Young Guru Tells Wild Story Behind Jay-Z’s Verse on Drake’s ‘Talk Up’
Written by djfrosty on August 7, 2024
If you haven’t heard, Drake dumped 100 gigabytes of content online Tuesday, and in the second folder, there’s a video clip that shows Drake, 40, and some friends discussing when to expect Jay-Z‘s “Talk Up” last-minute feature verse from the Toronto rapper’s fifth solo album Scorpion.
So apparently, Jay was on tour with his wife Beyoncé and planned to record and submit his verse afterward at the venue. In the clip, Drake tells 40 he plans to take a quick two-hour power nap so he can be around just in case the veteran rapper has some questions or concerns.
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Journalist Elliott Wilson posted the clip on his Instagram, and Jay’s longtime DJ and engineer Young Guru decided to gives fans the backstory to how they were able to get Drake the verse on time in the comments.
Between having to DJ during the show, being in charge of building a makeshift studio on the fly at the venue, and being late to a party he was booked to DJ months in advance, Guru’s night was pretty hectic. Here’s how he remembers the night in question:
We are on [the On the Run II Tour]. 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 promotor waited in [the] parking lot for two hours and I can’t tell him why I’m late. By the time Hov finished, the Internet that 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 [Drake’s producer Noah “40” Shebib]. 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.
Watch the resurfaced clip below:
The 100gigs.org site features a treasure trove of things like how a woman inspired “Hotline Bling” and three new songs with 21 Savage, Young Thug and our recent cover star Latto.