MF: Let's take N.W.A.'s 'F**k the Police' for example. (summary of Jay-Z’s argument from Decoded: Jay-Z in Conversation with Cornel West). HHS: Excerpt from the book: His most poignant claim was that hip-hop must be understood in the appropriate context, else it falls victim to misunderstandings and lies. Future generations could grow up thinking that Macklemore or Justin Bieber were the originators. This book is important for many reasons - While recently viewing the AMA's we all basically witnessed cultural appropriation - Black style was used as a backdrop. My whole music collection while growing up was inundated with Houston hip-hop and other regional styles. They're excited about it, and for finally being recognized for their contributions. MF: The local hip-hop community has given positive feedback. HHS: How have folks back in Houston received your work? So far, I have been able to sell 1,100 copies of my book in just 4 months! I really believe in taking opportunities, and I understand that it takes discipline and commitment to achieve success. MF: I feel as though I already know what death looks like, having experienced depression for a number of years, so I made a decision to pursue life at all costs. “You never know that you’re making a classic when you’re making it.HHS: How did you stay motivated & inspired? Just two or three weeks later, we were at the Madison Square Garden show and when “PSA” came on everybody already knew every word of the song and the place exploded. We ended up pulling a song called “Looking at My S Dots” from the album to put “PSA” on, literally in the eleventh hour. To get “PSA” on the album, we literally stopped the CDs and records from being manufactured, stopped all the artwork from being printed. I just happened to be around the corner from Jay.
There’s some records that have great stories and there’s other records that you have a two-second genius moment.
He liked it but he was like, “We’re already done.” I’m like, “We’re not done until this song is finished.” So before each press listening session, he’d run back into my room, write four bars down, go back and do another round of press, come back to me. In the midst of that, I ran back to the studio where Jay was and was like, Dude, listen to this. All the different outlets were coming to listenings. Then, while I was mixing something else, at the last-minute, I made the beat for “PSA.” Jay was doing press at a studio around the corner. The album was finished, cases were already made. The two stories that certainly stand out amid it all are Jonathan Mannon’s detailing of how the classic cover came about and Just Blaze’s explanation of how ‘PSA’ was added at the last minute, forcing them to stop the presses and change the album at the proverbial 11th hour. Jay’s already detailed habit of writing rhymes without pen or paper are further mythologised and 9th Wonder explains how he was given 25 minutes, and the sample, to make his album contribution, killing his ThinkPad laptop in the process. He also wasn’t afraid to reach out and give chances to newcomers including then unknown producers like 3H, Aqua and Whiz Buchanan who all recount the stories of how they landed their first beats on one of the greatest rap albums of the past decade. The stories that form the piece further cement the picture of Jay-Z has someone who clearly knew what he wanted and was far from a diva despite having reached dizzying heights of popularity by that point. To celebrate the occasion The Fader spoke to 10 album collaborators about the stories behind the music, including Just Blaze, Chad Hugo, Kyambo Joshua, Gee Roberson and 9th Wonder. While a string of classic rap albums turned 20 in recent weeks, Jay-Z‘s supposedly last LP, The Black Album, turned 10 on November 14. From the artwork to the last minute addition of the now classic ‘PSA’, Jay-Z collaborators delve into the history of what was supposed to be Jay’s last album.