JAY-Z And Michael Jackson’s First Meeting Stood Out To Rodney Jerkins For This Reason

JAY-Z was apparently uniquely “humble” when he met Michael Jackson for the first time. Rodney Jerkins, who produced much of the legendary singer’s 2001 album Invincible, recently detailed how he and JAY met for the first time during an interview with The Almanac of Rap. After the meeting, JAY eventually brought Jackson out at Summer Jam 2001 for an iconic performance.

“You remember when Michael was brought up onstage by JAY-Z?” Jerkins said, as caught by HipHopDX. “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.”

JAY bringing out Michael Jackson at Summer Jam recently resurfaced in the headlines after Nicki Minaj revealed it was the first concert she had ever been to during an interview with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show, earlier this year. “Many, many years ago… and Michael Jackson came out. Yes,” she said at the time. “He was a surprise guest on JAY-Z’s set. He didn’t perform, he came out of this box and the people went crazy.”

Memphis Bleek also reflected on the set during an appearance on Drink Champs, last year. Check out Jerkins’ latest comments on it below. Be on the lookout for further updates on Rodney Jerkins as well as JAY-Z on HotNewHipHop.