Who Is “Becky With the Good Hair” On Jay-Z’s ‘4:44’ & Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’?

A little over one year after Beyoncé dropped her critically acclaimed album Lemonade, her husband Jay-Z also released a new album showing his version of the story.

4:44 was released exclusively on Tidal, and features a song called “Family Feud,” in which the rapper allegedly sings about his extramarital affair. “Yeah I’ll f–k up a good thing if you let me,” Jay Z says, followed by the lyrics: “Let me alone Becky.”

Lemonade discussed the behavior of an unfaithful man, which many have speculated to be about Jay-Z. Beyonce referenced a woman nicknamed “Becky with the good hair”, which gave rise to many speculations about her identity.

Rachel Roy, a designer, was one of the main suspects. She didn’t help matters by posting “Good hair don’t care, but we will take good lighting, for selfies, or self truths, always. live in the light #nodramaqueens” on Instagram shortly after Lemonade’s premiere.

Later on, Roy denied the allegations. “I respect love, marriages, families and strength. What shouldn’t be tolerated by anyone, no matter what, is bullying, of any kind,” she wrote, after receiving rude comments on social media from people who thought she was Becky.

Numerous fan theories surfaced since then, including that the mysterious Becky was Rita Ora, Rachel Roy or even Taylor Swift. However, none of them were ever confirmed.

The singer references infidelity in other songs on the album. In one particularly poignant lyric from the album’s title track, he considers what the couple’s three children might think if they ever learned what their father had done:

Elsewhere on the record, he compares himself to Halle Berry’s former flame Eric Benét, who allegedly lost the Oscar-winning actress due to his own philandering — “You almost went Eric Benét/ Let the baddest girl in the world get away,” he raps on “Kill JAY-Z.”

On the same track, he also touches on the infamous elevator incident, where Beyonce’s sister was seen physically confronting the rapper on video. Speaking to himself he drops the line, “You egged Solange on/ Knowin’ all along, all you had to say you was wrong.”