Glory (Jay-Z song)
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"Glory" is a song by American rapper
Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...
featuring his daughter
Blue Ivy Carter Blue Ivy Carter (born January 7, 2012) is an American singer. She is the first-born daughter of musicians Beyoncé and Jay-Z. Two days after her birth, ''Time'' dubbed Carter "the most famous baby in the world." That same day, her vocals were fe ...
(credited as B.I.C.) and background vocals from
Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...
. Produced by
The Neptunes The Neptunes are an American songwriting and production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provides additional vocals on records and appears in the duo's music videos, ...
(Williams &
Chad Hugo Charles Edward Hugo (born February 24, 1974) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. With close friend Pharrell Williams, he formed the production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he has prod ...
), it premiered on Jay-Z's official website LifeandTimes.com on January 9, 2012, two days after his wife
Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
gave birth to the couple's first child Blue. "Glory" impacted US
urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...
radio stations on January 17, 2012. The melodic hip hop is an emotional homage to Jay-Z's baby girl and wife. Lyrically, "Glory" is about the experience and the happiness of becoming a father for the first time. It also details the heartbreak the couple suffered over a previous miscarriage. The song opens with Blue's first heartbeat, and includes a sample of Blue's cries towards the end. The song contains samples from "
The Most Beautifullest Thing in This World ''The Most Beautifullest Thing in This World'' is the debut solo studio album by American rapper Keith Murray. It was released November 8, 1994 via Jive Records. Recording sessions took place at Rockin' Reel Studios in East Northport, New York and ...
", written and performed by rapper
Keith Murray Keith Omar Murray (born May 29, 1974) is an American rapper from New York. Murray grew up on Carleton Ave, in Central Islip, which is located on the South Shore of Long Island in Suffolk County. Murray was a known member of a local rap collec ...
.


Background

On January 7, 2012,
Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
gave birth to her and Jay-Z's first child, Blue Ivy Carter, at
Lenox Hill Hospital Lenox Hill Hospital (LHH) is a nationally ranked 450-bed non-profit, tertiary, research and academic medical center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, servicing the tri-state area. LHH is one of the region's many unive ...
in New York. Two days later, Jay-Z released "Glory" on his social website LifeandTimes.com. Produced by
The Neptunes The Neptunes are an American songwriting and production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provides additional vocals on records and appears in the duo's music videos, ...
, the song was composed in honor to Blue Ivy Carter, who is credited on it. It impacted US
urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...
radio playlists on January 17, 2012.


Composition and lyrical interpretation

"Glory" is an emotional hip hop song dedicated to Blue Ivy Carter and Knowles, as Jay-Z sings "You're my child with the child from
Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final line-up comprised Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Houston, Texas. After years of limited ...
." Lyrically, it features Jay-Z experiencing the overwhelming joy of
father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...
hood for the first time, "The most amazing feeling I feel / Words can't describe what I'm feeling, for real / Baby I'll paint the sky blue / My greatest creation was you." Describing Blue as "the most beautiful thing in this world", he promises to keep her happy — in contrast to his own troubled childhood, which was marred by the departure of his dad, Adnis Reeves. Jocelyn Vena of MTV News commented that the concept of the song revolves around the glory of fatherhood. "Glory" opens with Blue's heartbeat, followed by a rap verse: "The most amazing feeling I feel, words can't describe what I'm feeling for real / Baby, I paint the sky blue, my greatest creation was you". As the song progresses, Jay-Z reveals that the baby girl was conceived in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, a day before Knowles shot the cover artwork for her fourth studio album '' 4'' (2011). It also details Jay-Z's and Knowles' pregnancy struggles, including a miscarriage Knowles suffered previously, shown in the lines: "False alarms and false starts, all made better by the sound of your heart", and "Last time the miscarriage was so tragic / We was afraid you'd disappear / But nah baby you magic". In reference to
Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton (; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and " ...
’s 2001 passing, Jay Z also urges Blue to exercise safety, with the lyric, "Just make sure the plane you’re on is bigger than your carry-on baggage". At the end of "Glory", Blue Ivy Carter can be heard crying.


