Jay Z's 2017 album 4:44 was an important one for many different reasons - one of them being a song called 'Smile', on which his mother Gloria publicly came out as gay.

Now, the rapper has discussed the moment that he learned that his mother was gay - a day before the song was recorded - as a guest on David Letterman's 'My Next Guest Needs No Introduction' interview series.

"For my mother to have to live as someone that she wasn't, and hide, and protect her kids and didn't want to embarrass her kids... for her to sit in front of me and say 'I think I love someone' - I mean, I really cried. That’s a real story," he said. "I cried because I was so happy for her that she was free."

The new series will premiere on Netflix this Friday so you'll be able to see the full interview then.

Until then, watch the clip below: