Photo: Getty Images/Interval Presents
JAY-Z and producer Dion "No. I.D." Wilson have been making timeless records together for years from "Run This Town" to "4:44." Their smash hits might not have come to fruition if it wasn't for Jermaine Dupri.
In an exclusive clip from the Rap Radar Podcast that iHeartRadio is releasing today, February 1, Dupri explains how he paired Hov and No I.D. together for the first time. According to the So So Def founder, JD brought No I.D. to the studio while he was working on "Fallin'" off Hov's American Gangster album. Once the Brooklyn native heard No I.D.'s beats, they instantly connected.
"I actually introduced No I.D. to JAY-Z," Dupri explains. "I took him with me to that session when I was doing 'Fallin,' I took No I.D. with me. They didn't even know each other."
"No I.D. was in the corner while I was making that beat," JD continues. "He was in the corner with his headphones on, making another beat. And Hov was like, 'What you got?' And he was asking everybody around. There was a bunch of producer in the studio, like, 'What you got?' and I was like 'He got some s**t. I'm telling you. Watch!' He plugged that s**t up and next thing you know, they done made a whole album together."
Not only did No I.D. go on to co-produce "Fallin'" and "Success" for American Gangster, but he also ended up making five beats for JAY-Z's The Blueprint 3. He produced songs like "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)" and worked with Kanye West on "A Star Is Born" featuring J. Cole. That just was the beginning of their epic run together.
The clip stems from the Rap Radar Podcast's upcoming interview with Jermaine Dupri and Curren$y. It's their first joint interview together ahead of the release of their new joint EP For Motivational Use Only Vol. 1. The show, hosted by Elliott Wilson and Brian 'B. Dot' Miller, comes from Warner Music Group’s new in-house podcast network, Interval Presents. Interval Presents taps into the label's expansive music catalog and talent roster to produce multi-format, culture-driven audio content at the intersection of music, pop culture, and social impact. By harnessing the power of a major music company, Interval Presents is creating a platform for top artists and cultural movers to dive into trending conversations, amplify underrepresented voices, and explore the impact of music artistry from diverse perspectives.
The newest episode of the Rap Radar Podcast debuts on Thursday, February 2.