Producer Chucky Thompson has crafted hits such as The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Big Poppa” and Faith Evans’ “You Used To Love Me,” but one of his biggest solo creations is Nas’ 2001 smash hit, “One Mic.” Thompson, who was a longtime member of Bad Boy Records’ Hitmen production team (also including Diddy, Deric “D-Dot” Angelettie, and Ron “Amen Ra” Lawrence, among others), recently spoke to TheUberUrban about Stillmatic‘s third single.
“‘One Mic’ was a situation that was during a time that [Nas] was in the beef with Jay-Z,” said Thompson of the 2001 song that would be formally released to radio and video 11 years ago last month. “I knew that that beef wasn’t gonna last forever. My whole thing was, ‘Okay, so what do we do after this whole beef is over? How do we come out of this?'” Thompson recalls being specifically sought out for Stillmatic‘s production roster which included Illmatic originals DJ Premier, Large Professor and L.E.S., along with Ron Browz and Swizz Beatz. “It was my first meeting with Nas. We just sat and talked about that situation where you feel you’re gettin’ ready to fight or gonna have to get ready to defend somethin’, what’s that record that would calm you down? We both said it was [Phil Collins’] ‘In The Air Tonight.'” In turn, “One Mic” would sample Collins’ 1981 hit single. Chucky continued, “He mentioned to me that he wanted to make a record where the chorus was quiet [laughing] and that verses would rise. So me taking those two ideas, I just came up with something that was calm and built up a little bit in the verses and then go back calm for his chorus.”
Although built out of an extension from beef, honed by musical conversations, Thompson says he never imagined the song’s cross-over appeal. “I didn’t think nothin’ of it; we were just bein’ creative. Next thing I know I’m in a strip club in Queens, and they cut all the lights out and the strippers had on neon.”
Chucky Thompson’s full UberUrban interview is below:
RELATED: Nas – Stillmatic [ALBUM REVIEW]
strip clubs and one mic ? that cant be real. nobody is that corny
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It would have made more sense if he had been at Wendy’s, and heard the song right as he was shoveling hamburgers in his face.
Whoa! A dancer danced to One Mi cin a strip club??? Talking about awkward! Lmao. Y’all should checkout thegrandreport.com, they usually have some good reads and videos on there as well
fuck your website
woof woof woof errr
meowwwww
this dude reminds me of Chucky from that show Rugrats with those glasses on
one mic classic..
Classic song, classic LP. They should work together again
WHATEVER IT WAS…IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST HIP HOP TRACKS OF ALL TIMES!
LOL @ THE NIGGA THAT SAID HE LOOK LIKE CHUCKY FROM RUGRATS…ITS TRUE THOUGH, SPECIALLY WITH RED HAT!
I don’t care what people say, Nas is a legend. Top 5
I don’t care what people say, Guccci is a legend. Top 5
lol he said “who does that”
I do, nigguh, i do.
that shit musta been memorable
every body get ur hands off my jeans
this must have been the most boring beat Nas rapped over. as always Nas raps over bad beats , its a fact.
in my eyes, this makes him a better rapper, one of the best. a lot of dudes can tear down a banger beat, not to many can take an “unusual beat” and kill it
Stillmatic,Illmatic,I Am.., and QB’s Finest the only classic albums from Nas period.
QB’s Finest?? lol. That had some bangers on it, but it was far from classic. Most of Nas’ solos are better than that.
All of Nas albums are classics. He has the best catalog in the rap industry. All of his albums sound fresh and not dated like 90% of Jay Z, Pac and Biggies albums. NAS is G.O.A.T.
Nas has come with plenty of wack shit, not as much as Jay-Z but how you gonna say Biggie has more wack material? Maybe posthumously, but he only released 2 albums. both dope as fuck. Guru, A Tribe Called Quest, GFK & OutKast all have way more impressive/consistent catalogs than all these motherfuckers. You act like Nas Never made a wack song: IllMatic > The Firm > Stillmatic > It Was Written > Hip Hop Is Dead, the rest is pretty mediocre
& I forgot the Lost Tapes which is his best shit next to Illmatic
NAS’ “ONE MIC” = classic sh*t.
One of the greatest songs ever better than ymcmbmcym’s whole discography