Image via Complex Original
With damn near two decades logged in the game, it should come as no surprise that an artist like Jay Z, who at one point dropped albums less than one year apart from each other, is sitting on a Fort Knox-level of unreleased material. It should also be expected that even an artist as guarded as Jay has had information leaks here and there during that same time span, in which the existence of a few songs and collaborations that never actually came to fruition was confirmed. But unreleased songs get buried as new album sessions arise and as such, even the tracks we are blessed to know of have yet to see the light of day.
Now, with the birth of Tidal, which touts exclusive content as a major incentive to subscribe and commit to dropping as much as $20 a month, there's a place where Hov could graciously let loose the bounty of loosies that only Young Guru, Beyoncé, Kanye, and Blue Ivy have the option of hearing whenever they want.
Despite being a bonafide Jay Z Stan, I don't subscribe to Tidal because, call me crazy, but I still like downloading and keeping a library. Kanye shrug. So far, "exclusive content" on Tidal has meant "wait patiently for it to be ripped and enjoy for free." But if Jay doubled down on the exclusivity promise and dropped any or all of the slew of intriguing but unreleased tracks he's been sitting on for all of these years? Fuck it, take my money, fam. (But pls include a download option, because still, libraries>>>.)
Here's a collection of Jay Z songs that have been mentioned fleetingly in various places over the years, that only a superfan like myself even remembers. Shit, Jigga himself might've even forgotten one or two of these. But fuck a phone call, if you want new subscribers, Jay, here's the carrot with which to lure them in.
Frazier Tharpe is a staff writer for Complex. Follow him @The_SummerMan.
"Living So Italian" with Kanye West
Produced by: Unknown (presumably Kanye)
Intended for: Watch the Throne
Legend has it: This is probably the most tangible track on the list. Real, non-Illuminati members nor weed carriers have heard it. Originally meant for Watch the Throne, the track flips Andrea Bocelli's "Con TePartirò" into some, reportedly, hard ish for the rap gods to talk their shit over—the assumed title stems from a phrase they chant in the hook. Kanye meets his niche fashion reference quota with "I'm about to say something crazy, John Galliano," and Jay goes theme-heavy, invoking a lot of mafioso shit, which is to say, both play to their strengths.
Every journalist who was blessed enough to attend the informal listening session hyped it as "fun" and one to watch for in each of their preview/recaps, and Jigga himself said he and lil bro were laughing while creating it (see above photo??). And yet, here we are almost a full four years later and us non-regals have no clue what exactly it entails to live Italian-like. Unlike the tracks that were scrapped once the streets reacted negatively to "HAM," an #influencer tells me sample clearance is the cruel reason why, a hurdle you'd think these two could clear in their sleep at this point in their careers. Hov: You paid Courtney Love and REM god knows how much for 30-second borderline unnecessary interpolations on MCHG. Get this cleared up.
"Let the Money Fall" f/ Kid Cudi
Produced by: Kanye West
Intended for: The Blueprint 3
Legend has it: Apparently the beat tape Kanye delivered Hov when convincing him to make the Blueprint series a trilogy included what would become "Jockin Jay-Z," "History," "A Star Is Born," and this, which, along with an attached Cudi hook from which the name derives, has No. 1 record all over it. At least, that's what we can assume per Wale's hushed, awe-inspiring tone while recounting the most Jay Z anecdote ever: Even when it became clear that he wasn't going to use the track nor the hook, he casually denied Wale's plea to pass it along. The best part is how hilariously naive a worldly, seen-it-all Memphis Bleek found it that Wale would even consider asking.
"The Hurt"/"Tell Me"/"Hot"
Produced by: Unknown
Intended for: Reasonable Doubt
Legend has it: One of rap's most pristine and perfect albums actually had a different game plan once upon a time. Last year 2DopeBoyz got the greenlight from Reasonable Doubt's album art director Adrien Vargas to post his copy of the album's original tracklisting, which features different song sequencing and most notably, three previously unheard of tracks. Did they not live up to the gold standard set by the likes of "Dead Presidents" and "Can I Live"? Were they actually released later under different names or freestyles? The only thing more turbo than pulling RD from Spotify would be beefing Tidal's copy up with these three as bonuses.
