It looks like Jay-Z’s new thing is packing a year’s worth of rhymes into his sporadic appearances via really long songs. In 2022, he dominated the eight-minute DJ Khaled track “God Did,” taking over half its runtime for an epic verse that got a spirited breakdown on MSNBC.
Today, he appears on a nine-minute track from the Book Of Clarence soundtrack, contributing a vibey, almost spoken word-ish verse to a spacey, funk-soul voyage also featuring the elusive neo-soul icon D’Angelo. It’s very groovy, black-lights-and-incense style P-Funk, complete with epic guitar solos and overlapping harmonies; Jay’s verse, while it might not be what people would expect from him, fits right in and has all the hallmarks of Aquemini-era Outkast.
The soundtrack, which is out today via Universal, also features appearances from dancehall staples Buju Banton and Shabba Ranks, who appear with Lil Wayne on “Hallelujah Heaven,” Kodak Black and Doja Cat on “Jeezu” with Adekunle Gold, Jorja Smith, Alice Smith (no relation), and Kid Cudi.
The film itself is also out in the theaters. It follows a poor citizen of Jerusalem, Clarence, who is inspired by a contemporary Jesus Christ to start his own religion in the hopes of rising out of poverty. He inadvertently starts a revolution.
