Jay Z has recently been pretty candid about his mother, Gloria Carter, coming out to him after sharing it with the world on "Smile" via his 2017 album 4:44. On an upcoming episode of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, the GLAAD Media award winner sits with host David Letterman to talk about how it all went down.
"Imagine having to live your life as someone else and you think you're protecting your kids," he said. "For her to sit in front of me and tell me 'I think I love someone,' I really cried...I cried because I was so happy for her that she was free."
The conversation happened pretty recently, while Jay was creating 4:44. "This happened eight months ago, when the album was being made. She just told me. I made ['Smile'] the next day." Gloria Carter would eventually add her own words to the song, penning the last-minute poem on a flight to meet her son in LA. "I knew," Jay told Letterman of his mother's sexuality, "but that was the first time having the conversation. And the first time I heard her say she loved her partner."
In the same episode, Jay also shared what makes fellow rap icons Snoop Dogg and Eminem great. "There's multiple ways to be really good," he adds. "Some people just have it all."
The full episode will be available on Netflix on April 6.
