Video After The Jump
One of the standout songs on Jay Z's classic debut album "Reasonable Doubt" was his collaboration with The Notorious B.I.G. titled "Brooklyn's Finest."
Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Kareem "Biggs" Burke recently sat down with VladTV to discuss the recording of the song and developing a friendship.
Vlad: What was it like in the studio?
Burke: It was a hard song for Biggie because Biggie didn't really know how to count bars back then. And it was like a off bar," Burke told Vlad. "So, Jay went in there and did his whole verse. He ran it down and then Biggie came back twice before he finished.
Vlad: What do you think was really the chemistry between Jay and Biggie when they first met?
Burke: It was crazy because it was two super talented individuals respecting each other's craft. Biggie was a force to be reckoned with, at the time he was making that. We were just coming out. Biggie, in our eyes was the best. We knew what we had, but the world didn't know. We knew if we put them on a track together that people would be able to see the talent that we were seeing.
Vlad: Neither one of them was writing down raps.
Burke: Neither one of them, so the engineer actually came a dropped the pad and put it right between them. And then Jay looked at it and pushed it ti Big. And then Big looked at it and pushed it back to Jay. And that's the time they found out neither one of them wrote.
Vlad: I heard they started pacing around the studio mumbling to themselves
Burke: They was actually at the board together. They was sitting right together when the engineer dropped that. Then they kind of moved their chairs apart. And then you could see Jat kinda mumbling. You could see Biggie's head just bouncing to the beat. And when Big finished he was like, 'Yo, when I get you to rap on my album it's gonna be a regular beat. It's ain't gon' be something with four .. with a fifth bar and all this stuff.'
Vlad: And then Big laid down part of his part and then had to come back a few more times?
Burke: I think he did maybe three or four bars. Then he came back, heard the beat, left and then came back. It took him maybe a few weeks to finish that. But we had so much fun that day. Afterwards we went to see the Bernie Mac show. Sat there and laughed. I think went to the Shark Bar. That was one of Big's favorite spots. It was one of the best times because we started to see him and his crew act like us and our crew. You know, the family, the joking with each other and seeing how close they was. That kind of let down the guard on both sides and we kinda just embraced each other.
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