"Pop the Burner"
Produced by: Rick Rubin
Intended for: The Black Album
Legend has it: These days Rick Rubin just hangs out on Jigga's studio couch, but those who've seen Fade to Black, the classic docu-concert movie chronicling the making of the would-be-retirement-album know that the Jay-Rick sessions yielded more than just "99 Problems." Before the two start on that song in the film, the first part of the scene at Rubin's house features Hov going in on a smoother cut than the rap-rock classic they'd go on to create. The credits list it as "Pop the Burner," and according to Rick, the verse Hov is shown recording blows the other bars he's already laid down out of the water. Is that why we never heard this? Re-arrange that shit, drop it, and then make more heat with Rick, bruh.
Untitled Raekwon Collab
Produced by: Unknown (Timbaland??)
Intended for: Magna Carta Holy Grail
Legend has it: The Chef and Hova. In the days beforeMCHG was officially announced but it was clear Jay was working on something, longtime Roc inner-circle member Lenny S let a few tantalizing images fly on his Instagram, and this was the most intriguing. Even after the MCHGtracklist leaked with no Raekwon feature in sight, I went through my first listen of the album expecting a surprise verse somewhere ("Nickels and Dimes" seemed most likely), but no dice. Rae would later confirm that they did indeed work on something, and it was intended for Jay, but SC's "vision" for the track included "Starks" (read: GhostfaceKillah) on it as well. It can't be hard to track that guy down and complete this; even those most cynical of present-day Jay Z would have to admit that if any two people could get him back on his peak '90s era bullshit, it'd be the two Wu lords.
"Crispy Benjamins"
Produced by: Mirk, Ant Rich
Intended for: The Blueprint 3
Legend has it: MTV reported on the existence of this track when a leaked press release hinted at its inclusion on a rumored Blueprint 3 re-release. Ant Rich, a Jive Records A&R, spoke on its origin:
“Mirk from the New Familiars produced a track (which I co-produced) that has a Regina Spektor sample in it … which is called ‘Crispy Benjamins,’ ” Rich told MTV News by e-mail. “Jay-Z purchased the track for The Blueprint 3, [but it] wound up not making the album. I was told by Jay Brown [who does A&R for Jay-Z’s Roc Nation imprint] that there was potential for the song to be used on a re-release. At some point, a press release was sent about the track using my contact information. Neither Mirk nor myself had ANYTHING to do with the press release. We are currently trying to find out who sent it out so we can clear up this matter.”
The funniest thing about re-reading the article six years later is how bemusing the idea of a Jay Z track sampling Regina Spektor is, at a time when the Drakes and Kid Cudis of the game were just starting to blow up off of "weird" musical moves in that vein. In 2015, it's more or less par for the course. Perhaps the blend didn't work quite as well for Hov and the track sounds like a misguided mess, or it just didn't fit with the rest of the album. Or, maybe Jay just bought the beat and never touched it, which would be a very 2009 and onward Jay Z thing to do.
"Sweep" f/ Drake
Produced by: Unknown (40??)
Intended for: The Blueprint 3
Legend has it: In 2009, Jay reclaimed his seat as the hottest rapper out, around the same time as the ascension of an extremely promising spitter from way up north. When it was revealed that Hov invited Drake to a few Blueprint 3 sessions, the Internet was hype with anticipation for what would surely be a Fire Collab™. And what we got instead was..."Off That." However, before "Light Up" amended the disappointment, Drake revealed to Nah Right's Nation that they created other songs during their '09 time together as well. The most notable of which is a song called "Sweep," wherein Jay reportedly gets lovey-dovey re: Beyoncé, because what other rapper besides Aubrey could help Jigga expose his softer side? Jay already kickstarted Tidal's exclusives wave with a special anniversary-timed piano ballad from Bey, so he should keep the marital bliss vibes going by liberating this. Especially if the power couple is indeed working on a secret joint project.
"Brooklyn's on the Way"
Produced by: J. Cole
Intended for: Magna Carta Holy Grail (?)
Legend has it: At the tail end of Cole's "Power Trip" beat video he asks, to no one in particular, "Did I ever play you the beat I made for Jay?" Conveniently said person says no, allowing Jermaine to launch into a hard-hitting, typically J. Cole marching-band-esque beat that samples "Brooklyn's Here" from the popular musical Newsies. Despite Cole's excitement, it's quite possible Jay politely turned this down because the Newsie chant unsuccessfully toes the line between cleverly on-the-nose and corny as fuck (the musical is about ambitious paperboys, after all). Get someone to re-record it though, and it's a certified hometown banger, a discography requirement that could use re-upping since "Brooklyn (We Go Hard)" has gone largely forgotten these days.
