Evidence that Jay-Z recorded the God Did verse in a single take
Many people consider Jay-Z to be the greatest rapper of all time. With over 140 million records sold, Hov is also one of the best-selling artists of all time. Jays “God Did” verse was recorded in a single take, as engineer Young Guru had previously said.
To prove that JAY-Z recorded his featured line for “GOD DID,” DJ Khaled’s album that topped the Billboard charts, in a single take, Young Guru made the audio file available for public consumption. On September 4th, Guru shared it on Instagram. Two photographs from the session where he recorded HOV’s verse were included in the post as a slideshow.
The audio for the full session is shown in both pictures. Longtime Jay-Z engineer who reaffirmed his past claims in the lengthy caption. He elaborated on the extraordinary measures HOV takes before entering the booth to lay down a verse of such magnitude.
I could care less if you believe me when I say that he did this @djkhaled verse in one take. Let’s be clear for the youth. Doing a song in one take is just a bonus of the level of talent. The song is what is important. You have to realize how much work is done before he goes in the booth. Questions like, “are these the right words”, “are you going in the right direction”, “is this the best flow” are all answered and addressed mentally way before you record.
Then you say the verse over and over in the control room to memorialize it. Does jay do EVERY verse in one take? No. But has he done A LOT of verses in one take? Hell yes!!! I have no reason to! Look at the zoom in of the screen. There are no chops or breaks in that audio. This “I don’t believe you unless I see it” thing is foreign to me. So here is your proof. It doesn’t matter if you believed me…..God Did!!!
In a listening session with GQ’s Frazier Thorpe, Rob Markman of Genius, and DJ Khaled last month, Young Guru disclosed that he had seen JAY-Z record his four-minute verse in one take. The candid photographs add to the saga. On August 31, however, in a Twitter Spaces chat with MSNBC news presenter Ari Melber, Rob Markman, and DJ Khaled, among others, JAY-Z sought to discount the significance of Young Guru’s claim by detailing how he felt he cheated the delivery of the verse.
So while we was waiting for you to send the beat, we was just playing the [loop] inside the control room; so I was going through it a couple times. I was just rapping over like, any part, it kept looping and drops was happening in the wrong place.
So I cheated a couple times before I went in the booth, I was playing it in the control room; so when I went in the booth it was pretty much a done deal.
After receiving multiple additional notable endorsements of HOV’s bars, Young Guru has now provided photographic verification of JAY-verse Z’s for “GOD DID.” MSNBC anchor Ari Melber shared the verse’s appreciation and released a nearly 12-minute analysis Beat report on JAY-Z’s major guest feature, which was also appreciated by NBA champion LeBron James. Roc Nation’s top dog put it on all the major streaming services.
Jay Z recorded it in one take, despite confessing to cheating a couple times, validating Guru’s accusations.