Jay-Z and Timbaland have gotten togther in the studio on numerous occasions and have produced great tracks over the course of the past decade. And even today, the legendary producer is still blown away by Jay's in-studio actions and the way he is able to memorize his lyrics without writing them down.
He recalls a particular time back in 2001 when he and Jay were in an NYC studio working on Tim's Indecent Proposal album. He says he played the instrumental for the track "Party People" and Jay immediately began bopping his head suggesting he was feeling the track. 20 minutes later Hov shouted out "Yo I'm ready can I go in the booth". The fact that Jay was ready to get in the booth and lay down a 16 in such a short amount of time was beyond belief for the producer who tells the story in full detail:
(SIC) "food for thought - ya boi Jay-Z always use to come thru the studio when i was workin in nyc. so i said to him one day while he was sittin on the couch, yo i may got somethang for you. he said cool where it at? so i played him the instrumental for "party people" he bop his head said whooo. than after the whoo!! you just saw mumbling almost lookin like he was possess by a something, then 15-20mins later he said "yo i'm ready can i go in the booth" i was like sappy ready for wat? he said "you wanted 16 rite? i said yea if you got it. he said "yeah i got it" the engineer plays the track and this was his 1st take http://youtu.be/P71crMPDd2U. no stoppin just pausing for the ad-libbing. now mind you i'm sittin there like na no way that had to be written but then i thought how he knew to go off that sound in my beat? he walks out & was like cool? i was dayum rite cool haha. i just look at him like dude you think your good don't you. he just reply wit that famous laugh & said "wat else you got" so i played him this other beat & told him nah fool i cant put you on this one cuz this is for timbaland & magoo he said "then nigga why you play it" i said cause i like to piss you off like dat. i told him i was still workin on my verse he said "play the track" this is no lie he gets up walks to the kitchen grabs something to drink & starts that mumbling again. i'm like why does this fool keep mumblin. then out of no where you hear a loud whoooo from him. i'm like whooo wat. he keeps mumbling after we loop the track for like 30mins. around 45mins he said "can i lay this" i said lay what. he said "lay this verse" i said dummy didn't i just tell you dis is for timbaland and magoo? he said "i know this ain't for me" he goes in & laid a verse that had nuthin to do wit him but something about me. then said on the mic "yo how many verse you said you needed? i was like what the hell is goin on. me & my engineer jimmy dougalus look at each other like wow. so to make a long story short he laid both verses i learned them and gave y'all this: http://youtu.be/R0pB6ItrHFc ("indian carpet"). now go back & listen to the lyrics. just know one of the greatest of all time will forever be Jay-Z. when i get some more time i'll hit y'all wit some crazy justin timberlake stories of us in the studio and why he is one of the greatest also."
Source: thisis50.com
