Story time. A man drifts away from his family after his brother is killed. His estranged wife struggles to raise four kids alone. Their youngest son turns to the streets. A mix of genius and luck propels him from the jaws of death to superstar status. What can we learn from the life and times of Shawn Carter?
Warning: This episode contains some very strong language, language which may offend and adult themes.
Credits:
Written by George the Poet Produced by Benbrick and George the Poet Mixing, recording and editing by Benbrick.
With music from:
Nines - NIC (feat. Tiggs Da Author) Lonnie Liston Smith - A Garden of Peace Jay-Z - Dead Presidents Jay Z - My First Song
All original music is written by Benbrick and recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra.
We had the following guests:
The former DMC world champion DJ Blakey scratching those Jay-Z samples, and Sandra Makumbi.
Thank you to:
My team Sandra, Vidhu, and Birungi. Dylan Haskins and the team at BBC Sounds, BBC Concert Orchestra, Jay-Z's Mum, Ms Lowden, Torrie Maas, DJ Clark Kent speaking on DJ Vlad, Kareem Burke talking on the Reasonable Doubt Documentary, Andrew Marr, Evan Rogers, Tom Kelly & Adam Miller, my nephews.
Archive:
The clip of Jay-Z in the restaurant at 12:10 is taken from the Jay-Z record Only A Customer.
There are various clips between 15:12 and 15:27 introducing Jay-Z and these are taken from CNN’s Van Jones Show, Stephen A. Smith on ESPN, Jay-Z on Conan O’Brien, Jay-Z’s appearance on 106 & Park, and Canada’s Breakfast Television.
The clips of Jay-Z’s mum Ms Gloria Carter used at 17:18 are taken from the Jay-Z record December 4Th.
The clips of Jay-Z’s teacher Renee Rosenblum-Lowden used at 18:11 are taken from the Brut Media video “Jay-Z Credits Teacher With His love of Language”.
The Jay-Z acapellas used at 18:03, 18:57, 19:46 are taken from the Jay-Z record Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)
The clip of DJ Clark Kent used at 20:21 is taken from the DJVlad show titled “Clark Kent on Introducing Biggie to Jay Z, Biggie Best Rapper but Jay Z Best MC".
The clip of Kareem Burke used at 23:06 is taken from the Tidal documentary Reasonable Doubt.
The clip of Jay-Z used at 27:04 is taken from the BBC Andrew Marr show.
Soundtrack:
Nines - NIC (feat. Tiggs Da Author) 00:37 - 02:30
Benbrick - Young Intro 02:18 - 03:51
Jay Z - My First Song [Benbrick Remake] 04:41 - 05:30
Benbrick - Young 05:45 - 06:40
Benbrick - Back to the kid 07:15 - 07:49
Benbrick - All Aboard 08:02 - 08:21
Benbrick - All Aboard 09:08 - 10:08
Benbrick - Damon 11:16- 12:03
Lonnie Liston Smith - A Garden of Peace 12:27 - 15:09
Jay-Z - Dead Presidents 15:10 - 15:54
Benbrick - Back to the kid 16:20 - 17:13
Jay Z - December 4Th (Benbrick Remake) 17:15 - 18:01
Benbrick - Dec 4 18:10 - 18:54
Benbrick - Back to the kid 19:05 - 19:46
Benbrick - Rodolfo 19:54 - 21:15
Jay Z - My First Song [Benbrick Remake] 21:48 - 22:45
Benbrick - Roc 23:04 - 24:00
Benbrick - Back to the kid 24:50 - 26:05
Jay Z - My First Song [Benbrick Remake] 26:08 - 26:57
Jay Z - My First Song 26:35 - 28:00
Have You Heard George’s Podcast? is a George the Poet production for BBC Sounds.
Commissioning Executive for BBC: Dylan Haskins