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to sample tracks from THE BLACK ALBUM.
BEHIND THE MUSIC Members of the production teams on previous Jay-Z albums sound off on Jiggaman's sonic evolution. REASONABLE DOUBT (1996) > Ski ("Politics as Usual," "Dead Presidents II," "Feelin' It," "22 Two's"): "Dead Presidents II" was the official beginning of recording the album. My beats weren't like DJ Premier's or Clark Kent's, they were a little more melodic. I remember when he was doing "Brooklyn's Finest," Biggie had to go home and rethink his verse because Jay was putting the pressure on him. Everyone around Jay knew that he was going to be the next dude. >DJ Premier ("D'Evils," "Friend or Foe," "Bring It On"): Reasonable Doubt was strictly street. A lot of artists nowadays sugarcoat their music and go straight for the pop market. Jay is always very descriptive about what he wants before he even lays it. For "D'Evils," he wanted to use the Snoop and Prodigy vocal samples. He described the atmosphere of the song, and I just laid the track down like he wanted. IN MY LIFETIME, VOL. 1 (1997) >DJ Premier ("Intro/A Million and One Questions/Rhyme No More," "Friend or Foe '98"): After the first album, Jay started to understand what it took to be a diverse artist. The record with Babyface, "(Always Be My) Sunshine," didn't work for him, but he could take chances because he covered the streets first. All the records I do with Jay are never the pop records, they're strictly for the 'hood. We knocked out "A Million and One Questions" in one night. He's a lightning-fast worker. I guess that's one of the reasons why he can turn out an album so quickly. VOL. 2Â…HARD KNOCK LIFE (1998) >Swizz Beatz ("If I Should Die," "Money, Cash, Hoes," "Coming of Age [Da Sequel]"): My sound was unorthodox and fresh-no samples. Everybody was sleeping on the track for "Money, Cash, Hoes." It was so different, making a beat out of sliding across a keyboard, but Jay's flow matched it. Working with him was serious business. He nails it every time. >DJ Premier ("Intro-Hand It Down"): I did the intro with Memphis Bleek. Jay was there through the whole process. I remember him going through the way he wanted Bleek to deliver it. At that time, Jay already wanted to retire. Bleek was going to be the one to hold it down for the Roc, since they didn't have a lot of other artists. VOL. 3Â…LIFE AND TIMES OF S. CARTER (1999) >Timbaland ("It's Hot [Some Like It Hot]," "Snoopy Track," "Big Pimpin'," "Come and Get Me"): When I did "Big Pimpin'," I knew it would get Jay in a place where he would be accepted in a lot of different ways. You have to give him a beat that's going to challenge him, something that will make him think about it for a little bit. He's up for anything. THE DYNASTY: ROC LA FAMILIA (2000) > Pharrell of the Neptunes ("I Just Wanna Love U [Give It 2 Me]"): I called him one night, and I sung him the hook over the phone.
He didn't even hear the beat, and he was like, "I'll be over there." He's like Rain Man when he's working. He just stands there and mumbles to himself. Next thing you know, he's going into the booth and laying down 16 bars. Jay-Z's a chess player. You can tell the guys who play chess, because they know how they're gonna move four moves away from now. > Just Blaze ("Intro," "Streets Is Talking," "Stick 2 the Script," "The R.O.C."): The Dynasty, from a production standpoint, was almost a demo for The Blueprint. You could see us gravitating toward what The Blueprint would eventually be. THE BLUEPRINT (2001) >Kanye West ("Takeover," "Izzo [H.O.V.A.]," "Heart of the City [Ain't No Love]," "Never Change"): Diamond D, Pete Rock, RZA, and Primo were doing [soul samples] since a long time ago. We just helped bring that style back. The beat CD I gave Jay for The Blueprint had "Never Change"; [State Property's] "Got Nowhere," which would've had Sade singing on it; the joint that is now Alicia Keys's "You Don't Know My Name"; and "Heart of the City," which R. Kelly initially sang on. For "Heart of the City," Jay came up with what he wanted to say in his head, as usual. In the studio, the "Fiesta (Remix)" video came on TV, and Jay walked into the booth, started recording, finished the entire song all the way to the outro, and came back in the studio. The video was still on. Those Blueprint records are all classics-I'm part of history. MTV UNPLUGGED (2001) > ?uestlove (drummer, bandleader):MTV had expectations of him only doing his hits, but he really wanted to use that opportunity to connect on some artistic level. He was feeling songs from Reasonable Doubt. I was like, What about "Can I Get AÂ…" and "Big Pimpin'"? He said, "Na, there ain't no need for all of that. I want to do some art shit. I'm going after the LL title," the best hip hop-related MTV Unplugged. I really wanted to bring out the humorous side, and some of the best parts of Unplugged were when he was just talking to the audience. If I really had my way, I would've included even the bloopers and the fuckups, because they were just as funny. THE BLUEPRINT 2: THE GIFT & THE CURSE (2002) > Just Blaze ("Hovi Baby," "U Don't Know [Remix]," "Meet the Parents," "Show You How," "B*****s & Sisters"): After , a lot of people started getting back to the samples and having singing in their beats. Even though there is some of that on , we couldn't really take it there again. If you listen to the joints I did, none of them sound the same. Jay is always trying to be a step ahead, creating what the new, hot sound will be. With Jay, I can get a little more creative. THE BLACK ALBUM (2003) > Just Blaze ("December 4th," "Public Service Announcement [Interlude]"): Jay was picky like he never was before. He didn't just go for stuff he can rhyme to but stuff where he can tell stories and construct songs with concepts. > 9th Wonder ("Threat"): Jay-Z had the R. Kelly joint "A Woman's Threat." He said, "Can you do something with this?" I put it on my laptop and chopped it up, and put the drum track behind it. Jay said my name on the track. All the work I've done, making beats all the time, it all boiled down to that moment when he said my name. Jay-Z told MTV that in two years everybody's gonna know my name. He just has a knack for breaking producers.
