The iconic Jay-Z beat that originally belonged to Jadakiss
Sometimes in the music business, instrumentals, in need of a home, can be passed along from one artist to another. A producer puts together a track, which is later played for singers or rappers, who, in turn, may or may not end up using it. It’s a common practice, but it means that, sometimes, certain artists make big mistakes. Jadakiss, for one, said no to a track that became a hit for none other than Jay-Z.
‘Jigga My N—a,’ or simply ‘Jigga,’ was featured on the hip-hop label Ruff Ryders’ compilation album Ryde or Die Vol. 1, which came out in 1999. It saw Jay-Z rapping over a beat produced by Swizz Beatz, and, following its release on the Ryde or Die compilation, it also showed up on Jay-Z’s own fourth album, Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter, albeit as a hidden track right at the album’s end. As a single, it served Jay pretty well, peaking on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 28, but topping the rap charts.
It is difficult to imagine anyone other than Hov rapping over Swizz’ beat for the song, but, as Swizz himself admitted on the Drink Champs podcast in 2017, it hadn’t initially been meant for him. “Jada had ‘Jigga’ first,” Swizz claimed. “Listen to the record close: the original record was ‘Jaaaada,’ and he didn’t want it. Then ‘Jigga’ came out and we got into some words. [Jadakiss] didn’t drop a verse on that.”
It seems strange that Jada didn’t like the track enough to use it, considering how successful it ultimately became for Jay-Z. But it happens. Sometimes a track doesn’t capture a person’s imagination in the same way that it does for someone else. That’s normal, but the fact it happened another time as well is quite odd.
Appearing on the Club 520 podcast, Jada admitted to passing on another song that ultimately went to Jay-Z: ‘U Don’t Know,’ produced by Just Blaze. Blaze apparently sent him the track, but Jada wasn’t interested. What was the problem with it? “Too much going on sometimes,” as Jada put it.
To pass over, not one, but two successful Jay-Z tracks must sting Jada a bit, but it’s gone both ways. It turns out that Jay, too, has previous for this sort of thing, having turned down the eventual Jadakiss song ‘We Gonna Make It.’ That one was produced by The Alchemist, who, speaking on the A Waste of Time podcast, claimed that Jay and Nas had been offered the track.
When that didn’t work out, it eventually found its way to Jadakiss, who used it as the lead single from his debut album Kiss tha Game Goodbye. It seems this sort of thing happens all the time.