JAY-Z’s longtime engineer, Young Guru, recently revealed the “crazy” story behind JAY-Z’s verse on Drake’s “Talk Up.”
On August 6, Drake unleashed a massive 100 gigabytes of previously unreleased content, including a video with producer Noah “40” Shebib waiting anxiously for JAY-Z to submit his feature just in time for the ‘Scorpion’ album.
In the video, Drake calculated his moves carefully, knowing JAY-Z was performing with Beyoncé on their On the Run II Tour that night, leaving him very little time to record. ‘I’m only laying down for like two hours while Hov’s doing his show ’cause I don’t want him to hit me and be like, ‘Hey, what do you think of this?’ and I’m not there to respond,’ Drake explained.
Predicting JAY-Z’s workflow post-show, he added, ‘He’s on stage now. Two hours from now, it’s four o’clock. He’s gonna get off stage, shower, probably have a drink and then set back up with Guru to write and [record]. So that process is gonna be two hours.’
Following the video’s release, Young Guru took to social media to share more about the last-minute rush to complete the heavyweight collaboration. ‘We might have to do a whole interview about this,’ he wrote on Elliott Wilson’s Instagram.
‘We are on OTR2. Remember I’m the DJ. HOV hit me and simply said ‘set up a studio in the venue.’ I’m like ‘what’? But of course, I get it done.’
‘We go out and do a two-hour show. Mind you, he has to remember every verse from every album. No backing tracks. I’m DJing I can’t miss a cue or [musical director Omar Edwards] would kill me. We finish the show. We go back in the room to finish the verse but the problem is I have an afterparty.’
‘I can’t [remember] what city or country in Europe, but understand, my parties have been set up months before the tour. The Promoter waited in the parking lot for two hours and I can’t tell him why I’m late,’ Guru continued.
He added, ‘By the time HOV finished, the internet we set up from Live Nation is gone. Everyone is gone. I had to tether my phone to my computer to send the session to @ovo40. I made it to the club just in time for my set.’
‘When y’all hear this work, I sometimes wonder if you understand how much goes into it!!!! Classic Nights!!!! And I killed my set lol,’ Guru concluded.
In addition to the footage about ‘Talk Up,’ Drake’s surprise ‘100 Gigs For Your Headtop’ release also includes a new song with Young Thug and 21 Savage called ‘It’s Up.’
The track quickly stirred online buzz due to speculation that 21 Savage was taking shots at Kendrick Lamar. ‘Made a couple songs think he hot now / Hit his ass up think he ‘Pac now,’ he rapped.
However, 21 Savage’s manager, Justin ‘Meezy’ Williams, quickly denied this, clarifying to Akademiks that Kendrick was not the target. ‘I talked to 21’s people. 21 is not dissing Kendrick, okay? […] That is not at Kendrick Lamar at all,’ Ak read from a text by Meezy.
From rushed recording sessions to last-minute internet struggles, Young Guru’s tale about the making of ‘Talk Up’ reveals the effort behind the scenes. Meanwhile, Drake’s surprise release continues to make waves, keeping fans buzzing and speculating.
