The award-winning multi-platinum rapper and business mogul opened up about his mother finally coming out to him as a lesbian when he sat with David Letterman for his Netflix show “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman”.
In the interview, Jay-Z, born Shawn Corey Carter talks about how he shed tears of joy when his mother opened up to him.
“For her to sit in front of me and tell me ‘I think I love someone’ – I mean, I really cried,” said the rapper. “That’s a real story. I cried because I was so happy for her that she was free.”
Though he knew his mother was lesbian, he told Letterman she opened up to him just eight months ago when he was recording his Grammy-nominated 4:44 album.
The song “Smile” which appears on that album and features his mother Gloria Carter was recorded the day after they had that conversation. On the track, Gloria Carter recites her “Livin in the Shadows” poem; “Living in the shadow/Can you imagine what kind of life it is to live?” she says. “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…”
Take a look at the interview below. The full interview will be available April 6 on Netflix.
