Ever since they became a duo, Jay-Z and Beyonce have been given the label of 'power couple'.
The term has somewhat lost its meaning, along with things like 'legend', as it is adopted willy nilly by people like Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.
That's beside the point. Jay-Z, real name Shawn Corey Carter, was once the hottest product in hip hop, as was Beyonce in pop music. They came together, got married, had kids, and everyone loved it.
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All is not what it seems - at least in the beginning - according to a clip that accompanies Jay's latest album, 4.44, on Tidal.
The rapper released an 11-minute video titled Footnotes for 4.44 in which he, Chris Rock, Will Smith, Kendrick Lamar, Jesse Williams and more celebrities discuss relationships.
During the clip, Carter admits that his 'power couple' relationship with Beyonce wasn't completely built on the truth.
"This is my real life. I just ran into this place and we built this big, beautiful mansion of a relationship that wasn't totally built on the 100 percent truth and it starts cracking," he says. "Things start happening that the public can see. Then we had to get to a point of 'OK, tear this down and let's start from the beginning'. It's the hardest thing I've ever done."
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"I was on a boat, and I had the best time," he added, recalling a time he once had to beg his wife not to leave a holiday they were on. "I was like, 'Man, this is great'. Then she had to leave. I was, like, crushed. 'Man, I don't even feel like this. What is happening to my body right now? I don't even feel like this. Did I just say... 'Don't leave?'."
The album appears to be quite confessional, as a number of lyrics have been interpreted by some people to admit to cheating on his wife.
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He has, however, claimed that their marriage is based on honesty, saying: "We've been in that space where we just got to the place that in order for this to work, it can't be fake - not once. I'm not saying it wasn't uncomfortable because, obviously, it was, but because we've been doing it for so long it was less uncomfortable."
Featured Image Credit: PA
