Fergie said it best when she said, "You so two thousand and late," because ya'll really must've been under a rock to not recognize that there was true heartbreak and pain behind Beyonce's music. It really took ya'll hearing Jay-Z say it himself to get it? I understand that not all music has to be relevant or based off of the artist's personal life, but ya'll were still confused after Solange swung on Jay-Z in the elevator, while Beyonce stood sidebar? Okay.

However, it would be a huge disservice to make it seem like Jay-Z's recent album release, "4:44," was only about his infidelity, because it's not. The album is very much about vulnerability, in basically every way that you can picture it. Jay-Z uses his 13th album to show us a side of him that we never had the chance to take a look at. He invited us all to his retirement party, just to tell us to take a seat at the table and have some lemonade because he wasn't going anywhere.

Imagine being back in 2004, thirteen years ago, hearing that you're invited to Jay-Z's retirement party. He's throwing in the towel after a few years of being front and center in the hip-hop industry. Well, no worries because not only are you late to the retirement party but so is he. Since his retirement announcement, he has continued to drop project after project. He's probably done more work in his retirement than people do when they are still active.

Although we have had the honor of being invited to sit in on this retirement party, not everyone was as fortunate. In Jay-Z's song, "Kill Jay-Z," it is still very much evident that Kanye and Jay aren't as cordial as they once were on "Watch The Throne." And, similarly to his sister-in-law and his wife, he has managed to make it very clear that this party is exclusively for us and by us, with the inclusion of the song "The Story of O.J." He proceeds to give a toast to his mom, which is something that we all must do from time to time. With the "coming out" of his mother on the track "Smile," we are also able to see the retirement of old hip-hop standards as Jay-Z breaks down a common barrier within the hip-hop community surrounding sexuality.

Jay-Z doesn't hold us too long with his work because he wants us to go out and work towards the future. With ten songs in total, we are reminded that everything doesn't need to be drawn out, and he doesn't plan to keep us too long. The retirement party will be ending promptly at 4:44, so don't be late.