In an interview with iHeartRadio, Jay-Z explained that 4:44‘s title track, in which he apologizes to Beyoncé for his infidelity, refers to the time he woke up to write the song. “I woke up, literally, at 4:44 in the morning, 4:44 a.m., to write this song. So it became the title of the album and everything,” he said. “It’s the title track because it’s such a powerful song, and I just believe one of the best songs I’ve ever written.”
But what he didn’t reveal is that “444” also happens to be the beginning of the address of The Standard’s Le Bain (444 West 13th Street), which is the club atop the famous New York Hotel, which houses the elevator where Solange attacked Jay-Z. A man named Stephen Ossola made the revelation on Twitter yesterday, almost a month after the album’s release.
https://twitter.com/StephenOssola/status/890063102515007488
Jay-Z also makes a reference to the incident on 4:44‘s opening track “Kill Jay Z”: “You egged Solange on / Knowin’ all along all you had to say you was wrong.” This set of numbers also appears in his 2006 song “44 Fours.”