Not everyone recognizes a hit production when they hear it, but most of the time in Rap, a good beat lands somewhere. Although artists often freestyle over their peers' productions—a regular occurrence in Hip Hop—the pairing of a particular sound with a specific artist can spell magic in the studio. The late-great Black Rob's "Whoa" is a classic 2000 hit that remains a favorite worldwide, but according to Young Guru, that unforgettable production was first pitched to Memphis Bleek.
While visiting My Expert Opinion, Guru dropped off a memory about trying to convince Bleek to take the track.
“Bleek f*cking gave up the ‘Whoa’ beat! We had the ‘Whoa’ beat before Black Rob," he said. "Bleek gave that up. He didn’t like it, he couldn’t see the vision." Guru had a similar moment with Bleek when the production of "Hypnotic" was offered and Bleek tried passing that one up, as well. He eventually was convinced and released the single in 2003.
"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, alright, I’ma try this,'" Guru recalled. "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're like, ‘Guru, they didn’t like my beat?’ I’m like, ‘Bruh, it just didn’t work.'"
Watch Young guru share this story and more below.