During a stop in Anaheim on his 4 Your Eyez Only Tour, J. Cole revealed the beat for “Neighbors” is actually just the beat for “Forbidden Fruit” reversed. “Forbidden Fruit” was a co-production with Ron Gilmore.
At the end of his performance of “Forbidden Fruit” from his 2013 album Born Sinner, J. Cole told the crowd to pay close attention. “Here’s what you didn’t know. Cali, just listen.…,” he says in a video that captured the magic
“Forbidden Fruit” featuring Kendrick Lamar samples “Mystic Brew” by funk instrumentalist Ronnie Foster and more than three years later, “Neighbors” produced by J. Cole is just the “Forbidden Fruit” beat in reverse.
Playing songs in reverse to reveal a message is known as backmasking, you won’t get an exact replication of each song if you were to listen to them in reverse (by doing it yourself, or by Googling it) because the “Neighbors” beat’s tempo was changed, some snares were removed and 808s were beefed up.
A$AP Rocky found the “Fine Whine” beat from his sophomore album At. Long. Last. ASAP, by typing “A$AP Rocky type beat” on YouTube.
A$AP Rocky revealed in an interview with Ebro In The Morning Show on Hot 97 that he discovered the beat for “Fine Whine” from his 2015 album At.Long.Last.A$AP by searching “A$AP Rocky type beat” on YouTube. A$AP Rocky appeared on the Ebro In The Morning Show with collaborator Joe Fox (who is featured on “Fine White”) to talk about the album and more.
“‘Fine Whine’ was something that I typed on the Internet. I typed my name, ‘A$AP Rocky type beat,’” stated the A$AP Mob frontman. “We left the studio, went to the hotel in the morning. I typed that in, found it, and I said, ‘This beat is crazy.’ Took it to the studio, recorded it.” – A$AP Rocky
Rocky doesn’t remember what the beat was named at the time he found it, but once he found the song, he had THC co-produce the final version. The final version on album features Joe Fox, M.I.A., and Future.
In the fall of 2009, Queen Latifah released her first fragrance, Queen by Queen Latifah Eau De Parfum for women in partnership with Parlux Fragrances, Inc. The release of Queen by Queen Latifah made her the first female rapper to release her own fragrance line.
“Beauty really does start on the inside. It’s like a state of mind, a state of love if you will. So I see fragrance as just a natural expression of this state of love: scent expresses a woman’s confidence and sensuality, it’s how she embraces her body, her mind and her strength.” – Queen Latifah
“Queen Latifah exudes a radiant confidence and inimitable style,” – Neil Katz, Chairman and CEO of Parlux Fragrances, Inc.
“Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” the single from Jay-Z‘s third album Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life which turned him into a superstar was recorded in one take.
The song, produced by The 45 King, at the time of its release in 1998 was the most commercially successful Jay-Z single. The nostalgic sample from the 1977 musical Annie signaled a new era for Jay-Z. It transformed Jay-Z’s career from respected New York MC to American popstar, making him reach a wider audience worldwide. The song only peaked at no. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, but was everywhere on the radio.
“From standin’ on the corners boppin’ To drivin’ some of the hottest cars New York has ever seen For droppin’ some of the hottest verses rap has ever heard From the dope spot, with the smoke Glock Fleein’ the murder scene, you know me well”
The producer of “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” revealed Jay-Z recorded the song in one take.
“I was lucky enough to see Jay lay down the vocals, he didn’t have any papers, he did it in one take and.. thats Jay-Z” – The 45 King, producer of “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)”
“That’s one of the songs that, was almost like a conversation for me. It’s not anything to think about, the chorus already dictates where the song should go and what should be said , i probably did the song in maybe five minutes” Jay-Z adds
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In 2001, shortly after Jay-Z brought the King of Pop on stage at Hot 97’s “Summer Jam” festival, Jay-Z revealed to MTV that Michael Jackson told him he was a huge fan of “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)”
“What happened was I was on tour and Kid Capri played me the track. Mark ’45’ King had produced it, and at the time it was just beats and the sampled hook. You know, Mark’s known for making famous hip hop beats like ‘900 Number’ with no rap on them. So, once I heard it, I was like ‘I gotta have that’ – and I tracked Mark down. At first he was like ‘Nah man, it’s for my compilation album,’ but he eventually let me have it.
