Tyler, The Creator‘s growth as an artist and producer on his latest album, Cherry Bomb, has brought him to collaborating with legendary musicians like Roy Ayers, Charlie Wilson and Leon Ware to name a few, as well as contemporaries like Chaz Bundick from Toro Y Moi, Pharrell, Dam-Funk, and Schoolboy Q. One of the album’s standout tracks, “Smuckers,” features hip-hop titans Kanye West and Lil Wayne, but, as Tyler told Billboard, it almost didn’t appear on his album, but 2011’s Jay Z-Kanye West tag-team opus Watch the Throne instead.
I made “Smuckers” in 2011 and sent it to Jay Z and ‘Ye. They were going to use it, but I kind of took it back. I was trying to make horn sections and drum kicks that sound epic. The second half is this jazz ensemble [Ed. note: “Smuckers” samples “Metropolis Notte” by Gabriele Ducros]. I’m like, “Oh my God, this is f—ing amazing. Lil Wayne would sound so good over this.” I sent Wayne a reference of what I was going to put, and he sent me the verse back. I legit was about to cry. I played it for ‘Ye at his house literally four days before the album was due. He was like, “OK, I got to step my bars up. Y’all n—-s is spitting.”
Tyler added that, despite the long journey the song has had, it almost didn’t make his album, either. He was late submitting the final copy.
I’m at the studio editing this shit, making sure my verse is right, and I’m like, “There’s something missing.” So at 2 a.m. — while the album was due four hours ago — I f—ing plugged my keyboard up and started adding f—ing bells and a harder bass, strings and French horns.
Just a few lost hours could have buried probably one of the hottest tracks on his album. Lucky for us, “Smuckers” made it through. And if you haven’t heard the final version of “Smuckers” yet, do yourself a favor:
(Via Billboard)
