It started with a secret fling. Then they got serious despite demanding careers, eagerly started a family and survived a spat of infidelity. And now, apparently, they’re sound again. Or so we’re led to believe by their music.
Perhaps no celebrity couple have been more tight-mouthed to the press about their relationship and yet loose-lipped in their songs than Beyonce and Jay-Z.
Why talk to the media about your personal life when you can sell a few million records singing about it instead? It’s a creative and commercial formula the superstar couple have followed over and over, and now they’re bringing it to the stage, too.
Described by USA Today as a “summer tour (that) makes couples therapy feel like karaoke night,” the 36-city trek On The Run II Tour has been positioned as proof the golden pop star and the mogul rapper are indeed happy together again after he did her wrong.
Beyond the sacrament of their twins’ widely reported birth, we can only speculate on the state of their marriage based on their music. That’s as true as ever as Jay and Bey flaunt and taunt all the speculation around them on their new collaborative record, “Everything Is Love,” which they released in June under the moniker the Carters (his real name is Shawn Carter, while she changed hers to Beyonce Knowles-Carter).
Here’s a recap of the prior chapters, which have been written into their songs for the past 15 years.
‘Crazy in Love’
(Beyonce featuring Jay-Z, 2003)
Relationship status: The first throes of love.
Lyrics: “It’s the way that you know what I thought I knew/It’s the beat my heart skips when I’m with you/But I still don’t understand/Just how your love can do what no one else can.”
The megahit that launched her solo career off the “Dangerously in Love” album, it was recorded before their relationship was publicly confirmed and reflected some of the zaniness of keeping it under wraps.
‘Public Service Announcement’
(Jay-Z, 2003)
Relationship status: I don’t wanna brag, but …
Lyrics: “Flier than a piece of paper bearing my name/Got the hottest chick in the game wearing my chain.”
His first semi-veiled reference to her was but a small interlude on his most widely lauded record, “The Black Album,” but it was a big enough moment for him to include the song as a surprise deep cut on the current tour.
‘Young Girl’
(Pharrell featuring Jay-Z, 2006)
Relationship status: Convincing her parents.
Lyrics: “I introduce myself, hi miss thing/You’re 19? No, you’re lighting in a bottle/I give you a ring tomorrow.” Also: “Mama don’t think you should take someone so advanced in romance/You should just wait/Pappa don’t preach/HOV don’t bite/I’ma show you right.”
Though just a featured spot on Pharrell’s album “In My Mind,” it’s Jay-Z’s most overt early reference to their romance, which began when she was 19 and he was 30. So you can understand why Mr. and Mrs. Knowles maybe didn’t approve at first.
‘Halo’
(Beyonce, 2008)
Relationship status: Then comes marriage.
Lyrics: “I found a way to let you win/But I never really had a doubt/Standing in the light of your halo/I got my angel now/It’s like I’ve been awakened/Every rule I had you break it/It’s the risk that I’m taking/I ain’t never gonna shut you out.”
One of her biggest (and best!) singles, it was recorded just a few months before the couple got married. It almost sounds like her wedding vows to him.
‘Love on Top’
(Beyonce, 2011)
Relationship status: Then comes baby.
Lyrics: “Everybody ask me why I’m smiling out from ear to ear (they say love hurts)/But I know (it’s gonna take the real work)/Nothing’s perfect but it’s worth it/After fighting through my tears and finally you put me first.”
This song will be forever treasured by fans who saw Beyonce perform it at the MTV Video Music Awards, where she announced to the world she was pregnant with Blue Ivy (now age 6).
‘Drunk in Love’
(Beyonce featuring Jay-Z, 2013)
Relationship status: Still sizzling.
Lyrics: “We woke up in the kitchen saying, ‘How the hell did this happen?’/Oh baby, drunk in love we be all night/Last thing I remember is our beautiful bodies grinding off in that club.”
The big hit from her eponymous 2013 album seemed to confirm they were not only still crazy in love, they were still having wild fun going out together even after becoming parents.
‘Picasso Baby’
(Jay-Z, 2013)
Relationship status: Living the dream.
Lyrics: “House like the Louvre or the Tate Modern/Because I be going ape at the auction/Oh what a feeling/Aw (bleep) it I want a trillion/Sleeping every night next to Mona Lisa/The modern day version.”
This highlight from his “Magna Carta Holy Grail” album finds Mr. Carter bragging about all the prized art he’s apparently storing up back at the crib. Including his wife.
‘Sorry’
(Beyonce, 2016)
Relationship status: Oh, no, he didn’t.
Lyrics: “Looking at my watch, he shoulda been home/Today I regret the night I put that ring on/He always got them (bleeping) excuses/I pray to the Lord you reveal what his truth is.”
Widely scrutinized for its line about “Becky with the good hair” — thought to be a reference to Jay-Z’s mistress — it was one of many on her landmark “Lemonade” album to seemingly (and seethingly and unapologetically) address his infidelity. That it was such a brilliant album just reiterated how stupid he was.
‘4:44’
(Jay-Z, 2017)
Relationship status: Crawling back.
Lyrics: “If my children knew/I don’t even know what I would do/If they ain’t look at me the same/I would probably die with all the shame/’You did what with who?’/What good is a menage a trois when you have a soulmate?/’You risked that for Blue?’ ”
Even in a career marked by blunt, biting lyrics, the rapper maybe never wrote more shocking lyrics than those for the title track of last year’s solo album, simply because they were so personal and confessional.
‘Lovehappy’
(The Carters, 2018)
Relationship status: Still working things out but not giving up.
Lyrics: His: “Y’all know how I met her, we broke up and got back together/To get her back, I had to sweat her.” Hers: “You did some things to me/Boy, you do some things to me/But love is deeper than your pain and I believe you can change/Baby, the ups and downs are worth it/Long way to go, but we’ll work it/We’re flawed but we’re still perfect for each other.”
