But life is short, and it’s time to be free / Love who you love, because life isn’t guaranteed.”
JAY-Z has long been a support for the LGBT community. In 2012, he told CNN he supported marriage equality.
“I’ve always thought [not allowing same-sex individuals to wed] was still, um, holding the country back,”he said at the time. “What people do in their own homes is their business and you can choose to love whoever you love. That’s their business. [It] is no different than discriminating against blacks. It’s discrimination plain and simple.”
Listen to the track HERE.