Here’s a little something from the Unkut archives with producer T-Ray discussing how MC Serch became involved with Nas‘ career when he started out in the music business. There seem to be some major discrepancies between some of the key details when compared to Serch’s version of events…
T-Ray: MC Serch tried to claim a lot of times that he found Nas. He had just come out on ‘Live At The BBQ,’ but when I was producing MC Serch I was doing a song called ‘Back To The Grill Again.’ It was just MC Serch with Chubb Rock, and the track was just so fuckin’ happy – at that time, happy tracks were kinda cool, but that track was really happy – and I liked darker tracks, but Serch wanted to use that track so I was cool with it. But then when I heard Serch and Chubb Rock I said, ‘Damn, both of these guys kinda have passed their prime, I need some new blood on here. Someone who’s more street.’ So I called up every unknown MC at the time, including Percee-P, including Nas, including Akinyele and a few others, like maybe four or five others. The original version of ‘Back To The Grill Again’ had maybe eight rappers on it. I told ‘em, ‘Whoever does the best is gonna get on the record.’ So we did a whole version with Akinyele and everybody on it, and Nas just destroyed it! So Nas, in a sense, won the position and he got on the record. It was literally a recording battle.
When we got done, I went in the booth with Nas and I said, ‘Yo Nas, I gotta get on your record,’ and he didn’t have a deal. So I went in the next room and I was like, ‘Yo Serch, we gotta call some people, man! This kid right here – this is the future.’ He was like, ‘You think?’ I’ll never forget it, because he just did not get how powerful Nas was. He was a rapper and he just didn’t get it! Sometimes rappers compete with each other anyway, so maybe that’s what it was. He didn’t open himself to see Nas’ true talent, so I called up Faith Newman at Columbia Records, I said ‘Yo, I got Nas in the studio, he just killed a verse on the Serch record, you basically need to sign this kid.’ She’s like ‘Oh, I’ve heard of him! I really want to link up with him.’ MC Serch went behind my back and did a production deal with him, so that’s how Serch hooked-up with Nas. Serch never knew Nas, he didn’t know, ‘Live At The BBQ’! He didn’t even recognise after the fact that Nas was that great. What he recognised, was that once Faith Newman wanted to sign him, that there was money to be made. He did a production deal with Nas and claimed that he got the record deal, when I was the one that called-up Faith and hyped her and told her, ‘This is it!’ I just didn’t know about the business at that time.
It’s rather telling that in an interview with XXL in April, Serch seems to be at great pains to avoid making any mention of T-Ray, even though he produced ‘Back To The Grill’ and was heavily involved with things at Big Beat Records:
MC Serch: First time I met Nas, I was in Corona, Queens, at Kool G Rap’s house. I was thinking about working with one of G Rap’s artists named Whiteboy. G and I had been talking for a little while, and he was like, ‘Yo, there’s this young spitter at my house, yadda yadda yadda, this kid Nas.’ So I met Nas at that point, briefly, we hung out. And then a couple of years later, I was working on my solo album [Return Of The Product], and I was working on a record called ‘Back To The Grill.’ I had O.C., Red Hot Lover Tone and Chubb Rock and my man Reese and Stretch Armstrong had brought by Percee P, The Riddler, a couple other artists, and Nas was with them. So originally, ‘Back To The Grill’ had all these guys on it. Nas hung out, and when everybody decided to split, Nas stayed behind and broke bread with me, and I told him, ‘Do you want to jump on this record?’ And that’s how we kind of broke bread. He wound up coming back the next day and laying his verse. Then he asked me to help him, that he had a deal that he didn’t really feel great about, and that he wanted my help in trying to figure out what would make the most sense in his career. So I told Nas, look, I can’t help you unless you’re signed to [Serch’s company] Serchlite. And I knew he had been talking to Big Beat and Craig Kallman, and I knew the guys over there, and I really didn’t feel comfortable talking on behalf of an artist that wasn’t signed to me. So I got them a production agreement that basically said that I represent Nas exclusively for his recording career. And I went over to Big Beat and spoke to Reef and Stretch and said, ‘Look, the deal you’re offering him isn’t a great deal, make it a great deal. Guy is gonna be one of the greatest MCs of our generation, he deserves to have a deal that represents that.’ At the time, they wanted half of his publishing; they were really not offering a great deal. And they said, look, this is the deal we’re offering, we can’t make it any better. So I said, okay, I get it, he’s not signing here just so you know.
Then I went to see Russell [Simmons], and Russell was at his apartment with a woman named Tracey Waples. I played Nas’ demo—which was ‘It Ain’t Hard To Tell,’ ‘Halftime’ and ‘I’m A Villain’—and Russell said, ‘Ah, he sounds like G Rap, and G Rap don’t sell no records, I’m not interested.’ So I said, okay, you know, and then went over to Faith Newman at Columbia, and played the demo. Faith stopped me halfway through the first song, which was ‘It Ain’t Hard To Tell,’ and said, ‘I’ve been looking for Nas, trying to get in touch with him,’ and she brought, at the time, the head of A&R, this guy David Kahne—who was like working on these pianos, like working on a symphony at the time, I’ll never forget it, just an amazing musician—and they literally wouldn’t let me leave the Columbia office until we had a deal in place for Nas. And that’s how Nas got signed to Columbia.
Three sides to every story, huh?
