Tag: kareem burke

Roc-A-Fella Records co-founders JAY-Z and Kareem “Biggs Burke, photographed during the annual Roc Nation pre-Grammys Brunch, held in the observatory at the One World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan on January 27, 2018. Pouring from a bottle of his own Armand de Brignac champagne, Hov is wearing a Ralph Lauren Purple Label suit, a Tom Ford dress shirt and tie, and a Stetson hat bought at the legendary JJ Hatters store on Fifth Ave.

Roc-A-Fella Records co-founders Jay-Z, Kareem “Biggs” Burke and Dame Dash, photographed backstage during the Hot 97 “Summer” Jam concert at the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey by Johnny Nunez on June 25, 1999. Fresh off their appearances on the record-breaking “Hard Knock Life Tour,” that night Roc-A-Fella Records signees Memphis Bleek, Amil and Beanie Sigel also shared the stage alongside their label boss. During the show nearly 1,000 unticketed fans tried to force their way into the sold-out arena by pushing over a fence and jumping turnstiles.

This was the year that headliner Jay addressed the up-and-coming rapper 50 Cent on the stage for the first time. 50 had recently name-dropped Hov on “How to Rob;” his debut single that detailed how he planned to rob numerous prominent figures in the R&B and hip-hop scene. Hov responded by debuting his track “It’s Hot (Some Like It Hot)” during his set, which included the witty lyric: “Go against Jigga yo ass is dense, I’m about a dollar—what the fuck is 50 Cents?”

During a Hot 97 radio interview with Angie Martinez in 2002, Jigga explained how he had spoken to 50 backstage before he spat the line: “[I told him] ‘Yo, I respect the record, yeah I liked that record, it was hot. But you know I gotta spank you dog!’ That was the conversation. [50 responded] ‘No doubt, do your thing!’ Then it was peace. History … What I respect though is that conversation. It was real.”

In an April 2003 interview for Rolling Stone, 50 told journalist Touré that “when he responded I was complimented,” 50 said. “He wouldn’t say nothing back to somebody he didn’t think was hot. I never went to radio until after he said that about me. I don’t know if my career would be where it’s at if he didn’t respond.” In June 2003 Hov and 50 would unite for a co-headlining “Roc The Mic Tour,” in support of their new Reebok endorsement deals.

Ten years after the “It’s Hot” performance, in September 2009 Hov referenced his “Summer Jam” prowess on The Blueprint 3′s “A Star is Born,” saying “50 came through like hurricanes do, I thought I’d finish his ass at Summer Jam too.”

Happy 40th Birthday to Kyambo “Hip-Hop” Joshua!

Many will know Kyambo as the brother of Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Kareem “Biggs” Burke, or as a key player in the meteoric rise of Kanye West; but few understand how crucial he was to the curation of the Roc’s legendary sound. Over his time at the label he would oversee the majority of its projects; and he introduced so many talents to the Roc team.

Kyambo began working as an A&R for Roc-A-Fella in 1996—with his appointment as the first in an A&R role at the label coming before he had even graduated from high school. He had always had a passion for music; and after being introduced to Dame Dash through his childhood friend Cam’ron, Hip-Hop realized a career in the music business was possible. “Back in the day, we got into hip-hop because it had a voice and it spoke to us,” he told Rolling Out in 2008. “It was a voice that we felt we needed as young black men, as young black people in the hood. We had somebody speaking for us who was passionate about it.”

After subsequent meetings Dame Dash had noticed how Hip-Hop had a supreme ability to seek out and select the strongest beats. Hop would soon meet Jaÿ-Z through his brother Biggs, when they attended a party at a club Hov was performing at. Kyambo and his friends were standing outside in the line, and when Jaÿ walked past the bouncer told him, “Hey, this is Biggs little brother.” Jaÿ told Hop and his friends to “come with me” and he took them all off the line. The first time Hop was ever inside a club he was found drinking Cristal with Jaÿ-Z.

Hop was soon brought into Jaÿ-Z’s Reasonable Doubt sessions, helping the heads of the Roc to choose the right production. He was one of the first to have a copy of the album, and remembers listening to it on his headphones during his graduation rehearsals.

Hip-Hop met his longtime business partner Gee Roberson in the halls of the Roc-A-Fella offices in 1997, and they would soon launch their first management-production company. After being introduced by close friend No I.D., Hop and Gee signed a young Kanye West in 1998. Through their career cultivation he would quickly become an in-house producer for the Roc, then a Platinum-certified rapper, and eventually an international superstar. The pair were also responsible for linking Just Blaze with the Roc in 1998.

