JAY-Z’s Mother on How She Came Out As a Lesbian To Her Son, Tears Were Shed
JAY-Z’s mother, Gloria Carter, is the center of one of JAY-Z’s tracks on his latest album 4:44 in a song called “Smile,” in which he celebrates his mom’s sexuality. Now, Gloria is opening up on the day she came out to her son.
“I just finally started telling Jay who I was. Besides your mother, this is the person that I am. This is the life that I live,” she told Dusse Friday. “So my son started actually tearing. He’s like, ‘That had to be a horrible life, ma’. I was like, my life was never horrible. It was just different. So that made him want to do a song about it and the first time I heard the song I was like, eh, I don’t know dude. I ain’t feeling that.”
She continued: “I was never ashamed of me. I’m tired of all the mystery. I’m gonna give it to ‘em. I don’t have to worry about anybody wondering if I’m in the life or not. So now maybe you can focus on the phenomenal things I do, so focus on that. Now it’s time for me to be free.”
In “Smile,” JAY-Z raps:
“Living in the shadow/ Can you imagine what kind of life it is to live?/ In the shadows, people see you as happy and free/ Because that’s what you want them to see/ Living two lives, happy, but not free/ You live in the shadows for fear of someone hurting your family or the person you love/ 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/ Smile.”