NEW YORK (AFP) – Rap mogul Jay-Z celebrated his 50th birthday and surprised fans on Wednesday (Dec 4) by putting his catalogue back on streaming giant Spotify, after a two-year hiatus.
The billionaire artist, who owns rival streaming service Tidal, had pulled the majority of his discography from Spotify in 2017, months before dropping his 4:44 album exclusively on his own upstart platform.
The introspective album prompted a surge of interest in the paid subscription service Tidal – which also exclusively carries his megastar wife Beyonce's much-touted visual album Lemonade – briefly becoming a top downloaded app.
Fans can now stream 4:44 on Spotify for the first time, along with classics like The Blueprint, American Gangster and Watch The Throne.
The rapper has the second-most top albums in the history of Billboard's rankings chart with 14, bested only by The Beatles, who have 19.
"Happy Birthday, Hov," Spotify tweeted on Wednesday, using a nickname of the rapper born Shawn Carter, who grew up in one of Brooklyn's most notorious housing projects.
There was no indication how long Jay-Z's flow would remain available on Spotify, which has often come under fire from prominent artists including Prince, TaylorRead More – Source