In 2002 Joshua and Roberson launched the famed management collective Hip Hop Since 1978. As well as continuing to work with Kanye and Just, the pair would manage the careers of Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Jeezy, T.I., and Drake.

After working for Roc-A-Fella Records for seven years, Hop began to seek other opportunities in the music business. In March 2003 both Hip-Hop and Gee were appointed as a Vice President of A&R for Urban Music at Atlantic Records; eventually making it to Senior Vice President in 2005. After his three year stint there, Hop headed over to the Warner Music Group to work as the Senior Vice President of A&R. In 2007 he was made the Head of Urban at Columbia Records in an appointment made personally by Rick Rubin. In 2014 Hip-Hop was appointed as the Executive Vice President of Def Jam Recordings alongside his close friend No I.D.

Kyambo “Hip-Hop” Joshua worked as an A&R on all of Jay-Z’s studio albums recorded under Roc-A-Fella, from Reasonable Doubt to The Black Album. “My job was to help him be the greatest,” Hop told The Fader in 2013. “Jay in the studio is as professional as you get. Not to say we don’t have fun, but when we go in there, he’s going to finish the song. He does it in one take, but it’s also written on the spot. It’s really coming from his head, to under his breath, and then on the mic, and everybody hears it. The process goes so fast … Jay usually handed albums in early, with a bow on top. That’s the way he operated—there wasn’t a lot of indecisiveness. You hear stories of people doing like 50, 60 songs and picking 12. We never got to that point.”

During the Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter sessions in 1999, Kyambo was in the studio with Jay-Z and Timbaland as they were piecing together “Big Pimpin’.” Whenever Hov wasn’t feeling a beat but Hop was, the rapper would tell him to come up with something for it to inspire him. Hop would earn himself a writing credit by spitting a hook, taking inspiration from Tha Dogg Pound’s 1994 classic “Big Pimpin’.” Hop also knew Jigga was a big UGK fan and had been trying to collaborate with them, so he suggested that they try to put them on the record. Hop persevered through all of Pimp C’s delay tactics and secured the UGK feature. In 2001 Kyambo was honored at the ASCAP’s Rhythm & Soul Awards for co-writing the hit single.

During Hov’s Baseline sessions for The Blueprint, it was Hop who encouraged Kanye West to play his soul-sampling beats for the label head—in turn affecting the direction of the album. Kanye would end up with four beat placements on the classic album, plus a bonus track.

During those Blueprint sessions, Hop witnessed Just Blaze create the “Song Cry” beat and came up with a hook to fit. He had wanted Hov to “really talk about something” on the track, with Hop of course knowing Jay’s personal history and the stories he still had to share. When Hop took his hook and Just’s beat to Jay, he wasn’t really feeling it. Hop challenged him with “What would Pac say over this?” and immediately Hov recited four bars from a verse he had been writing in his head since 1995. Hop confirmed that he was heading in the right direction, and Hov went into the booth to record the verses.

In 2003 when Hop was now working for Atlantic Records, he used his management status to have access to The Black Album sessions. On “My 1st Song” Jay alluded to the hilarious story of when Hop “had no seat on [his] bicycle.” He was an avid bike rider back in his high school days, and would take them apart to fix them up. He had heard that Jay was at the office, and in his rush to get there to see him he neglected to attach a seat to his bike. Of course when he arrived everybody clowned him.

In 2011 Hop was an executive producer for Hov and Kanye’s Watch the Throne; and in 2013 he produced “Nickels and Dimes,” a standout track from Hov’s Magna Carta… Holy Grail.

aintnojigga:

Roc-A-Fella Records co-founders Jay-Z and a Versace-wearing Kareem “Biggs” Burke, photographed at a costume party in 1995.

Okayplayer has released a new interview with Hoffa, and in it he discussed his relationship with Hov, 4:44, and their new clothing venture Roc96. The label was founded by Jay, Biggs and Emory, and was able to expand based off the success of their “Reasonable Doubt” merchandise line. 

Here are a selection of quotes from the interview, which can be read in full over on the OP site.

On Hov being a “rock star”:
“When people usually look at the life span of hip hop artists, it’s usually three albums, right? It’s very rare that people make it to four or five or even six albums. For Jay to last as long as he has and still be relevant doesn’t really happen in hip hop, the only other genre of music that that happens in is really is in rock and roll. I think he’s our generation’s rock star. And I mean a R-O-C, Roc Star … 

To have more number one albums than Elvis Presley, to have his 13th solo album go platinum in less than a week, I mean he’s still pushing culture, still setting precedent and still being relevant.”

