The Jay-Z album 2 Chainz called “way before its time”
Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz has been on the scene for over a decade and has managed to gain quite a name for himself over the years. Around the early 2010s, the rapper (real name Taucheed Epps) was one of the hottest new rappers out of the South and gained a lot of followers through his various features
2 Chainz has been 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.
That said, the Georgia artist has a love for all things hip-hop, and in a 2012 conversation with online magazine Complex, the lyricist spoke about some of the East Coast artists he used to listen to growing up and name-dropped some of the culture’s best lyricists.
Opening up about some of the 1990s New York music that reached him in Atlanta as a youngster, 2 Chainz began by speaking about Nas’ 1999 project, Iam…Expressing his appreciation of the album, 2 Chainz began, “I just liked it. He played with different sounds on there and tried to get out of his box a little bit, but he definitely kept it lyrical. And he was teaching on there. I like Nas for his concepts and his teachings. I learned storytelling from Nas. He’s very descriptive.”
He also cited Mobb Deep’s Murda Muzik and praised one of the duo’s members, declaring, “That was dope. Prodigy went ham on that. Havoc had that crack. It was a great team.” However, it was Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt that held a special place in 2 Chainz’s heart.
Detailing why, the Atlanta native explained, “Jay-Z’s first album was way before it’s time. A confident piece of work with street stuff; it was raw, but he still expressed different deliveries on there. I also love The Blueprint, he had great production on there. That shit sounded good.”
2 Chainz has always loved Jay-Z, and he even paid tribute to the Brooklyn artist with the track, ‘Southside Hov,’ which samples a track from Jay’s 1995 debut album. However, in a 2020 interview with The Breakfast Club he revealed he is too scared to ask Jay for a feature.
As he opened up about his fear, 2 Chainz chalked it up to fear, stating, “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.”
Although 2 Chainz has had several “cool back-and-forth” conversations with Jay-Z, he has never managed to secure a verse from him, and, for now, it looks like it will remain that way.