Seems like Large Pro discovered him instead. Also T-Ray’s story seems legitimate. Akinyele’s name was also linked to Back to the Grill in Ego Trip’s Book of Rap List.
Funkologist, I think it’s been pretty known for a while that akinyele and percee p were on the og, but still yeah t-Ray sounds way more believable.
Serch saying, “this kid is gonna be the voice of our generation” … I don’t believe him, I just don’t believe his version.
aint nuttin nu, serch is known to be a biter, however big things he been doing… but nas should let people kno whut really doe
Nas stole his flow from Whiteboy, plain and simple – and then Serch made Whiteboy disappear with some charges while he was working as a roadie/security for Capone N Noreaga with Killa Kev.
^ you smoking crack son
Let’s not forget about joe fatal being instrumental in getting him from a to b. and I agree, without extra p taking him to those let the rhythm studio sessions, who knows if anything would have ever come to fruition.
I would also say Large Pro discovered Nas actually and as far as Nas sounding like Whiteboy I would say he was OBVIOUSLY influenced by G Rap and Rakim.
Olu Dara Jones discovered Nas before anyone… so all this talk is senseless
So Perceee P and Akinyele got beat out by Red Hot Lover Tone?
Agreed that neither of these dudes really discovered Nas considering he was on Live at the BBQ.
Yeah man that red hot lover tone cornball ass ….has anybody heard serch many young lives ago
I thought everyone agreed Large Pro was instrumental in that?
Also different sources have mentioned Kool G Rap took Nas to Def Jam and they turned him down and went on to regret it hugely.
Plus there’s an interview out there where Nas mentioned travelling with Akinyele daily when both were trying to get signed.
Also a Big Jaz quote where he mentions seeing Nas perform with Main Source and realising how much potential he had.
Maybe that’s what ‘yadda yadda yadda’ meant…..
It was also disappointing that the ‘Time Is Illmatic’ documentary made no mention of Joe Fatal nor T-Ray considering they both played a part in the whole story.
Paulie put him on wax first, the convo ends there. @Turtle, it is crazy that Percee and Ak lost their spot to one half of the Trackmasters. I think Nas, Ak AND Percee would have made Serch invisible on his own joint…
Anybody know who The Riddler is?
It’s bizarre to me that after his incredible verse on ‘Live At The BBQ’, at 17 years old, record companies weren’t battering down Nas’ front door to offer him a deal. It was obvious to anyone with functioning ears that this was a special talent. Can it be true that Serch had never heard ‘Live At The BBQ’? Surely Nas was the talk of the NY hip hop underground at the time?
Fuck Serch and T-ray could eat a bag of dicks too.
Surely Nas breaks the whole thing down quite clearly in ‘Surviving The Times’ ?
Also, Tone’s verse on BTG is dope. C
you are all wrong…keyboard money mike discovered nas… lol
Seems nas gives enough props to Serch at the 2011 rock the bells concert. Of course Serch had heard live at the BBQ…… I live in a small village in England and I was “down with that or what “.
I am sure there are numerous heads who can claim some part in his popularity but at the end of the day it is Nas’ skills that really got him on.
@ricky rolex
Don’t start that shit, lmao…
Is MC Serch fronting about discovering Nas?
short answer YES
T-Ray sounds like SOUR GRAPES!!!
The fact he kinda dissed Chubb Rock and Search about their ages in 1992, saying they were too old sounding. Chubb was still in his prime and so was Serch.
If anybody gets credit it should be Large Pro!!!!
I think T-Ray thinking Chubb Rock & esp. Serch would (already) be seen as corny in ’92 is right on. That interview *is* amazing, Robbie, and obviously T-Ray has lots of beef with lots of people who crossed his path. I totally agree, it’s ridiculous that he’s not mentioned in ‘Time Is Illmatic’ and that Serch’s ugly ass gets all this screentime.
It’s retarded & surely highly deliberate that Serch totally ignores T-Ray in that XXL article.
As far as Nas not shouting T-Ray out, y’know he may’ve never known that T-Ray called Faith Newman at Columbia, if that’s how it went down. In the final cut of the film, she unfortunately never mentions it either.
The idea that all the non-Nas people on the track remained on there while Ak & Percee P got cut is crazy stupid.
I just listened to the Nas interview on Ali Shaheed’s Microphone Check Podcast…. Nas goes pretty deep into details on Serch, yet makes no mention whatsoever about T-Ray…. sounds like a bunch of sour grapes to me, but hey, what does Nas know?
When he said Serch hadnt heard live at the bbq makes me doubt this guys whole story, I was 16 in the midlands in England and it was one of the classics, to say Serch hadnt heard it by 92 is ridiculous. major sour grapes.
Thank you….
Hahahahahaha!!! Oh well
Guess you haven’t heard his record “Surviving the Times”!!???
More importantly, does anyone have a copy of the studio version/s of BTTG with all the others on it?
SERCH GOT HIM A RECORD DEAL JUST LIKE HE DID O.C.!!!!!
GIVE SERCH HIS PROPS!!!
I know I was there!!!!! Y’all don’t know Shit!!!!!!!!
This is funny that I was just reading up on Nas. I met Serch in 95 in Philly. (I worked at Dave & Busters) he signed and autograph, was super personable and told me that he was working on an album with Nas that would blow away anything in hip-hop. Not trying to give anything to any side of the story but he was hyped about Nas.