Jay-Z Declined $100K Offer For Silkk The Shocker Collab

Jay-Z is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential artists in the hip-hop industry. Jay is also interested in fields other than hip-hop, but his first love will always be music. In fact, he once declined a huge offer for a collab with Silkk The Shocker.

Silkk The Shocker recently disclosed that JAY-Z declined a six-figure fee for his contribution to their 1999 collaborative track, “You Know What We Bout.”

During an interview with The Art of Dialogue, the former No Limit soldier discussed his positive relationship with JAY-Z, describing it as “dope.” Silkk The Shocker then revealed that JAY-Z had politely turned down a six-figure fee for his appearance on their collaborative track, “You Know What We Bout,” which was featured on the Made Man album.

“Our relationship was dope because when I did the song with him, I thought I had a budget for him,” Silkk recalled. “I was like, ‘Yo, I got a hundred racks’ — that’s a lot of money back in the day too! I’m sure he could’ve used the extra $100,000; who ain’t gonna use that?

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When I hit him up, I’m like, ‘Yo, the song is dope, you killed it. Where I should I send that bread to?’ Jay was like, ‘Nah, it’s good, man. Just keep it and we’ll figure out something later on down the line.’”

Silkk The Shocker expressed that JAY-Z’s decision to decline the six-figure fee for his verse on “You Know What We Bout” made him realize that JAY-Z is motivated by his artistic vision rather than money. Silkk noted that this approach to his craft has played a significant role in JAY-Z’s massive success throughout his career, and it is not simply a matter of chance.

He won’t do it for anybody, though; he won’t even do music for anybody. What I came to learn was that it’s bigger than [money] for him,” he added. “To me, that’s consistent with [where he is] today — if you look at him, it’s not a fluke that he’s successful.”

I don’t care how rich you are, you gonna be like, ‘Man, send my bread.’ But he was just dead cool. He ain’t even second-guess it like, ‘Yeah, send me half of it.’ The good part about it: down the line, I kinda did something for him and I just thought it was solid.”

In addition to Silkk The Shocker and Master P, “You Know What We Bout” also featured on the track, which helped Silkk’s Made Man LP reach the top of the Billboard 200 chart. The song was a notable example of JAY-Z’s early appreciation and support for Southern rap, which was not as widely accepted in mainstream hip-hop at the time.

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