60 RAPPERS IN 60 DAYS: Memphis Bleek : VIBE.com
June 30, 2009 @ 9:14 am
60 RAPPERS IN 60 DAYS: Memphis Bleek
In case something happens and I can’t make no money, I can go to my friend Jay-Z for a stimulus package.If what Jay-Z says is true, Malik “Memphis Bleek” Cox, 31, should be off somewhere sipping fruity drinks and catching a tan right now. After getting his start on “Coming of Age” off Jigga’s classic debut, Reasonable Doubt (Roc-A-Fella, 1995), and attacking guest verses on Jay’s second and third albums, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam, 1997) and Vol 2…Hard Knock Life (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam, 1998), the Brooklyn, N.Y., native rode Roc-A-Fella’s wave of success to a slew of successful solo efforts, including his debut, Coming of Age (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam, 1998), The Understanding (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam, 2000), and M.A.D.E. (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam, 2003). But even though he never quite earned the critical or commercial praise that many expected when Jay named Bleek his successor on “Intro: Hand It Down” off Hard Knock Life, Hova remained loyal to his longtime friend over the years—famously quipping, “Bleek you’re still with me, nigga what did I say? / The time is comin’, you one hit away,” on “Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)” from his 2001 album Blueprint (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam) and later defending Bleek on the remix to Kanye West’s 2005 smash “Diamonds From Sierra Leone”: “Bleek could be one hit away his whole career, as long as I’m alive he’s a millionaire/And even if I die, he’s in my will somewhere, so he could just kick back and chill somewhere.”
Still, Bleek has steadfastly refused to rest on the reputation of his mentor. Despite the lackluster sales of his last album, 534 (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam, 2005), he’s released several mixtapes through the Internet the last few years, established his own record label, and continued work on his fifth solo album, The Process—all in search of that elusive hit. VIBE caught up with Bleek to talk about his show-stealing verse on Hard Knock Life, his thoughts on Jay-Z’s legacy, and whether or not he actually needs to rap another day in his life.
VIBE: Let’s start off by taking it back to Hard Knock Life. It’s funny to listen to the intro on that album and remember that Jay sounded like he was seriously retiring from the game. And then you come in with the “Screw Gooden, I’ll pitch in the PJs” line and basically kill the intro. How did that all come about?
Memphis Bleek: It was all Jay’s idea. We were up in D&D Studios with DJ Premier when we did that record. Primo made the beat and me and Jay went in there and started spitting verses over it. I was so young back then that Jay didn’t used to give me copies of the records after we did them. So I didn’t know what was happening with the track.When did you find out what he’d done with your verse then?
When they first got boxes of the album at the Roc-A-Fella office. I sat down and put it on and that was the first track. I was like, ‘Damn!’ I didn’t know until the album came out that that was going to be the first record.Did you know that the verse you recorded with Jay and Primo was even going to be on the album?
Yeah, I knew it was for the album. But when we did it, there was only one long verse from me. I thought Jay was going to add his verse on and put a hook on it. But he didn’t. It was just, Bleek is gonna be the new…improved…Jay-Z. I was buggin’!
Looking back, it sounds crazy, but a lot of people were like, ‘Yo, Jay-Z’s retiring! He’s done rapping!’ Once you sat down and heard that track for the first time, what went through your mind? You must have been just as surprised to hear that he was talking about hanging it up.
Man, Jay been talking about retiring since before Reasonable Doubt came out. [Laughs] I’ve been hearing that shit since he was 22. Back then, I knew it was just his frustration coming out. He’d been through so many downs in music. He felt like he wasn’t getting the proper respect or just dues. But when the commercial success of Hard Knock Life happened? [Laughs] A check will change anybody’s mind.You were just learning the ropes back then. Did you sit in during many of the recording sessions for Hard Knock Life?
Yeah, I was in the studio a lot. We used to record out of D&D. That was before Bassline and all that.And do you remember what it was like back then? Like, Jay hadn’t really blown up yet.
It’s weird because that’s the only album that, if you look at a lot of the pictures that he took around the time that that album came out, Jay didn’t have a haircut. He didn’t have a haircut because he felt like he wasn’t getting a lot of respect after In My Lifetime, Vol. 1. So the whole attitude for the next album was, literally, the hard knock life. The attitude was that nobody could touch him and he was gonna prove they couldn’t touch him.
