Just Blaze has revealed that Big Pun was responsible for kitting out his first-ever recording studio.
In an interview with Closed Sessions as part of the Chicago platform’s Legend Conversation series, the renowned producer explained how Pun’s generosity gave him a boost early in his career.
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Just Blaze began by recalling visiting Pun around 1999 or 2000 while his house was being renovated and seeing brand new music equipment lying around the property, which he planned to use for his own home studio.
“I start pointing things out to him like, ‘Why do you have this and this? Because these two things kinda do the same thing,'” the former Roc-A-Fella hitmaker said. “I’m pointing out a lot of stuff that he bought that he didn’t need.
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“And he was like, ‘Oh, so Sam Ash fleeced me?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, they sold you way more than you need.’ I started breaking down to him what he does need and what he doesn’t need.”
Blaze’s knowledge impressed Pun, who made a proposition to the then up-and-coming producer.
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“He’s like, ‘Let me ask you a question, you seem to know a lot about this: when I’m finished with the house, will you come and help me set up the studio?’ I said, ‘Sure, no problem,'” he remembered.
“He said, ‘That’s your word?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘Take whatever you want.’ Pun literally built out my first studio. I probably left his crib with about 40 to 50 grand worth of stuff.
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“Unfortunately, we never got to do the studio build, but it was never even a thing where he was like, ‘Since I gave you that equipment, I need those beats for free.'”
Just also joked that he “called the car service and was out of his crib within eight minutes before he changed his mind.”
Just Blaze, who produced two songs on Big Pun’s second and final album Yeeeah Baby, also explained how his working relationship with the late rap great began.
“There was a group called 1 Life 2 Live that was signed to Mark Pitts, who used to be Biggie’s manager. He had this one record where he was going to have all of his artists on the record.
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“One of those artists was a guy named Sunkiss. ‘Kiss, at the session, is telling me, ‘Yo, I’m gonna bring some of your beats to Pun. I think he would kill them. He’s my best friend.’ And I’m like, ‘Alright, sure.’
“Fast forward like four months, 1 Life 2 Live unfortunately gets dropped from the label and I get a phone call from Sunkiss like, ‘Yo, Pun said he wants that beat. He knows the group got dropped and he’s gonna call you in five minutes.'”
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Doing his best Pun impression, Just continued: “‘Can I speak to Just? This is Pun. Come to my crib, I’m in the Bronx.’ I jumped in the car and ran right over there. This is going into his second album.
“We sit in his living room and I played him a couple of beats and he picks, like, five beats.”
Big Pun’s close friend and collaborator Fat Joe also recently shared some fond memories of the departed MC.
During an interview on the Jay Shetty Podcast, the Terror Squad don explained how Pun’s narcolepsy was something of a secret weapon when it came to writing raps.
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“He was so good. He was like a freak of nature, bro. He was a genius,” Joe said. “He was so much better than me, like light years [ahead] of me. He actually taught me how to make hits, even though I discovered him.”
He added: “He had that thing, narcolepsy or something, where he would fall asleep right on you. He would wake up and be like, ‘Pass me the book!’ He would have a whole song. He would write it in his sleep.”
