Matt Rourke/AP/ShutterstockUPDATE: After a stream of speculation hit the Internet, it's seemingly been confirmed via the @DJBooth Twitter account that Jay Z will be dropping his 13th studio album, 4:44. The tweet has the 4:44 in Roman numerals, as well as a Tidal tag. The tweet has since been deleted.
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Jay knows how to make us sweat!
For the past few months, rumors have been quietly bubbling up on the Internet that Hova has been working on a new album. But in the past 24 hours, talk about Jay's possible new album has really heated up after a mysterious salmon pink and black ad campaign with the numbers "4:44" popped up all over New York City, including the Jay St. subway stop. And it's all been making the Internet go hmm?
While there's been no confirmation from Jay or his camp about new music or a new album, it's looking like the chattering could be a reality.
Using some sleuthing skills that even Det. Olivia Benson might admire, we investigate all the clues that Jay's about to drop a new album:
In addition to the Big Apple ad campaign, a banner ad appeared on a number of hip-hop websites, including Complex.com, Fader and Hypebeast. As reported by Spin, when users click on the ad nothing happens (which is pretty rare because most ads direct users to things that can be bought). However, the source code on Complex's ad contains "tidal-444," a possible link to Jay's music streaming service, Tidal.
Of course, Internet users quickly speculated that "4:44" ad campaign was a clue that the ad was about Jay, due to his and Beyoncé's well-documented love of the number four. In 2011, Bey released her fourth studio album, titled 4. They were also got married on April 4 (4/4) and got matching "IV" tattoos. It's been said that they their daughter Blue Ivy's middle name was a reference to the Roman numeral IV. Oh and: Beyoncé's birthday is Sept. 4 and Jay was born on Dec. 4. So there's that too.
All of this has led people to speculate that the mystery "4:44" ad, which leads you on a road to nowhere, may mean there's an upcoming album called The Blueprint 4.
But this isn't the first time that rumblings of a possible new Jay album have occurred as of late.
Super producer Swizz Beatz first tipped us off when he posted a photo of himself and Jay with the caption, "They don't even know what's about to happen. Album ModeZone."
The two go way back, as Swizzy produced Hov's "Jigga My Nigga" back in 1999. It's very possible that Alicia Keyes' main man has produced some tracks on the new LP.
Jay also appears to have lined up some big concerts, possibly for a big push of his new music. He was recently added as co-headliner to the Made in America Festival with J. Cole. He’s also been added to the Austin City Limits tour as a co-headliner alongside Chance The Rapper and Gorillaz. Usually, performers book a string of concert dates when they've got new music or a new album to promote.
Do you think Jay's about to drop a new album? Sound off in the comments!