10 Little Known Facts About Jay Z's Hard Knock Life
Paper Chase: 10 Little Known Facts About Jay Z’s Hard Knock Life [Photos] - Page 9
In case you’ve been in hiding, Sony is backing a Will Smith and Jay Z produced reboot of Annie with Jamie Foxx and Quvenzhané Wallis as lead characters. This isn’t the first time Annie has been repackaged for a younger, more diverse audience.
photo: WENN
Jay Z struck platinum in 1998 with a single powered by a sample of “It’s A Hard Knock Life” for his similarly titled album. As a well-timed tie-in for the current movie, Thomas Golianopoulos orchestrated an oral history of Jay Z’s “Hard Knock Life” for Grantland filled with gems. Here are 10 Little Known Facts About Jay Z’s “Hard Knock Life” from the article.
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Photo: WENN
photo: WENN
Kid Capri was going to put it on Soundtrack to the Streets.
photo: WENN
Joe Claire from Rap City was also offered the beat.
photo: WENN
“Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” was one of the first songs Jay recorded after quitting Puff Daddy’s No Way Out Tour
photo: WENN
The 45 King corroborates that Jay Z lived up to his “One Take Hov” moniker and knocked out the song in one uninterrupted sequence. Jay says it took about five minutes to lay down his vocals.
photo: WENN
Jay Z wrote a fabricated letter about winning a trip to see Annie on Broadway as a seventh grader in order to get the sample cleared. Obviously it worked.
photo: WENN
After some struggles with drug addiction, the success of “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” restored The 45 King’s reputation within the industry, and he went on to produce “Stan” for Eminem.
photo: WENN
The “orphan chorus” who sang background vocals never received a penny of performance royalties for “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” because the director and lyricist for the original Broadway production of Annie allegedly refused to restructure their contracts.
photo: WENN
In a November, 1999 issue of VIBE, Martin Charnin said Jay Z paid him somewhere between $25,000 and $50,000 for the initial use of the sample.