Critical reception

Touré Touré is the French transcription of a West African surname (English transcriptions are '' Turay'' and '' Touray''). The name is probably derived from ''tùùré'', the word for 'elephant' in Soninké, the language of the Ghana Empire. The clan e ...
of ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine called "Glory" one of the "greatest love songs in hip-hop history". Chris Randle of ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
'' wrote that the song "sounds humbled and relieved, and soft enough to bear some marks; at certain points, Jay's voice almost seems to quaver." He added that Jay-Z "goes from revealing a past miscarriage to sharing the precise date of conception, as if still ambling through the ward in elated exhaustion." Maura Johnston of the same publication noted that "Glory" was "happy and humbled just like all those shots of new dads in movies; you can almost smell the cigars being lit as Jay tosses off his first (but probably not last) dedication to his daughter, which has as its best line 'You're the
child A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...
of a
child A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...
from
Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final line-up comprised Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Houston, Texas. After years of limited ...
.'" ''
SF Weekly ''SF Weekly'' was a free alternative weekly newspaper founded in the 1970s in San Francisco, California. It was distributed every Thursday, and was published by the San Francisco Print Media Company. The paper has won national journalism awards, ...
''s Shona Sanzgiri noted that the "rapper scelebrating with a strange mixture of certainty and guilelessness" in the song. She added that "Glory" is a "condensed saga, where the revelations range from somewhat brazen... to somber". David K. Li, Josh Saul, and Tata Palmeri of the ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...
'' wrote that "the emotional song may win over even Jay-Z's harshest critics". Rob Markman of
MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...
praised "Glory" saying that Jay-Z recorded his "most personal thoughts... and then tops things off by adding the crying and cooing bundle of joy to the track, effectively giving baby girl her very first feature". David Marchese of ''
Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'' magazine felt that "Jay spouts all sorts of fatherly sentiment on the track".
Jody Rosen Jody Rosen (born June 21, 1969 in New York City) is an American journalist and author. He is a contributing writer for ''The New York Times Magazine''. Career Journalism Rosen served as critic-at-large for '' T: The New York Times Style Magaz ...
of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' awarded the song with three-and-a-half out of five stars, praising its "lilting Neptunes beat". He further compared the song with "
Isn't She Lovely? "Isn't She Lovely" is a song by Stevie Wonder from his 1976 album, ''Songs in the Key of Life''. The lyrics celebrate the birth of his daughter, Aisha Morris. Wonder collaborated on the song with Harlem songwriter and studio owner Burnetta "Bunny ...
" (1976) by
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
saying that it's "mixing exultant proud-papa sentiments with brand-consolidation braggadocio: 'A pinch of Hov, a whole glass of B.' But the mood is reflective. 'Everybody go through stuff... Life is a gift, love, open it up.'"


Chart performance

The song debuted at number 74 on the US
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
chart issue dated January 21, 2012, with 1.7 million audience impressions, according to
Nielsen BDS Broadcast Data Systems (also known as BDS or Luminate BDS), is a service that tracks radio, television and internet airplay of songs. The service, which is a unit of MRC Data, is a contributing factor to North American charts published by co-owned ...
. It also debuted at number 23 on the US
Rap Songs Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...
chart issue dated January 28, 2012. As Jay-Z's daughter, Blue, is officially credited on the song, she became the youngest person in history to have a charted song on any ''Billboard'' chart ever.


Music video

The official music video for "Glory" was released on April 16, 2015.


Charts


Release history


References

{{authority control Jay-Z songs Song recordings produced by the Neptunes 2012 songs 2012 singles Songs about parenthood Songs about pregnancy Songs written by Jay-Z American contemporary R&B songs American soul songs