Atlanta lyricist 2 Chainz is one of the South’s most prominent artists and has worked with various MCs throughout his career. From Kanye West to Lil Wayne, the ‘Duffle Bag Boy’ musician has been in the studio with everyone. However, he has yet to land a song with Jay-Z and has given up on trying.
During an appearance on the New York morning radio The Breakfast Club, 2 Chainz (real name Tauheed Epps) revealed it was time to finally stop chasing his dream of getting a verse from Jay-Z. During their conversation with the Georgia native, hosts Charlamagne Tha God and DJ Envy analysed different 2 Chainz albums to pick out which record Jay-Z would sound the best on.
However, they inevitably chose Epps’ 2020 project, So Help Me God! More specifically, the track that paid tribute to the Brooklyn artist, ‘Southside Hov,’ which samples a track from Jay’s 1995 debut album, Reasonable Doubt.
Speaking about his working relationship with Jay, Epps explained, “Me and Hov cool, so I sent him the video when I did it. Just to show him the angle that I wasn’t trying to be him, but since it was a Hov sample and the things that I was talking about in the song was some Hov stuff, so I named it ‘Southside Hov.’ He was like, ‘I’m humbled by it.’ It was a cool back-and-forth we had.”
He continued to address the Hov feature he just can’t get, “As far as trying to get him on something, I’ve given up on that part. I don’t like rejection. I got this little mental thing, people that I deal with don’t even know this, where I might ask somebody something three times over my whole life and secretly, after the third time, I won’t ever probably ask again.”
‘Southside Hov’, which appeared on 2020’s So Help Me God! album, boasted features from the likes of Kanye West, Brent Faiyaz, Lil Uzi Vert, Chief Keef, Ty Dolla $ign, Kevin Gates, Latto, Lil Wayne, YoungBoy Never Broke Again and others.
The album was announced after Epps’ Versuz battle with Rick Ross on Instagram and was recorded during the pandemic. The 14-track project debuted at number 15 on the Billboard 200 and received mixed reviews.
You can watch ” Chainz’s interview with The Breakfast Club in the video below.