On Hov’s absence when 4:44 dropped:
“Me and him joke about it because I’m like, ‘Jay, I mean you just fucking dropped the album that shook the world and you haven’t even come outside. The only time anybody ever sees you is in Soul Cycle coming out with a hoodie on!’

On having his A&R genius to thank for “Moonlight” being included on the album:
“… I was going in I got to hear a lot of the music. I actually put one of the songs back on the album, ‘Moonlight’ wasn’t on the album. Once I heard it, I was like, ‘This has to go on the album.’ And he’s like, ‘Man, we’re only putting this on the album because of you.’ I was like, ‘Jay, trust me.’”

On being named-dropped on the standout “Smile”:
“As a whole, the album is so … I mean it’s really, really, really hard to pick. I believe it’s arguably his best work ever …  But, I love ‘Smile’ of course, he talks about me in ‘Smile’ as well. It’s funny because, through the years, all of these artists, [those on] Roc-A-Fella and not on Roc-A-Fella, they talk about Hoffa all the time. A lot of people didn’t know that I was Hoffa.”

Kareem “Biggs” Burke and Dame Dash, photographed for

Jaÿ-Z’s debut album Reasonable Doubt by Jonathan Mannion on April 1, 1996.

When Jonathan Mannion first met Dame Dash he offered to charge the Roc-A-Fella Records team $300 less than their current lowest quote. At the time the album was known as Heir to the Throne, so Mannion prepared a regal-themed board to present to the Roc team. Just hours before the shoot Hov switched the title to Reasonable Doubt, feeling that the original was perhaps too presumptuous for a debut album. The title switch gave the listener the opportunity to decide if he was throne-worthy.

After hearing of the title change Mannion would be the one to convince Jaÿ to move from Scarface-influenced, Versace linen, Miami drug-running visuals to the now-classic New York Mafia crime theme. Mannion encouraged Jaÿ to “keep it Brooklyn” and used John Gotti collections and old police photos and murder-scenes from the 1930s and ‘40s as inspiration points. Hov, Dash, and Kareem “Biggs” Burke went and fitted themselves out in $3,000 suits for the shoot, and brought along large amounts of cash ($150,000) and various handguns to be used as props.

The photo shoot took place on the roof of Mannion’s old apartment building, located under the Westside Highway on 72nd and Riverside in Manhattan: “Back then, it was all busted and beat up, and it fit the vibe. I knew I could get some beautifully composed shots, based on traditional cameras. So I was shooting with Hasselblads and Rolleiflexes, like press photographers did back in the Civil Rights era.”

Jaÿ-Z, Kareem “Biggs” Burke and Dame Dash, photographed for the booklet of the rapper’s debut album Reasonable Doubt by Jonathan Mannion on April 1, 1996. This was the month the album was originally intended to be released in, but it was pushed back to June 14, then eventually released on June 25.

A year earlier the three had come together in a joint venture we all know as Roc-A-Fella Records. Throughout ’94 Jaÿ and party promoter Dame had been moving units out the trunk of their Lexus GS300’s and building a reputation all over the state, but weren’t getting anywhere with the labels. So, they decided they would venture the music business on their own, but needed a financial backer to help set the label up right. In came the man with the St. Thomas connects: the quiet and humble Biggs, a friend of Dame’s and a Harlem hustler who had been rather prosperous. After a successful trip to St. Thomas to record an opulent music video for “In My Lifetime,” which Biggs helped fund to the amount of $16,000, the three knew they had something special and officially registered the Roc-A-Fella Records, Inc. corporation in April 1995. Biggs was a silent partner, creeping in the back of photographs, and wasn’t often mentioned in interviews or on tracks.

On October 1, 1995 the artist now known as JAY-Z officially signed to Roc-A-Fella in a deal brokered by his longtime consigliere John Meneilly. He was given a handsome advance to use to record his debut album, with the incorporation having ownership of what he produced. The plan was for Carter to release one album to build respect for the label’s distribution and promotion abilities, then he would step back from the mic and work in his co-CEO role full-time. Early acts signed to the label he intended to mentor after his retirement from the game included Memphis Bleek, Roughness and Christión. However, a partnership offer from Def Jam Recordings in ’97 was too good to pass on, and to fulfil his part of the contract Jigga would return to the studio. The three founded Roc-A-Fella Records LLC in ’97 to enter the 50/50 Def Jam venture, so the major label could never touch their baby.

By March ’96 the majority of the album was recorded, mixed and mastered. During the recording process the project was known as Heir to the Throne due to the experienced rookie backing himself to ascend to the throne once his crown jewel dropped. The Roc-A-Fella art department, under the guidance of Director Adrien Vargas, began to promote the gig on the streets. Label publicist Kasha Payne rang her friend Jonathan Mannion and told him he needed to hurry down to the Roc offices to apply for the job.

