Among the various artists featured on Jay Z’s debut album, Reasonable Doubtwas Brooklyn rapper and long-time friend of Jay Z’s, Memphis Bleek. Bleek spoke on his addition to the album, which was a verse on the track “Coming Of Age,” during a newly-published interview with Vlad TV.
He revealed that his verse on “Coming Of Age” was actually ghostwritten by Jay Z. Bleek added that Jay Z had a set plan in mind for the album and revealed that despite spitting a verse that Jay wrote, he “still had to do my thing” once the song was released.
“No, he wrote it,” Bleek said. “He had it already written. That’s all Jay’s plan. Remember—Come on, I was 14, 15-years-old. You think [that] was my vision then? Yeah, I just read it and spit it myself. I don’t need a demo version. Come on, this is not ballet dancing. I know how to rhyme. All you gotta do is tell me what to say I’mma say it. So, that’s what it was. It just, you know, like I said it’s his album. It’s his record. He wanted it his way. And at the end of the day after that song went off I still had to do my thing.”
Prior to speaking on his verse on “Coming Of Age,” Memphis Bleek detailed the type of relationship he has with Jay Z. He says he’s always seen the rapper as an older brother or uncle figure who wanted better for those in his Brooklyn neighborhood.
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“Jay is like—You would say an older brother,” he said. “Like an uncle to me. Like that. Say he come through the projects or whatever and I’m in the building hustling, Jay the type of dude like ‘Yo, let me see what you got. You ain’t got nothing.’ Show ‘em the work. He’ll throw your shit away. Like ‘Yo, you better get out of here. I’mma tell your moms you hustling.’ He was the older dude that didn’t want that for us. You know what I’m saying? So, as far as relationships we didn’t hangout. I didn’t go to The Roxy with them or nothing like that back then. It was just like older brother, little brother relationship. And then like once I told him I knew how to rhyme it was just all she wrote from there. It was like ‘Why not help the little guy from my building?’”
In addition to a feature from Memphis Bleek, Jay Z’s Reasonable Doubt also included guest appearances from Foxy Brown, The Notorious B.I.G., and Mary J. Blige.
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