Make sure the plane you’re on is bigger than your carry-on baggage.

There’s quite a bit of controversy surrounding the birth of Jay-Z and Beyonce’s daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, but that’s not what I’m going to write about today. Today I want to bring attention to a song that Jay-Z released yesterday via SoundCloud called “Glory”.

I have never been a father, but as it happens with most men or women, with every new year comes a new question I ask myself. At this very moment, I’m 22 years old. In 8 months, I’ll be 23. Four months after that, I will be graduating college. What happens then? I don’t know yet. However, I’ve recently discovered that I would not be entirely against the idea of being a father sometime in the future. So, having that in mind, I naturally put myself in ‘what if’ scenarios. I put the subject through a mental gauntlet, basically. Being a parent is one of the biggest responsibilities in the world, and is not something to take lightly whatsoever.

So, in order to understand what a father is to begin with, where better to look for an example than my own? I’m fortunate enough to have my father in my life every single day, so I like to think that I’ve grown to understand him as a person and what his role in my life has been so far. He helped raise me, feed me, wipe my butt–everything you can think of. This is where I asked myself, “would I do this for just anyone?” Of course, my answer was “no”. So, knowing that, a child is obviously something incredibly special. Or rather, someone incredibly special. Now, this reminds me of a phrase I’m all too familiar with: “love makes people do crazy things”. To quote Percy Sledge on “When A Man Loves A Woman”:

When a man loves a woman, he can’t keep his mind on nothing else
He’ll trade the world for the good thing he’s found.

To people not involved in the relationship referenced in that song, that sounds absolutely ludicrous. However, there is truth in those words. Of course, love is not limited to romance; love can be felt for anything. A pet, for example; some people care more about their pets than they do anyone or anything else. For whatever reason, their pet is the most important thing in the world to them. Bringing the conversation back to my original discussion, these same powers of love can be felt for a child. In fact, it would only make sense to care for a child as much as, if not more, than you care for yourself because a child is literally a piece of you.

Now, when I was born, both my mother and father wrote a letter to me. I didn’t read them until I was around 18 years old. In these letters, my parents told me about themselves, how proud they were of me, how much they loved me, and gave me a bit of insight into how happy I’ve made them by coming into their lives. These letters were touching to read, and helped me understand just how much a parent loves their child.

That being said, “Glory” is Jay-Z’s letter to his daughter. I think it’s a beautiful manifestation of his feelings as a father and couldn’t be happier for him. I’m sure Blue Ivy will cherish the song very much when she’s old enough to understand it. My favorite part of this song is at the end, where you hear what I’m assuming is Blue Ivy making sounds. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a rapper sampling their newborn before.