Jay-Z confirms his mother is in a same-sex relationship in new album lyrics

Jay-Z appears to have confirmed his mum is in a same-sex relationship.

According to lyrics on his new album, 4:44, the rapper says: "Mama had four kids but she's a lesbian/Had to pretend so long, that she's a thespian.

"Don't matter to me if it's a him or her/I just want to see you smile through all the hate."

Early in his career, Jay-Z wrote tracks containing homophobic lyrics but he's stopped recording songs with gay slurs in them.

The lyrics feature on a track called Smile, which also features a cameo from Jay-Z's mum, Gloria Carter, reading a poem.

Given her appearance on the track, it seems likely that she knew about her son's plans to talk about her sexuality.

"The world is changing and they say it's time to be free/But you live with the fear of just being me," she says.

"Living in the shadow feels like the safe place to be/No harm for them, no harm for me/But life is short, and it's time to be free."

Tego tweeted that the revelation was for people who thought "there's no way Jay Z has anything new to talk about".

Twitter user @basquiat added: "When Ms. Gloria Carter spoke it touched my soul man #444".

Ezra said: "Gloria Carter ... I salute you. Beautiful work Jay Z. #Smile".

Ivy-Skye was one of many who quoted one of Gloria Carter's lyrics from the track - "Love who you love because life isn't guaranteed".

It had been rumoured a number of years ago that Ms Carter was in a long-term relationship with a former teacher, Dania Diaz.

Jay-Z and his mum started a charity in his name - the Shawn Carter Foundation - and Ms Diaz was later named the executor for the charity.

Fans are speculating that elsewhere on the album, Jay-Z responds to Beyonce's Lemonade album and apologises for cheating.

"I apologise/Our love was one for the ages and I contained us," he raps.

"What good is a menage-a-trois when you have a soulmate? You risked that for Blue [the name of their eldest child]?"

The record, which is exclusively streaming on Tidal, features vocals from Beyonce as well as contributions from Frank Ocean and Damian Marley.

Jay-Z's last studio album was Magna Carta... Holy Grail, which was released in July 2013.

He's scheduled to headline V Festival which takes place on 19 and 20 August.

Some people were unhappy that they weren't able to hear the album

Although the album has opened to positive reviews in general, the fact that it was only available on Tidal annoyed people who didn't have access to it.

Jay-Z partly owns the subscription-only streaming service, which is trying to compete with Apple Music and Spotify in terms of members.

Mark Ronson was unhappy that users who had signed up to Tidal in the last few days are unable to listen to 4:44.

He wrote on Twitter: "I signed up for Tidal solely to listen to a Jay Z album, which turns out is the only thing I can't listen to on Tidal".

He added: "Shortest subscription ever".

He also tweeted: "I've. Bought. Every. Jay Z Album. The. Day. Of. Release. Usually. On. Vinyl."

Although he did eventually manage to listen to the album - somehow - and gave it the thumbs up.

Radio 1Xtra DJ MistaJam heard the album on Friday morning and live tweeted his reactions.

He wrote on Twitter that 4:44 "could end up in [JAY-Z's] top 5 albums" and "EXACTLY what we needed".

He added: "So many quotables... "There's no such thing as an ugly billionaire, I'm cute"

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