After hearing Eminem‘s verse on Drake‘s 2009 Boi-1da produced hit “Forever” Kanye West went back and took two days to rewrite his.
“When I heard Eminem’s verse on the Drake shit, I went back and rewrote my shit for two days, I cancelled appointments to rewrite! I f**kin’ care.” – Kanye West
Lil Wayne also rewrote his verse on “Forever” after hearing Eminem’s verse.
Eminem told Complex: “Everybody approached the beat different. Kanye was crazy, too, and Wayne. I just saw the beat differently than anybody else did; for some reason, I felt like the beat was a double-time beat, so I rapped faster.”
The song was released as a single from LeBron James’ documentary ‘More Than A Game’.
Method Man and Redman voiced the Pixie rap in The Fairly OddParents musical season 5, episode 23, which first aired on June 10, 2005 on Nickelodeon. 11 original songs were performed, including two raps by Method Man and Redman. In School’s Out!: The Musical, Red Man voiced the Rapping Sanderson, along Method Man who voiced Rapping Head Pixie.
“We’re Pixies! We’re Pixies!
Check out our rap, we get mixies, We’ve got square heads, Big pointy caps, Clean out your ear, and hear my rap”
Rick Rubin told Ed Sheeran a story from the recording of Eminem & Kendrick Lamar’s “Love Game.”
K. Dot had the honor of being the only rapper on Eminem’s 2013 album The Marshall Mathers LP 2, but he earned it by passing a test. To ensure Kendrick didn’t have a ghostwriter, Eminem only allowed Kendrick Lamar (who showed up with some friends) in the studio to write and record his feature for their song “Love Game” on the spot.
During an episode of theZach Sang Show, Ed Sheeran relayed an interesting story about Eminem and Kendrick Lamar, which was told to him by Rick Rubin, executive producer of MMLPII. When Eminem was told that Kendrick Lamar was one of the best rappers out, he had suspicions that Kendrick had a ghostwriter.
“Eminem heard that Kendrick Lamar was the best rapper and he invited him to the studio to get him on a song,” Sheeran says
“He arrived and Kendrick came with all his mates and Eminem said, ‘I just want you in the studio, just you on your own and then my engineer is gonna come in and then record you doing it, but your mates aren’t allowed in.’ And then, Kendrick did it and wrote a sick verse. And then everyone came in to listen to it and Eminem said that he did it to test Kendrick because he thought he had a ghostwriter.. And, he then realized that he didn’t, and then claimed he was the best, which is kinda cool I think.”
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While writing and recording his verse, Kendrick Lamar suspected what was happening. In 2014, he discussed the song’s recording process during a radio interview. “He brought me out to Detroit, I had a show, and he brought me to the studio to do a hook.. I go in, do the hook, and he’s like ‘I like the hook.’ Then I’m like, ‘Alright, cool, I’m finna dip,’ then he says ‘Think you could do a verse?’.. The thing with Em which was crazy to me is he kicks everybody out of the studio… I took it as him kicking everybody out to see if it’s really you writing them raps that you’re writing.”
Listen to Eminem and Kendrick Lamar’s collab “Love Game” below.
The first record Drake ever purchased was “U.N.I.T.Y.” by Queen Latifah off her 1993 ‘Black Reign’ album. Drake revealed during an interview with Rio Ferdinand that the first record he ever bought was Queen Latifah’s “U.N.I.T.Y.”
“I think it was Queen Latifah “U.N.I.T.Y.” That was like the first cassette that I had” Drake says.
The song won the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance and at the time of this post remains Queen Latifah’s biggest hit single in America, and her only song to reach the Top 30 on the Billboard Hot 100.
