On February 15th of 2000, the late Black Rob dropped "Whoa," the lead single from his debut album on Bad Boy Entertainment called Life Story. The song would go on to be his most successful hit, peaking at number 43 on the US Hot 100 Billboard charts, which is a feat that fellow New York rapper, Memphis Bleek, has yet to accomplish as a solo artist. According to legendary record producer Young Guru, the track for "Whoa" was initially submitted to Memphis Bleek, but the former protege of Jay-Z passed on it, despite his pleas to do otherwise.
“Bleek fucking gave up the ‘Whoa!’ beat. We had the ‘Whoa!’ beat before Black Rob. Bleek gave that up. He didn’t like it; he couldn’t see the vision,” Young Guru said during a guest appearance on the In My Opinion podcast hosted by Math Hoffa.
As Young Guru continued, he also revealed that Memphis Bleek also wanted to pass on the beat for 'Hypnotic,' but on this occasion, he was able to convince the NY emcee to trust his advice.
“His one song ‘Hypnotic,’ we were in Miami, and I played it for Bleek. Bleek didn’t like it, but Bleek trusts me enough, and we have enough honest conversation that he’s like ‘Guru, aight, I’ma try this.’ Maybe he wouldn’t have made the same record that Black Rob did. A lot of times, producers get mad too ’cause they send fire, and then the artist don’t connect with it. And they like, ‘Guru, they didn’t like my beat?’ I’m like, ‘Bruh, it just didn’t work.”
To hear Young Guru reflect back on interacting with Memphis Bleek about the music for 'Whoa' and 'Hypnotic,' scroll up and skip ahead to the 5:27 mark.
Source: Hiphopdx.com
