AllRespect.com // Rick Ross' 'Valley Of Death' Was Intended For Jay-Z

Posted on 2009-04-29 03:00:10
Artist/band(s): Jay-Z [FB], Mary J. Blige [FB]

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1610106/20090427/ross__rick__rap_.jhtml

Producer DJ Toomp also says Mary J. Blige was originally considered to sing the chorus.By Shaheem Reid

Rick RossPhoto: MTV News

If not for one of Rick Ross' close affiliates, he might have been one song short for his album Deeper Than Rap.

When DJ Toomp, co-producer of "Valley of Death," first heard the track, he thought about one MC — one rapper perfect to spill rhymes all over the record: Jay-Z.

"I built an empire so crazy down here," DJ Toomp said via cell from Atlanta. "Me and some of my other producers are putting our heads together. I been doing it for 22 years all by myself. At the end of last year, I decided to go round up some producers — we all put our heads together on that joint and that's what it was.

"They brought [a rough version of the 'Valley of Death' beat] to me and I ended up fattening it up," Toomp, credited as the record's producer, explained. (Kevin "Khao" Cates co-produced.) "I heard the whole idea and originally I was gonna give that to Jay-Z, believe it or not."

A mutual friend of Ross and Toomp's convinced the producer to let the Big Boss hear the track before Hov, and Toomp caught Ross' ear during a listening session at his house.

"We went to Ross' crib in Atlanta. I played that beat and he lost his mind," Toomp recalled. "I played a few beats, but that particular one, he was like, 'That's it, man.'We was just kicking it. ... He played a few joints off the album to show me what direction he was going and immediately I knew what to give him based on what's on his playlist. He started mumbling ideas. I knew he was going in the right direction."

One of the last steps to finishing the song was getting the hook down. "The singing with the lady's voice — everybody thinks that's a sample, nah," Toomp clarified. "That's a woman that sings on a lot of Snoop's sh--. The way we EQ'ed it sounds like a sample, but nah. It has a few strikes behind it. That's just a person singing on the mic — it just has that effect on it."

Mary J. Blige was originally considered to sing the chorus.

"I heard that too, man," Toomp said of the rumor. "I didn't know what happed to it. In some way I wanted to work with Mary — that would have been great, man, to know I got Mary J. on one of my tracks."

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