Roc-A-Fella co-founder Kareen "Biggs" Burke wasn’t the biggest fan of Jay Z’s music when he met the rapper back in the early 1990s.
The former co-head of the label recently spoke with Genius about Reasonable Doubt’s 20th anniversary, and he gave his honest opinion about Jay Z’s older music. “I actually didn’t really like Jay’s music at the time. I wasn’t impressed. He had 'Can I Get Open,’ which I thought was cool,” he said. “At that point, this is 93, probably listen to Scarface. You know Geto Boys. Probably Snoop was out around that time. So, you know things are a little harder.” Biggs met Jay Z through Dame Dash at Quad studios in New York City. Back then, Jay Z used a signature double-time flow that Biggs didn’t think worked for him as well as it did for other rappers doing the same thing. He eventually switched it up and made a track called “In My Lifetime,” which made Biggs a believer in young Shawn Carter’s talent.
Biggs also discussed the early rejection of Jay Z by labels he was trying to sign to, “Some of the music, Jay was shopping early on, people didn’t really gravitate towards even though lyrically he was probably on top of his game,” he said. “People just couldn’t see the vision. And like I said. Neither could I. At that time.” Biggs said it was 1995 when Dame Dash and Jay Z approached him about making an album on their own and seeking out a distribution deal. Biggs liked the idea and made them an offer they couldn’t refuse. Biggs also told Genius that a lot of his lines that he used while hanging with Jay Z were used in songs like “Dead Presidents” and “Can I Live,” and he also confessed that his favorite song by Hov is the remix to the former.
Source: youtube.com
