Jay Z’s mother’s sexuality inspired his song ‘Smile’.
The 47-year-old rapper’s parent, Gloria Carter, has admitted when she "finally" told her son she was a lesbian her child broke down in tears thinking about the double life she has been forced to lead, and influenced some of the material in his 13th studio album ‘4:44’.
Speaking to ‘D’USSE Friday’ Podcast about the single, which features the lyrics "Mama had four kids, but she’s a lesbian/ Had to pretend so long that she’s a thespian", Gloria said: "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. So my son started actually tearing. Because 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."
Although Gloria has kept her sexuality a secret for a number of years, she has claimed she has "never" been "ashamed" of opening up about her love life it was just not a topic that was discussed in her family.
She explained: "I was never ashamed of me. In my family, it was something that was never discussed."
But Gloria was "tired of all the mystery" and decided to open up about this part of her life through the track, which also features a poem the matriarch penned and recited to the ’99 Problems’ hitmaker – whose real name is Shawn Carter – on her mobile.
She continued: "I’m tired of all the mystery. I’m going to give it to them."
Now Gloria has publicly opened up about her love life she no longer has to "worry" about other people’s opinions on her.
She said: "I don’t have to worry about anybody wondering if I’m in the life or not, I’m going to tell them. So now that I told you, what do you have to talk about? 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."
Jay Z’s mother inspired his song ‘Smile’
