At this moment, the hip-hop world is still reeling from Jay-Z and Nipsey Hussle’s latest collaboration, “What It Feels Like.” The song appears on the new soundtrack for the Judas And The Black Messiah film and it serves as one of the infrequent, yet stellar, verses we’ve received from the Roc Nation head at the back end of his career. One rapper who knows a thing or two about guest verses from Jay is Rick Ross, as he’s been lucky enough to work with The Blueprint rapper on several occasions over the years. During a recent sit-down on DJ Khaled’s The First One podcast, Ross reflected on his “Free Mason” track with Jay and why his collaborator’s verse left him in awe.
.@RickRoss talks about working with JAY-Z.
Says Jay freestyled his verse on “Free Mason” five minutes before going on stage.
“This was five minutes before he went on stage, he freestyled the verse and just looked at me and walked off”
Via @djkhaled ig: https://t.co/ggodkC7Jp6 pic.twitter.com/wRI1xyRNxd
— JAY-Z Daily (@JAY_Z_Daily) February 15, 2021
“He was actually rocking at Madison Square Garden in New York City,” Ross said. “I went back there and I just tapped him and was like, ‘Boy, I’m finally getting a little money, they say I’m in the Illuminati,’ and we laughed about that sh*t and I told him about an idea — ‘Free Mason’ — and I played the production right then.” According to Ross, after Jay heard the beat, it took just minutes for him to lay his verse. “He freestyled the verse, and this was five minutes before he went onstage. He freestyled the verse and just looked at me and walked off. I just stood there.”
You can watch the clip from the interview above.