"She's Like That All the Time" f/ Mr Hudson
Produced by: Kanye West
Intended for: The Blueprint 3
Legend has it: When Kanye West is your album's executive producer, it's par for the course that he'll pepper each track with GOOD affiliates (or random artists he thinks will work well) as he sees fit. While formally introducing his latest GOOD signee on MTV and discussing their single "Supernova," Kanye revealed to Mr Hudson live on camera that he would be featured on at least three songs on Jay Z's forthcoming threequel. Those three ended up distilling down to just "Young Forever," but in the clip Ye also mentions he wants the original Hudson in his life to "outright do the chorus" for something called "She's Like That All the Time." (Presumably he was only on background vocals previously.) Is this the spiritual successor to "Girls, Girls, Girls" that never was? Is Mr Hudson even still alive??
"Ray-Bans" with Jack White
Produced by: Jack White
Intended for: Unknown
Legend has it: Jay first revealed that he and Jack White had cemented their friendship on wax on a song titled "Ray-Bans" back in 2009 to Big Boy on Power 106. Then, a year later, Jack further explained to British GQ that the track was something he'd been working on that he played for Jay, who immediately started freestyling bars to it, and that the end result was "unbelievable-sounding." Photographic evidence of the two in the studio, accompanied by Beyoncé as well as the late Amy Winehouse, would soon follow. Fast forward to 2014 though, and White, talking to Rolling Stone, disclosed that the duo actually did several songs together, but he wasn't sure if Jay liked them. How the enthusiasm went from "unbelievable" to meh is anyone's guess. Pro-tip, though, bros: the only thing more lit than one-on-one investor-to-subscriber phone calls would be actually legitimizing that subscription with some exclusive heat. Just change the title since Ray-Bans aren't what they were in 2009 anymore, ya dig?
"Honor Hov" and "Hello Young Lady"
Produced by: Unknown
Intended for: The Blueprint 3; unknown
Legend has it: If anybody knows just how deep Jay Z's vault goes, it's his trusty engineer and official Roc-a-Fella Keeper of the Files Young Guru. During one interview, a prompt about an unreleased Movado feature for Blueprint 3 led Guru to go into rare but very welcome detail. That song was apparently called "Honor Hov" and saw Jay positively blacking out, and when Guru—who can sometimes be Jay's toughest critic—says that, I believe it. Anyway, the track apparently didn't come out for...no good reason besides Hov didn't feel like including it. Which is a thing he does often, as Guru reinforces by mentioning "Hey Young Lady," a fire song that was just, inexplicably, never released. Although of course Guru is blessed enough to have the song on his iPod to play whenever. The rest of us, on the other hand...
The "Experimental" Album
Produced by: Unknown
Intended to: Follow The Blueprint 3
Legend has it: Before Blueprint 3 even officially came through and smashed the charts, a candid, victory-lap Hov confessed to MTV that his next project was going to be the most experimental project he'd ever made, and (gasp!) probably wouldn't go No. 1, like Blueprint 3 effortlessly did days later. What the fuck does experimental mean, Jay? And wow, at Mr. Numbers Don't Lie preemptively ceding his coveted No. 1 position. That just makes me want to hear it even more. Whatever this project was got lost in the sauce and buried by Watch the Throne and later Magna Carta Holy Grail, but he told MTV he was working on it already, so the songs do exist. Although, what was "experimental" in 2009 is likely par for the course in 2015, so who even knows. But, a full "lost project" on Tidal only? Power move. And considering the mixed response to MCHG, there can't be much more damage Jay could possibly do, right?
The original Watch the Throne
Produced by: Kanye West and others
Intended for: Watch the Throne
Legend has it: The world may very well never get blessed with a sequel to the underrated modern classic that is Watch the Throne. But the next best thing would be hearing what the duo had in store before they dropped "HAM" and the majority of the world lamed on it. That lukewarm reaction pushed them to, as Jay would later reveal, fall back and re-tool the album during sessions that bore most of what made the final cut. But what the hell did they cook up in Australia, the sessions filmed on the leaked documentary in which bangers like "Illest Motherfucker Alive" and "Why I Love You" (and also, to a much lesser extent, "Lift Off") were created? In this post, critically lauded Yeezus landscape, I'm sure the streets would be more receptive to "HAM"-esque tracks.