Next up, letter N: “Nigga What, Nigga Who (Originator 99)” #JayZ30#JayZ
Timbaland: “…When we did ‘Jigga What,’ I did a beat at first. He [Jay-Z], like, ‘Nah, I need…’ [Timbaland starts mimicking Jay’s flow and lyrics]. I said, ‘Give me five minutes.’ ‘Cause he had the rap already ... the first beat I did wasn’t it.”
Jay-Z: “I got a whole new respect for Timbaland, for real. You know, you listen to his tracks, and [he’s] like a very innovative producer. ...He brought that sound to the game, like you hear that, it’s either his joint or you think it’s his joint. ...When he got in there, he had a track up, and I was like, ‘That’s cool ... but I want it [to feel like] Timbaland.’ Like, two minutes later, he came back with something even crazier. Then, after I laid the vocals, he just kept adding on to it … I was like, ‘Wow, got a new respect for him.’ ”
Next up, letter E: “Empire State of Mind” #JayZ30#JayZ
Below, Angela Hunte, one-half of the songwriting duo along with Jane't "Jnay" Sewell-Ulepic, details co-writing the hit song that spent five consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the ‘Billboard’ Hot 100: “I think that when Jay-Z heard it ... I know what he heard. He heard himself, he heard his story, he heard all the stories of New Yorkers. People come to New York to win. We don't come to fail.”
Hunte: “I know this sounds crazy, but you don’t know who you’re writing for. But it wasn’t until we were finished, and I was like, “This would be great for Jay-Z.’ ‘Cause you just see him and, like, a holographic picture of Frank Sinatra on the Empire State Building, and I remember that’s when the idea kind of spawned to send it.”
She continues, “Jon [Platt], our publisher, took it to Jay, I believe, or however he did it ... and then I remember getting the text back like, ‘he [Jay-Z] loves this record, and he believes you just changed his life.’ If you hear the original record … it’s a beautiful song, and the fact that he heard what he could do. That’s always going to be mind-boggling to me, like he heard through that.”
High praise from a GOAT!
LA Reid compares JAY-Z to Nelson Mandela & Barack Obama, stating he’s only met a few men that can walk into a room & completely change the energy of that room for the better. He also reveals Mariah Carey is the person who told him to hire JAY-Z as the president of Def Jam.
“He’s one of the most special people to grace the earth.”
“& I’m not talking about the rapper….i’m talking about the PERSON”.
Joe Budden talks about the time his manager asked JAY-Z to do the remix to “Pump It Up” but couldn’t afford the feature fee. Joe didn’t respond in the most mature way, so Hov freestyled over the beat & threw some shots at him.
“Worry, I'm, not, the Mike Jordan of the mic recording,
It's Hovi, baby, you Kobe, maybe; Tracy McGrady,
Matter-fact, you a Harold Miner,
J.R. Rider, washed up on marijuana,
Even worse, you a Pervis Ellis,
You worthless fella, you ain't no athlete, you Shawn Bradley,”
Hov later executive produced NBA 2k video game & put HIS version on it. Joe had to clear it, & he did. 💯
os swifties amam retratar a Taylor como revolucionária contra a indústria da música, mas destratam outras pessoas por fazerem justamente o mesmo. O discurso do Jay Z foi sobre injustiças raciais sistêmicas no Grammy e falou da esposa durante 10s, é só ver
Beanie Sigel is hosting a block party for the grand opening of his new spot “Santucci’s Pizza” in Philly on 5.1.26.
D’usse(JAY-Z’s alcohol) is 1 of the participating sponsors 👀. Jay will also be performing at the Roots picnic in Philly 5.30.26.
Jaÿ-Z is your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper.
Lil Wayne
Kendrick Lamar
Drake
Eminem
Kanye West
Nicki Minaj
Doechii
J Cole
T.I
Pusha T
Yo Gotti
Busta Rhymes
Calling Jaÿ-Z the GOAT or a big influence.
Before he was the multi-billionaire face of the NFL’s social justice initiatives, Jay-Z was just a young mogul-in-the-making navigating the raw, unfiltered streets of the 90s rap scene. Nothing captures that era’s chaotic energy quite like the infamous 1997 interview on Luther "Uncle Luke" Campbell’s FreakShow (also referred to as Peep Show).
In a clip that resurfaces every few years to shock a new generation of fans, a 28-year-old Hov is seen sitting on a couch with the 2 Live Crew legend, attempting to talk about his music and upcoming projects. The only problem? Right next to them, two women are engaged in explicit, X-rated acts that would make even today’s "Freaky Girl" rappers crab up.