Adam Blackstone, Jay-Z’s musical co-director and Eminem’s longtime collaborator, explains how the “Lose Yourself” and “Takeover” mash-up came together.
Jay-Z chose not to perform “Takeover” at his Blueprint anniversary concert out of respect for Prodigy. But instead of losing the song completely, the musical team found another way to bring it into the show, transforming an old diss record and weaving its beat into Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” performance.
Recently, Blackstone sat down with Variety alongside Jay-Z’s longtime engineer Young Guru and musical director Omar Edwards to discuss the meticulous preparation behind Hov’s New York residency.
Following the vision
Apparently, Jay-Z had a very clear vision of what he wanted to achieve, and this trio had to execute it to perfection. Easier said than done. However, these three had a ton of experience each to draw on.
“The 20 years of preparation and rehearsals and all of that help you prepare for the last-minute chaos”, Adam Blackstone shared. “I trust myself. The team trusts each other. Jay says, “I’m gonna bring Fat Joe and Jadakiss out at the end of ‘Empire’, make it make sense’. And so we make it make sense. Rihanna says, ‘I just want to do one verse tonight of ‘Bitch Better Have My Money’, not the full song’. We got to go do that edit and make it make sense. Or with [Eminem], I had this idea to play ‘Takeover’. So it’s the work, it’s the preparation and it meets the opportunity for us to execute this vision”.
Respect over old beef
The idea to fold “Takeover” into Eminem’s performance appears to have come from Blackstone. But it was Jay-Z who wanted to avoid turning the night back toward the old Nas and Mobb Deep feud.As Young Guru explained, that mattered especially because Prodigy is no longer here.
Young Guru said Jay-Z showed maturity in the way he handled “Takeover”. “Of course, ‘Takeover’ is on [The Blueprint], but everyone knows the content of ‘Takeover’”, the DJ noted. “People will focus on the Nas part, but it’s really about Prodigy. It’s showing that respect; I’m not going to perform ‘Takeover’. This man has passed away. So if you don’t have that ‘Takeover’ beat in the show and people come to see that, then it can go in another flip for another record”.
Blending two worlds into one
It is not an easy task to rap your verse over a different beat, bending the flow while still letting the original beat shine and remain recognisable. Luckily, Adam Blackstone knew just the man. He has been working with Eminem for many years, sharing the stage with him at the Grammys and the Super Bowl Halftime Show. So Blackstone and Eminem made it work and gave the audience an unforgettable memory.
The crowd erupted the first time they saw Eminem arriving at Jay-Z’s side for “Renegade”. But when Marshall returned for “Lose Yourself”, the reaction was more than just awe; it was unity. The 45,000-strong audience sang the anthem word for word. Then the familiar “Takeover” beat slipped under the second verse. Hard work paid off.