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THE EMOTIONAL ECLIPSE OF JAY-Z’S “MOONLIGHT”

In the increasingly competitive space of subscription streaming, there’s a new demand on the attending services to create TRULY original content that will keep current customers happy while also possessing an outward buzz factor to lure new people in.

Whether that content is Rap Caviar (Spotify) or Planet of the Apps (Apple Music), the pressure to stay relevant and cool in this fickle marketplace is as high as that for audience conversion. And with Tidal lurking in third place behind two entrenched, deep-pocketed behemoths, compelling creativity has to really count.

Team Roc Nation and Jay-Z are acutely aware of this challenge and have consistently delivered on expectations, particularly with the content offered around 4:44. But what’s also significant about their creative output is the implicit mission statement woven into the originality of these offerings. They are simultaneously making powerful pieces about their place in the world—which is not only fitting of the album’s whole sentiment in general, but also a deeply relevant glimpse into the experience of Living While Black.

That’s emphatically what the team achieved for the visual to Jay-Z’s new 4:44 single, “Moonlight,” released on Tidal Friday 8/4 and available everywhere next week.

Directed by Master of None co-creator Alan Yang, the video re-enacts, line-for-line and using the same exact set and costume design, scenes from a 1996 Friends episode, with one twist—a cast that is all black. Comedian Jerrod Carmichael (The Carmichael Show) plays Ross, Issa Rae of HBO’s comedy Insecure plays Rachel, Tiffany Haddish from the hit film Girls Trip is Phoebe, Tessa Thompson (Creed) plays Monica, Lil Rey Howery (The UPS homie who saves the day in Get Out) is Joey and Lakeith Stanfield from Donald Glover’s Atlanta plays Chandler.

Having Carmichael play Ross in this re-creation of an NBC classic when his own critically acclaimed sitcom was cancelled by the very same network in June, is poignant in itself. During the three seasons of The Carmichael Show, the comedian was celebrated for deftly tackling hot-button topics including police brutality, white people using the N-Word and mass shootings.

Less than a minute of Jay rapping from “Moonlight” appears in the video, but the verses speak volumes about black representation in media—and the video makes that feeling downright visceral as we focus in on his words.

“We stuck in La La Land/Even when we win, we gon’ lose,” Jay preaches, as Carmichael walks off set, then outside to a park bench purposely reminiscent of La La Land’s pivotal dance scene—and sits down to stare up at the moon. “Lucian is cool but Lucian don’t write/Doug ain’t this tight so/Fuck what we sellin/Fuck is we makin’?/’Cause their grass is greener/‘Cause they always rakin’ in mo’/Nah,” Jay is saying in the background.

The last scene features the infamous Oscar audio of Warren Beatty announcing, “And the Academy Award goes to,” then Faye Dunaway exclaiming, “La La Land!” triggering cheers from the audience.

The fact that we all know who really won that night is Jay-Z’s whole point about “Moonlight.”

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