Interesting. Similar to what he’s doing now? It’s like no one wants to really say anything but he keeps get snapped by the paparazzi and his hair is kinda…
Exactly! Jay is right back in that same mode now. If you look at any recent pictures, he don’t have a haircut. He’s got the blowout. And he’s back in the studio just like that right now. You see him and tell him he’s wolfin’ and he’ll be like, ‘I’m on my grind. I’m hungry.’Interesting. Similar to what he’s doing now? It’s like no one wants to really say anything but he keeps get snapped by the paparazzi and his hair is kinda…
Exactly! Jay is right back in that same mode now. If you look at any recent pictures, he don’t have a haircut. He’s got the blowout. And he’s back in the studio just like that right now. You see him and tell him he’s wolfin’ and he’ll be like, ‘I’m on my grind. I’m hungry.’Okay, so Jay was recording. You were there. Tell me how “Hard Knock Life” came about. Obviously, you weren’t on that one, but that did big things for the whole Roc team.
Well, I wasn’t there when he recorded that, but I was there when he got the beat. The 45 King made the beat and Jay heard it on a stack of beat CDs he was going through. We was all in the office and that beat came on and everybody was like, ‘Oh, that’s hot, that’s the Annie sample.’ But nobody really knew what it was. Jay never once said he was gonna go in on that. And then a couple weeks later, it was on the radio! It was mind-boggling. Annie is so popular and, of course, what Annie stood for is something everybody around the world can relate to. So for somebody to loop it and put it to music like that, it’s hot.
Did you think it was gonna get as big as it did?
Honestly, I didn’t think outside of New York back then. I didn’t know how big Jay’s music was until the success of that record. We were just recording for fun back then. It was never about making the biggest records ever. We wanted to make records that people in our neighborhood would think was hot.
Back then, did you think people would still be talking about you and Jay?
I’m gonna walk you down memory lane. We did the video for the “In My Lifetime (remix)” back in 1996. We shot that video in Brooklyn and that record just disappeared. When Jay did “Ain’t No…” everybody started turning their head to Jay-Z. After he did the video for “Who You Wit?” it became, ‘Who is this dude right here?’ Once he put the “Hard Knock Life” out, it was over. He’s the best. That cemented it. Everything after “Hard Knock Life” is dessert after the main course.And his success helped you along. You put out successful albums, plenty of singles and all that. But people haven’t heard from you in a few years. What’s life like for you now?
Every single day, I record something new. But right now, I just got my release from Def Jam, which is a blessing, so I’m working on a distribution deal for Get Low Records. I’m going to drop my album on Get Low Records. That’s like the best thing I could ever say in an interview right now.
And your relationship with Jay-Z?
Oh, everything is still the same. My next project will still be executive produced by Jay-Z. But Jay being my friend, he gave me the opportunity to collect 100% on all material.
Any details on the album?
Yeah, it’s called The Process. Same album I was working on when everybody was under the Def Jam structure. But once Jay moved and did the Roc Nation thing, I hollered at him and told him I wanted to create my own umbrella to be a branch off Roc Nation.
Are you ever concerned that being tied so closely to Jay will hurt your legacy?
I don’t want to be under Jay-Z’s shadow forever. I feel like I’m gonna get criticized for that forever. So, yeah. It’s one reason I want to do the Get Low thing. People will respect me more if I can show them I know how to walk on my own two. But I still got the big homie. He’s setting up meetings with every distribution company for me. I’m just trying to see what’s the best fit.And I have to ask this. You’re forever going to be linked to those “one hit away” lyrics Jay dropped. And the lyrics about you being in his will and all that, too. What is that like for you?
You know, now that Jay got on that Kanye West song and said the whole ‘Bleek’s a millionaire, he could chill somewhere’ stuff, people really think it’s like that! They don’t understand. Let me put it to you this way: In case something happens and I can’t make no money, I can go to my friend Jay-Z for a stimulus package. [Laughs][Laughs]
Yeah. But right now, I gotta do it myself. It’s like the song “Whiskey On the Rocks” that I put out [a few months ago]. On there, I say, ‘Everybody thinks my life is Rosé, sittin’ on the yacht/But it’s more like whiskey on the rocks.’ That’s what it is right now. I’m still out here grinding.Press play to watch the video for "Round Here" by Memphis Bleek feat. Trick Daddy