Celebrated hip-hop producer Buckwild has reflected on a pivotal moment in the genre’s history, revealing that late rapper Notorious B.I.G‘s ‘I Got A Story To Tell’ was originally meant for Foxy Brown.
Buckwild made the claim during the seventh episode of Roku’s series Iconic Records, which details untold hip-hop stories. In the show, the multi-platinum producer revealed how the beat meant for Foxy Brown found its way to Biggie.
“That beat was originally for Foxy Brown, and Tone from Track Masters picked it for her. He told her JAY-Z was gonna rhyme to it, and she was like, ‘I don’t like it. I’m not rhyming to that,'” he said. “I laid it, and [Biggie] wasn’t there. He came back another time and did the vocals with D-Dot [Angelettie]. And then the next time he sent the version of the song, it was just the rough. Everybody in the studio was going crazy, and I didn’t see it [being a hit] away. I never see it right away. We did ‘Whoa!’ and I thought it was just regular.”
The producer continued: “The whole song was recorded except for the outro, and when we mixed that I got a call saying the sample wasn’t cleared. The guy’s name is Andreas Vollenweider. I didn’t want to make beats that sound like nobody else. I found the record in a dollar record bin. It was a white dude with an afro that was kinda curly, but when I got the record home it was kinda dope.”
However, Buckwild didn’t give up and turned to some prominent names to get the project off the ground. “Clive Davis put in a call and asked him to clear the sample. He was like, ‘No way José. No, Jive Clive.’ So Puff said he’ll get Chucky [Thompson] to replay it. He’ll just take out some notes,” he explained. “We was in the studio, and he said he wants to put something at the end of the song … it’s him and D-Roc and [C-]Gutta in the booth, and he’s breaking this shit down, and I’m seeing his genius and I just threw my hat on the floor.”
Per Buckwild, even Foxy Brown would ultimately be enamoured with his track: “Foxy was there and she turned the beat [volume] down and said this was his hottest song on the record. I don’t think she realized it [was the beat she turned down].”
Listen to ‘I Got A Story To Tell’ below.
