JAY-Z fans shouldn’t get their hopes up for new music any time soon now that Roc Nation has responded to new album rumors—even though some HOV loyalists likely are clinging on to hope. Over the weekend, social media saw several blog accounts and Hip-Hop Twitter (X) Stan pages circulating what appeared to be glimpses from the filming of a closed set in connection with an upcoming release from JAY-Z—but not just any release. The leaked image from the set shows a production reel labeled “JAY-Z 2024 ALBUM.”
The source of the rumor appears to be artist and director Hidji World, who implied he was on set with the “99 Problems” rapper. Hidji’s official account, @hidjiworld, originally shared the candid shot via an Instagram Story. Hidji mentioned he was “shooting today” with JAY-Z. In another Story, he teased a photo of a first-take film slate labelled “JAY Z -2024 ALBUM.” On it, Hidji’s name was written as director, and Leroy Farrell was listed as director of photography.
And while Hidjiworld may seem like a credible source, given he’s worked on visuals with artists such as $not and A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Roc Nation defiantly shut it down by replying to the post, “That’s news to us.”
Roc Nation said : What album?! pic.twitter.com/1Rmcul3whR
— Airwrecka (@ericadotmack) January 29, 2024
It’s hard to blame eager fans for falling for the dupe as quickly as they did, considering HOV hasn’t dropped a solo project since 2017’s 4:44. The streets, AKA the old-head Hip-Hop connoisseurs 30 and older, have been waiting, although they did get “New York (Concept de Paris)” featuring the late Gil Scott-Heron last April. The signs appear to be leaning in favor of a release, right? Well, apparently not. He also released Everything Is Love with Beyoncé as The Carters, which was the first joint set from the husband-and-wife duo.The 54-year old has previously talked about only wanting to make music when it’s about something meaningful.
“I’ll say I wanna make music, but it has to be something important,” he told Gayle King last year. “I don’t wanna just make a bunch of tunes. That’s not gonna serve me. It has to mean something, you know? It has to mean something to a larger society.”