At the time the Cleveland native was working as an assistant for Ben Watts, after gaining traction the in the city working for the legendary Richard Avedon for a year and a half. Mannion would work a full day under the tutelage of Avedon then head to the nightclubs to shoot the hip-hop figures partying during a golden age in the city. It was at a downtown club in March ’95 he first shot Jigga during an Eazy-E tribute show. So, in the middle of March the novice, but formally-trained, photographer brought along his portfolio to a meeting with Vargas and co-CEO Dame Dash in a corner office in Suite 1400 of 17 John Street, Lower Manhattan. They all got along, and Mannion was so impressed by the Harlem hustler’s dedication to independence that he offered to charge Roc-A-Fella $300 less than their current lowest quote to secure the right to shoot the 26-year-old Shawn Carter.

A few days Vargas called the photographer and told him he had been awarded him the shoot. Given the album’s title Mannion prepared a regal-themed board to present to the Roc team; with his mother being from London he felt confident in his royalty and monarchy references and was sure they would be satisfied. However, in the days before the shoot Hov made a decision to change the title to Reasonable Doubt. While he and those around him believed he was indeed the heir to the throne of New York, he decided to take a more humble approach and let the listeners, AKA The Jury, have an opportunity to decide if he was throne-worthy. He would tell Mannion that “if I rise to the occasion, I’m going to be named King by the people.”

After hearing of the title change Mannion would be the one to convince Jaÿ-Z and the team to move from the Miami and Scarface-influenced Versace linen, cigarette boat, drug-running motifs to the now-classic New York Mafia crime theme. Mannion encouraged Jaÿ to move differently and “keep it Brooklyn” by using images from the John Gotti collections and Luc Sante’s police surveillance and crime scene photographs from the 1910s as inspiration points. Vargas would jump on the black-and-white nature of these images, realizing how powerful it would be to have the album cover standing out among the heavily-saturated covers of the time. After leaving the John Street offices Mannion headed to the Marcy Houses to get a feel for where the rapper had grown up.

Two days later it was time to shoot, and with a new vision in mind, on the morning of the three Roc-A-Fella co-founders went to a luxury suit store in Manhattan and fitted themselves out in a $10,000 double breasted set each. In the trunk of the rapper’s Lexus were the props: $200,000 in cash and various guns. On set Tyran “Ty Ty” Smith and Emory “Vegas” Jones were making fun of Dame’s small “pea-shooter” handgun he had supplied. The day was full of laughter and brotherhood. Unfortunately the team couldn’t organize the trio’s wish of a vintage Rolls-Royce in time for the session.

The photo shoot took place inside and on the roof of Mannion’s Manhattan spectacularly-lit apartment building, located under the Westside Highway on West 72nd Street and Riverside. He was keen to shoot in Little Italy, but time constraints meant that couldn’t come to fruition. So instead, the shoot “was done in my dusty spare room,” he once recalled in an interview with BET in 2016. “I just dropped the white backdrop, then I shot it all with daylight. It was kind of like my personal little studio, because it’s just empty space with beautiful North light. Up there with my tripod, it’s kinda dusty and funky, but we made it work and it all contributed to the vibe.” After finishing inside, the group headed up to the roof to get some shots in the fading sunlight. “Back then, it was all busted and beat up, and it fit the vibe,” he told Complex. I knew I could get some beautifully composed shots, based on traditional cameras press photographers used back in the Civil Rights era.” Mannion captured 30 rolls of film that day on a Hasselblad with an 80mm lens, a Pentax 67 with a 90mm lens, and a Konica Press. At the end of the shoot Dame picked up one of the purposefully rubber-banded money stacks and peeled off $1,300 to pay the photographer.

Jonathan Mannion counts Reasonable Doubt as one of the greatest albums of all-time, once reckoning to BET how he “speaks about the album as a complete project. Because, over time, there are many artists that deliver amazing singles. And its like, maybe there’s two, three, four good songs on the album and the rest are sort of filler and fluff. That’s kind of a typical analysis of majority of the albums out there. There’s albums that stand out that are complete thoughts from start to finish. I look at Reasonable Doubt as that. The flow, the rhythm, the cadence, the sequencing, everything sort of built on what happened before in order to paint a complete picture of everything that Jaÿ was seeing and around at the time.”

“Wearing that platinum shit when all y’all thought it was silver and shit…“ 

Jaÿ-Z and Kareem "Biggs” Burke in 1996. Biggs is wearing his first platinum Rolex “Day-Date President.” Hov had the same timepiece, and wore it on the cover of In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 in 1997.