JAY-Z’s Meeting With Michael Jackson Recalled By Rodney Jerkins

JAY-Z has always been known as someone with supreme confidence, but even he was once humbled in the presence of Michael Jackson — at least, that’s how producer Rodney Jerkins remembers it.

Jerkins, who produced a good amount of Jackson’s 2001 album Invincible, recalled how Hov first connected with MJ in a new interview on The Almanac of Rap. 

The relationship ultimately resulted in JAY bringing Michael onstage at Summer Jam 2001. But Jerkins told The Almanac of Rap host Donwill how it all started.

“You remember when Michael was brought up onstage by JAY-Z?” Jerkins began. “Who do you think introduced JAY-Z to Michael?

“So I get the call from my man Big Chuck, who’s from Brooklyn, and Big Jon [Platt], the publisher — he’s now the CEO of Sony/ATV. And they were like, ‘Yo, JAY really want[s] to meet Michael. Can you make that happen?’ I was like, ‘I got you.’

“So I brought him up to the studio, took him to meet Michael. That was the most humble I ever seen JAY-Z in my life… I know JAY to be so cool, and you could tell it was a different thing when he got with Mike.”

Check out the exchange beginning at the 28:19 mark below.

JAY-Z just recently got a new set of career accomplishments when he received a bevy of RIAA certifications.

Last Friday (August 23), the Recording Industry Association of America officially bestowed platinum and multi-platinum certification on six of Hov’s most beloved singles. Of those, the only one to earn its very first indication of 1 million records sold was 2000’s “I Just Wanna Love You (Give It 2 Me).”

Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” hit the 2x platinum mark, while “99 Problems” is officially 3x platinum. The Brooklyn rapper’s Justin Timberlake-assisted “Holy Grail” is now 6x platinum, as is the anthemic “Run This Town,” featuring Rihanna and Kanye West.

The former partners in rhyme also earned a 3x platinum certification for the Watch The Throne track “No Church In The Wild,” which features Frank Ocean on the hook.