Jay Z has this habit of taking over a song that he is tapped to contribute a featuring verse on.
In pure New York City fashion, Hov jumped on the official ‘All The Way Up’ remix alongside Fat Joe & Remy Ma and had streets, tweets, and everything in between buzzing. With Funk Flex starting the song from the top over-and-over on Hot 97 in his trademark fashion, a lot of current hip hop fans got to glimpse a missing energy in this space thanks to this latest remix verse from Jigga.
After researching just how many remix verses that Jay-Z has, ten standouts were selected for this latest list on The Source. Note the wording of this piece — 10 of the best Jay Z remixes. Purposely phrased to not be seen as the definitive “best of” list; think of this more as a resource to the like & times of S. Carter’s raps.
Thumb thru our list highlighting 10 of the best Jay-Z remix verses and check the Spotify playlist at the bottom which also has tracks that didn’t make this list.
ORIGINAL SONG: Amy Winehouse – Rehab
RELEASE YEAR: 2007
By far the most non-hip hop song on this list though that isn’t to say that Jay Z doesn’t remix songs from the pop charts. The remix for the late Amy Winehouse‘s biggest hit, Rehab, came as the Jiggaman was between albums Kingdom Come & American Gangster releasing all while serving as the Def Jam CEO & President.
ORIGINAL SONG: 50 Cent – I Get Money
RELEASE YEAR: 2007
In reference to the repetitive (and annoying) “1-2-3” chant in the background of the ‘I Get Money’ remix, 50 Cent has gone on recording justifying the sound by noting that this remix featured the #1, #2, & #3 ranked rapper on the Forbes list from that time.
ORIGINAL SONG: Saigon – Come On Baby
RELEASE YEAR: 2007
Recorded in 2007 for then-trending rapper Saigon is ‘Come On Baby’; a Just Blaze-produced track that was shaped up to be one of the greatest second-chance opportunities ever in hip hop thanks largely to Jay-Z laying a verse on the official remix (bars that replaced Saigon’s third verse on the album version).
ORIGINAL SONG: Talib Kweli – Get By
RELEASE YEAR: 2003
For his biggest commercial hit, Talib Kweli inlisted the help of hip hop heavyweights Busta Rhymes & Snoop Dogg but most notably for current agenda Jay-Z. Taking the first verse slot on the ‘Get By’ Remix, Hov used the opportunity to kick lyrics about good decision-making throughout life that are conscious and still relevant.
ORIGINAL SONG: R. Kelly – Fiesta
RELEASE YEAR: 2001
Opting to start the song off, Jay-Z (along with the gimmickly-named Boo and Gotti) provide the raps on the Fiesta remix for R. Kelly. This track released years before the Best Of Both Worlds tour fiasco in 2004 that barely lasted a single month.
ORIGINAL SONG: Young Jeezy – Go Crazy
RELEASE YEAR: 2005
Now frequent collaborators, Jay-Z and Young Jeezy had to start somewhere and ‘Go Crazy’ was the first time the two appeared on a song together. Jumping on this Don Cannon-produced track with very inspirational raps helped Jeezy’s first album, Thug Motivation 101, solidify itself as a classic.
ORIGINAL SONG: Kendrick Lamar – Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe
RELEASE YEAR: 2013
This is one of those remixes that people generally know better than the original. The fact that Kendrick Lamar was able to get some Jay-Z raps on a single from his debut album speaks highly of K Dot’s position in the genre. Getting the man on a song isn’t an easy task — doubly so these days.
ORIGINAL SONG: Rick Ross – Hustlin
RELEASE YEAR: 2006
2006 was at a point in his career where Jay-Z was comfortable in his position as the king of stunt-tastic raps and that is on full display in the official remix of Rick Ross‘ first big hit record. Comedian and former DJ at Hot 97 Cipha Sounds is credited with bringing this record up from Florida; telling Hov about it the day after a major holiday.
ORIGINAL SONG: Mya – Best Of Me
RELEASE YEAR: 2000
Mya tapped Jay-Z for a DJ Clue-mixed redux of her ‘The Best Of Me’ single; one of the rare remixes where the featuring artist has more than one verse. Using an excerpt 1987 track called ‘Make the Music With Your Mouth Biz’ by Biz Markie at the end, this song was used as the lead single to Backstage: A Hard Knock Life music documentary soundtrack.
ORIGINAL SONG: Kanye West – Diamonds From Sierra Leone
RELEASE YEAR: 2005
WRITE-UP
The original title of this song was going to be ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ but since Jay-Z had a song on The Blueprint 2 called “Diamonds Is Forever”, Kanye changed the name of the track citing the titles being too similar. With quotable line after quotable line, the Jiggaman spit one of his best verses to the point that Kanye West chose to include this version in his album Late Registration and make the original a bonus track at the end.
