The story behind the Jay-Z classic ‘Empire State Of Mind’
Jay-Z has had more than his fair share of hits. Although he is not the best-selling rapper of all time he has undoubtedly been one of the most consistent over his 25 year career and since 1997 has delivered high-quality albums boasting chart successes.
As an artist and businessman, Jay-Z is considered one of the most influential hip-hop musicians of all time. During the mid-1990s, he was irrelevant and merely a protege of other, more prominent Brooklyn MCs such as Big Daddy Kane and Jaz-O. However, as a solo act, he has cleverly navigated the industry and now finds himself atop the business as a billionaire.
Hov had an abundance of commercial success at the turn of the millennium with tracks such as ‘Hard Knock Life,’ ‘Izzo (H.O.V.A.),’ and ‘99 Problems,’ but none were quite as big as his chart-topping record ‘Empire State of Mind.’ The 2009 single was his first-ever number-one and topped the charts across continents.
However, one strange fact about the track is that it wasn’t written in New York. Furthermore, the hip-hop ballad featuring Alicia Keys wasn’t even penned in the US. The legendary track was crafted by two songwriters, Angela Hunte and Janet Sewell Ulepic, in London.
The two songwriters heard the single’s now-renowned beat in a London studio. At the time, they didn’t know who had produced it, but they knew that it had huge potential and began formulating a song.
The two industry figures had simply planned on having a day in the studio but stumbled across the song’s beat. According to Ulepic, the song was bare when they first heard it. In an interview with GQ, she explained, “It started in a very humble situation, with a shitty computer, little equipment and very few contacts in the industry. It was early days for all of us.”
After recording a demo, the pair instantly knew that Jay-Z was the person to bring life to it. Explaining how it was bigger than them, Ulepic detailed, “We knew we had created something that would outlast us. That’s why we were so particular about where it went. Jay Z understood it and was able to take it to the moon.”
When Jay-Z heard the record he instantly got to work on it, added his rap verses and called Alicia Keys to sing on the hook. In his autobiography, Decoded, he explained his love for the record, writing, “When I first heard the track… I was sure it would be a hit. It was gorgeous. My instinct was to dirty it up, to tell stories of the city’s gritty side, to use stories about hustling and getting hustled to add tension to the soaring beauty of the chorus.”