Beanie Sigel has opened up about why he decided to remain neutral during the infamous Roc-A-Fella split involving JAY-Z and Dame Dash.
In 1994, JAY-Z along with Dame Dash, and Kareem “Biggs” Burke founded the iconic Roc-A-Fella Records. During the late-’90s and early-’00s, the record company rose to prominence, with JAY-Z being the label’s biggest star. However, in 2004, JAY-Z parted ways with the label to become the head of Def Jam, amid creative and business differences between him and Dame.
AD LOADING...
During a recent interview with Vlad TV, Beanie Sigel, who was previously signed to the label, explained how he stayed neutral during the turbulent period. The host noted that the situation caused many of the artists on the label to feel they had to choose between Dame and Biggs or JAY-Z.
But for Beans, who around the same time was facing federal weapons charges, and eventually served one year in prison in connection with the case, the decision wasn’t complicated. Instead of choosing, the Philly rapper just decided to stay neutral.
“I’m not picking no sides,” he said. “No matter what was portrayed or painted on the outside, you just gotta pay attention. I made that clear that day that I got out of federal prison.”
State Property, Sigel’s former group, which included other Philly natives like Freeway, Peedi Crakk, Oschino Vasquez, and Omillio Sparks, and the duo Young Gunz (Young Chris and Neef Buck), chose to follow JAY-Z in the split. However, Beans saw the decision as a business decision rather than a break up.
AD LOADING...
“They ain’t break up, they just rolled with Jay on that situation,” he said. “I was the only one on his own little island.”
This isn’t the first time Beanie Sigel has opened up about his relationship JAY-Z. In another segment of the same interview, he revealed that he didn’t want JAY-Z to hear his 2002 single “Roc The Mic” with Freeway.
During the chat, he discussed how the single was created, along with its addition to the State Property soundtrack in 2002. When Vlad asked Beans whether or not he knew “Roc The Mic” was going to be a hit, he replied: “Nah.”
“I almost told Free I was cool to get on the record,” he recalled. “I think me and Bleek was supposed to been working on a project together. And uh, we went down to Miami to Circle House. It was a lot of stuff we was supposed to be doing down there. And, you know, n-ggas got to Miami and started just being all over the place.”
AD LOADING...
He went on: “So me and Free was in there, and I remember I was in one room doing something and Free was like ‘Yo, I want you to come hear this record.’ And I’m like, alright, I’ll be over there because I’m locked in to whatever I was doing, ’cause I think me and Bleek couldn’t get on the same page for some reason or another down there.”
Beanie Sigel continued explaining the origin story behind the track before revealing that he didn’t want anybody to hear it, including Hov. “I didn’t even want Jay to hear it until we finished it,” Sigel said. “I’m like bro, nobody gettin’ on this record. That joint was crazy.”
