Belly used to imagine Jay-Z's feedback while writing lyrics. Now, he gets it in real-time
In a Q interview, the rapper talks about his journey from looking up to Jay-Z to signing to his label
Rapper, singer-songwriter and producer Belly has been making music for almost two decades, earning Grammy nominations and collaborating with the likes of The Weeknd, Nas and Beyoncé.
But before he was a lauded songwriter, Belly was already holding his lyrics to the highest standard he could think of: what would Jay-Z think?
"To me, Jay-Z was — still is — one of the greatest lyricists of all time," Belly said in a recent conversation with Q's Tom Power. "He was like my standard … so I would pretend he was sitting across the table from me, getting ready to grade verses."
As intense as it may sound, the visualization exercise proved to be an effective motivator in his writing process.
"If I had a filler bar in there, I'd be like, 'Take this out, because the verse is going to get graded,'" said Belly.
Now, Belly is signed to Jay-Z's label, Roc Nation, meaning he no longer has to imagine what Jay-Z might say about his lyrics — he can just ask him himself.
"Having [Jay-Z] actually hear my music and, like, respond in real-time to certain stuff is just surreal," he said. "It's like a dream sometimes."
WATCH | Belly's interview with Tom Power:
As for whether Jay-Z is aware of just how influential he's been on Belly's career, the Palestinian Canadian rapper said the story made for an excellent icebreaker.
"I had to [tell him I used to do that]," Belly told Power. "You've got to get that out of the way. You've just got to clear the air, you know? It helps you break … the nervousness in the room. I was always using that to, like, better my pen and sharpen the swords."
You can hear the full interview with Belly, where he talks about rapping on the streets of Ottawa and making his new album Mumble Rap 2, on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Interview with Belly produced by Vanessa Nigro.
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