JAY-Z wept the first time his gay mother announced she had found love, because he was so happy for her.
The rapper had known his mother, Gloria Carter, was gay for years before she officially 'came out' to him last year (17), and in a new interview with David Letterman, the 99 Problems hitmaker reveals the announcement floored him.
"Imagine living your life as someone else and you think you're protecting your kids," JAY-Z says. "For my mother to have to live as someone she wasn't... and for her to sit in front of me and tell me, 'I think I love someone...' I mean, I really cried... because I was so happy for her that she was free.
"I knew (she was gay), but this was the first time we had the conversation and the first time I heard her say she loved her partner."
The following day, JAY-Z wrote the track Smile, in which he opens up about his mother's sexuality.
The song, which appears on his hit album 4:44, features the lyrics: "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/Cried tears of joy when you fell in love/Don’t matter to me if it’s a him or her."
Gloria Carter also appears on the track, delivering a monologue about "living in the shadows", adding, "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 someone you love."
JAY-Z's chat with Letterman on the TV personality's Netflix show My Next Guest Needs No Introduction debuts on Friday (06Apr18).
