On Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14), Tyrese made a bittersweet announcement. The California-bred crooner took to Instagram with a nearly seven-minute video compilation on what would have been his fifth wedding anniversary to estranged wife, Samantha Lee, sharing a behind-the-scenes look into the making of his seventh studio album, Beautiful Pain.
“This will be the closest album—historically, sonically, musically, lyrically, melody, passion, the intimacy, the vulnerability—this will be up there with Stevie Wonder’s ‘Songs In The Key Of Life’ and Marvin Gaye’s ‘Here, My Dear’,” he shared. Tyrese released his last LP, Black Rose, in 2015 and also announced that it would be his final album before retiring from music.
The video was captioned, “5 years ago today she said [ I do ]. Only lasted 3 years then she sadly unexpectedly said… [ I don’t ]. When my brother Jeezy and his wife [Jeannie Mai] pulled up and I watched his wife get emotional some and in-between each song we had to talk openly about every song this was the confirmation on my soul that we’re making raw and transparent magic….”
The “Sweet Lady” singer continued, “7 years ago I after my #BlackRoseAlbum I said I would never ever do it again. Carrying the unbearable pain of this divorce has put me in a dark place and the only way I could get this energy off of me was to confront it. […] Happy Valentines Day love angels.”
In December, Tyrese and Lee announced they were divorcing in a joint statement. The former couple share one child, Soraya (3), and Tyrese has an older daughter, Shayla (14), from his first marriage. Yet, not long after the divorce announcement, he initially expressed there would not be a new album following the news as he only hoped for #BetterDays.