The first Kanye West beat Jay-Z ever heard: “He was like ‘woah!'”
Kanye West is a legend and has been a prominent artist in hip-hop for the best part of two decades. However, he was operated underneath other artists before he came into his own.
Born in Atlanta, Kanye moved to Chicago with his mother, Donda West, when she got a job at Chicago State University. The star moved to the city at age three, so naturally, Kanye considers it his hometown.
While in Chicago, West developed his love for art, and it is common knowledge among his fans that he was a great drawer. However, after getting accepted to college for art, he dropped out in pursuit of a music career as a producer. In the early 1990s, Kanye worked with underground rappers in ‘The Windy City’ and connected with other producers and artists.
However, No I.D. was one of the most critical individuals Kanye encountered in his quest to achieve fame as a beatmaker. During the 1990s, No I.D. worked with Common, a well-known Chicago emcee. The producer’s mother knew Donda West, and as a result, the two musicians got acquainted.
No I.D. was West’s manager for a short period, but he couldn’t handle his temperamental nature. However, knowing the budding producer needed a home, he introduced West to Kyambo Joshua, the A&R of Roc-A-Fella and the CEO of a production house named Hip-Hop. In 1998, Joshua signed Kanye to the roster of Hip-Hop, and only a year later, West had the chance to present Jay with one of his instrumentals.
In a 2002 interview with MTV News, Kanye recalled how he first got his music into the hands of Jay-Z. Remembering the special day, West began, “I remember it was Beanie Sigel’s birthday, and I came, and I played a bunch of soul beats.”
He proceeded to explain, “We had soul beats here and there, but I had a bunch that I was building up. From the success of ‘This Can’t Be Life’. I was playing Beanie some beats, and he was smiling like, ‘Yeah, this is hot!’ But he had to go, so then Hov came in!”
As he reflected on that day, West even detailed what the Brooklyn legend was wearing, telling MTV News, “I remember he had a Gucci hat on like the fisherman’s joint, and ‘Hip-Hop’ my manager was like ‘You play that one beat for Hov!'”
The Chicago native then played a beat for Jay-Z, and it’s fair to say the ‘Can’t Knock The Hustle’ lyricist was impressed. As he looked back on that day, Kanye continued, “He was like ‘Woah.'” Kanye specified that the first-ever instrumental he played for Jay-Z was an interpolation of the Bobby Bland soul song ‘Ain’t No Love in The Heart of The City’, which was used for Hov’s iconic 2001 song, ‘Heart Of The City’.
The track featured on The Blueprint, which includes five Kanye West beats, including the backing track for the Nas diss song ‘Takeover’.