| Jockin' Jay-Z (Dope Boy Fresh) | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Jay-Z |
| Album: | The Blueprint 3 (intended) |
| Released: | September 16, 2008 |
| Recorded: | 2008 |
| Genre: | Hip hop, rap rock |
| Producer: | Kanye West |
| Prev Title: | Swagga Like Us |
| Prev Year: | 2008 |
| Next Title: | Lost+ / Viva la Vida (Live At the 51st Annual Grammy Awards) |
| Next Year: | 2009 |
"Jockin' Jay-Z" is a song by American rapper Jay-Z, produced by Kanye West. Originally intended for inclusion on his eleventh studio album The Blueprint 3, the song didn't make the final track listing and remained a digital-only single until it was included as a b-side on various releases of the "Empire State of Mind" single. It samples "Dumb Girl" by Run-D.M.C. and first leaked on the internet in July 2008 – but with low quality sound. The mastered version was released in August 2008.
Jay-Z debuted the song at a Kanye West show at Madison Square Garden in August 2008.[1] West told the audience that he wanted to play a beat he'd been working on, and once it started, Jay-Z came out and rapped over it. Once the abridged version of song concluded, Jay-Z and West simultaneously struck b-boy stances. The track contains a vocal sample of "Dumb Girl" by Run-DMC. West came up with the idea of revamping Run's line, "I seen you jockin' J.C."[2]
The song's earliest form as previewed at Kanye West's Madison Square Garden show in August 2008 included the line "That bloke from Oasis said I couldn't play guitar, somebody should have told him I'm a fucking rock star" followed by the opening line to the Oasis song "Wonderwall".[3] [4] [5] This was a response to a comment made by Oasis guitarist and songwriter Noel Gallagher in April 2008 when he suggested that a hip-hop headline act was wrong for the Glastonbury Festival.[6] [7] This set off a media-fueled storm of controversy. At Glastonbury Jay-Z performed an ironic version of Oasis's "Wonderwall". Jay-Z's reactions were reportedly described by an Oasis band member as like that of an eight-year-old girl.[8] When Oasis later split due to a personality clash between Noel and Liam Gallagher,[9] Jay-Z scored a point back by suggesting he would like to work with Liam.[9]