JAY-Z has his own way of writing songs – mainly in his head and not on paper – and despite his many wins with this method, he’s also taken a few Ls.
Hov sat down with Gayle King this week for CBS News as part of a two-part interview that aired Thursday (October 26) and Friday (October 27). Among many other things, the Brooklyn native discussed his songwriting process and admitted he’s lost a lot of material with his approach.
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“I’ve lost a lot of songs that way,” he said. “I’ve lost a lot of material. But it just came with life. You know, I was every night writing in that notebook – that notebook that my mom gave me that had no lines on it.
“When I started getting outside moving further away from my mother’s house and stopped running the streets, these ideas they would come and then I would run into a store — because I’m on the corner. And I would write it on a paper bag and I would put it in my pocket until I got home, then I’d transfer it to a book.”
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He added: “But then ideas come, more paper. I’m getting further and further away. I had to memorize ideas until I got back.”
You can view the conversation below:
Elsewhere in the extensive conversation, JAY-Z explained how his third album, Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life, was a turning point in his career.
“This is the album that’s the most important album because it was the album where I honed my craft as a songwriter and that balance of creating exactly what I want,” he said.
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“And just as a writer, a technical song-maker. Song-making skills with real stories is when it all came together on this album.”
Released in September 1998, Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life solidified JAY-Z as a mainstream star, becoming his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 after selling over 350,000 copies in its first week. It stayed atop the chart for five consecutive weeks.
The project, which boasts appearances from the likes of DMX, Ja Rule, The LOX, Jermaine Dupri and Too $hort, also won Best Rap Album at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards and remains Hov’s highest-selling album at 6x platinum.
The album’s success was powered by the hit single “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem),” which reached No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, while “Can I Get A…” also cracked the Top 20.
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“It was an instant, instant record that went right to radio,” DJ Enuff told Grantland of the Annie-sampling smash. “Some records need to be worked, some records need to be researched, some records need to be tested. That was one of the records that went right in, like, ‘Bang.’”
“‘Hard Knock Life’ opened the door for everything Jay has. Everything he is known for, that was the door opener right there,” added Kid Capri, who actually had the beat first before giving it to the Brooklyn rapper.
