JAY-Z ’s mother Gloria Carter has revealed that the rapper got emotional when she came out to him.
“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,’” Carter said on the D'USSE Friday podcast.
“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.”
The song is “Smile,” which is featured on JAY-Z’s latest album 4:44. On it, he raps: “Mama had four kids, but she’s a lesbian / Had to pretend so long that she’s a thespian / Had to hide in the closet, so she medicate / Society shame and the pain was too much to take.”
Carter explained why she waited so long to discuss her sexuality with JAY-Z.
“I was never ashamed of me. I’m tired of all the mystery. I’m gonna give it to ‘em,” she said. “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.”