This Friday, January 12, Jay-Z and D’Angelo will release the new song “I Want You Forever.” It’s a collaboration with filmmaker and musician Jeymes Samuel, made for the film The Book of Clarence. Samuel has described the song as “nine minutes and 32 seconds of absolute soulful, biblical bliss.” See the full tracklist and cover artwork for the Book of Clarence soundtrack below.
Samuel wrote and directed The Book of Clarence, which hits theaters on Friday. He and Jay-Z are also among the film’s producers. They previously worked together on The Harder They Fall.
In a recent press release for The Book of Clarence’s “Hallelujah Heaven,” Samuel said, “The Book of Clarence is a film that I wanted to make for many years. While I was working on The Harder They Fall and all my other projects, the story and the music for The Book of Clarence was always there percolating in my mind.” He continued, “There was never a question as to whether I would compose the score and write and perform on the soundtrack, as well as write and direct the movie—it was all one amazing journey where one depended on the other. But I also worked with the most awesome artists on our track ‘Hallelujah Heaven.’ Collaborating with Lil Wayne, Buju Banton, and Shabba Ranks was so dope, I loved getting them all on the same track.”
D’Angelo has not been on a widely available new song since 2019. And he has not released a new album since Black Messiah. Read about the December 2014 LP in “The History of Pitchfork’s Reviews Section in 38 Reviews.”