Hip-Hop and sneaker historian DJ Clark Kent has revealed how one of the best collaborations in rap history came to be.
In an interview with Hot 97’s Ebro In the Morning, DJ Clark Kent told a story about how he was the one who introduced Jay Z and Biggie to each other, which led to them recording the classic track “Brooklyn’s Finest” on Jay’s debut album Reasonable Doubt.
Kent, who produced the track, says that the song actually happened by pure happenstance. He says that while he was in a studio session with Biggie, he played the beat by mistake, but Biggie heard it and immediately wanted it. When he told him that the beat already belonged to Jay Z, he says Biggie was like “nah, f*ck that” and demanded to rap over it.
At that point, Kent came up with the idea of bringing Biggie to meet Jay Z. So, Kent, who was Biggie’s “big homie,” tells him to ride with him to the studio, but wait in the car until he comes to get him. Mind you, Biggie is probably the most popular rapper on the planet at this point, and he just has him waiting in the car to meet a new rapper who hasn’t even dropped his debut album yet.
Kent goes on to say that when he walked into the studio, Jay already had the song finished by the time he told him that Biggie wanted to get on it. When he brought up the idea of Biggie, who is still outside waiting in the car, to get on the track, Dame Dash stepped in and essentially said “no” because they didn’t want to have to pay the fees and royalties to get Biggie on the song. According to Kent his words were, “Nah. F*ck that, ’cause we ain’t giving Puff no money.”
After some more wrangling, Jay warmed up to the suggestion but told Kent that he didn’t know Biggie. That’s when Kent went outside and got him, much to Jay and Dame’s surprise. At that point Jay re-wrote his rhymes on the spot, in his head. Kent says that Jay sat there for 20 minutes listening to the beat and then went in the booth to lay his verse. Biggie was equally impressed and frightened asking Kent, “what the f*ck did he just do?” It was then that Biggie decided that he wasn’t ready to lay down his verse yet. But he did come back two months later to put his words on the track and the rest is Hip Hop history.
Check out Clark Kent tell the story, as well as hear him talk about how new DJs are wack in the video after the jump.
Photo: Screenshot
