Beyoncé and Jay-Z are commemorating their 15th wedding anniversary on 4 April, and the Hip-Hop power couple is nobody if not honest when it comes to talking about the ups and downs of their relationship.
Given that they met in 2000 when Beyoncé was 18, and 12 years Jay-Z’s junior, the odds of their relationship lasting so long were stacked against them.
They might be two of the most successful recording artists of all time, but they’ve faced multiple challenges, from Jay-Z’s infidelity to family fallouts and their struggle to have kids.
Irrespective of the ups and downs, Beyoncé and her spouse seem more powerful than ever.
When they first met, it’s maybe discernible that Hov – whose real name is Shawn Corey Carter – was more confident of his emotions than Bey, who has acknowledged taking more time to devote.
In an interview in 2009, the ‘Lemonade’ crooner uttered, “I was 18 when we first met, 19 when we first started dating. I don’t believe that you will love the same thing when you’re 20 as you do at 30. So that was my rule – before the age of 25, I would never get married.”
The vocalist – who in February set a record when she became the biggest-ever Grammy winner after clocking up 32 awards – added, “We were friends first. Before we went on any dates, we were on the phone for a year and a half. That foundation is so important in a relationship.”
The couple fell in love though, and it wasn’t long before they were working together musically.
Their first collaborated project was the rapper’s 2002 track 03 Bonnie & Clyde, which was closely followed by her monster hit ‘Crazy In Love’.
As the title would suggest, the tune was motivated by the fact that Beyoncé, now 41, was besotted with Jay-Z and personal disclosure through their music would become a theme for both acts throughout their relationship.
Beyonce mentioned, “I don’t care if you’re picture-perfect on every magazine cover and you’re the most handsome, successful, coolest guy – you still get sad and you still get your feelings hurt, and you still get confused and vulnerable and nervous and scared. You have to find a person you can make it through the tough times with.”
Coming to be parents often puts pressure on relationships, but the delivery of their first kid, daughter Blue Ivy, on 7 January 2012, left the Single Ladies vocalist feeling more loved-up than ever.
Further, in her 2013 autobiographical film Life Is But A Dream, she mentioned, “This baby has made me love him more than I ever thought I could love another human being. It’s just that I love him so much that we almost feel like one. I don’t know how to describe it.”
However, her route to motherliness was far from smooth and in the same film she opened up about suffering a miscarriage before their daughter was born.
While they might have felt “joy” after Blue’s arrival, the couple was about to be rocked by a shocking – and very public – incident.
When the footage came up of Beyoncé’s younger sister, Solange, 36, violently attacking Jay-Z in a lift following 2014’s Met Gala, it seemed there was a crisis in paradise.
The video immediately went viral, with fans believing Solange’s actions were linked to the rumours Jay-Z had cheated on her sister.
Days later, the family released a communique mentioning they had “worked through it”, adding, “Jay and Solange each assume their share of responsibility for what has occurred. They both acknowledge their role in this private matter that has played out in the public… We’ve put this behind us and hope everyone else will do the same.”
The couple, who live in an $88 million home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, may have claimed they’d moved on from the drama, but when Beyoncé released her explosive album Lemonade in 2016, the lyrics left fans in no doubt she’d been cheated on.
On Sorry, she sang, “He only wants me when I’m not there / He better calls Becky with the good hair,” while on Pray You Catch Me she wrote, “You can taste the dishonesty / It’s all over your breath as you pass it off so cavalier.”
And on Hold Up, the vocalist, who is famous for empowering other women both with her music and her charity work, crooned lyrics about self-worth, containing, “Something doesn’t feel right because it ain’t right, especially coming up after midnight / I smell your secrets and I’m not too perfect to ever feel this worthless.”
A year later, Hov had his say in his album 4:44, where he talked about errors he’d made in his union and the embarrassment he felt.
In an interview, the Blueprint rapper said, “The hardest thing is seeing pain on someone’s face that you caused and then having to deal with yourself. So, you know, most people don’t want to do that. You don’t want to look inside yourself. And so you walk away.”
He confessed it was “very, very uncomfortable” to hear each other’s music about their difficulties but said, “We were using our art almost like a therapy session.”
After going through this unfortunate patch in their union, it seemed as though the couple had come out the other side by the time Beyoncé broke the joyful news on 1 February 2017 that they were anticipating twins.
Rumi and Sir were born on 13 June of that year, making their first public appearance in a now-iconic photograph posted on Instagram, which showed Beyoncé holding her new son and daughter against a backdrop of a flower arch.
The following year, the musician celebrated her 37th birthday and disclosed that she and Jay-Z had renewed their marriage vows.
She said, “At 36, I became a new mother of three. I breastfed twins. I renewed my vows with my husband of 10 years.
I’m looking forward to continuing to learn from my past, living in the present and surrendering to the future.”
This mantra appears to be functioning for the vocalist. At this year’s Grammys, she took home four awards for her latest number-one album Renaissance.
But while her career proceeds from strength to strength, Beyoncé is always sharp to remind her followers what matters to her the most.
Meanwhile, in one of her recent Grammy award wins acceptance speeches, she uttered, “I’d like to thank my beautiful husband and my beautiful three children.”
© 2023 • Edem Latsu Nukafu
