JAY-Z donates “What It Feels Like” proceeds to Nipsey Hussle estate and the Hampton House
JAY-Z is donating his commission from his collaboration with the Crenshaw legend.
JAY-Z is not profiting from his “What It Feels Like” song with Nipsey Hussle. Following the release of the highly-praised collaboration, the Brooklyn entrepreneur revealed he is giving away his entire cut from the song. The proceeds will go to both Nip’s estate and the Hampton House, the childhood home of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton.
“My fee, went half to the Nip estate, half to the Hampton House,” JAY said in a recent interview with GQ.
As REVOLT previously reported, “What It Feels Like” was originally produced in 2013 by Mike & Keys, Marz and Larrance Dopson.
“This beat was born in 2013. 2015 was when we added the horns. 2017, we put the strings on it and made [Nipsey’s line in his verse] ‘what it feels like’ into a hook,” said Dopson. “We wanted to give you ‘Show Me What You Got’ 2.0.”
Dopson brought the song to Young Guru, JAY’s longtime engineer, who let the Roc Nation mogul listen to it. “JAY heard it five years ago when Nipsey was still here and loved it,” the engineer continued. “Then he asked for it again about a year ago.”
“What It Feels Like” is now featured on the soundtrack of Judas and the Black Messiah, a movie inspired by Hampton. After watching the film, JAY said it took him about two days to complete his verse.
“I was blown away by what Shaka King brought to the table,” he explained. “I think I finished the song in the next day or two. Like Chairman Fred Hampton said, ‘You can kill a revolutionary but you can’t kill the revolution’…every time you take one of our loved ones, their spirit and soul and ideas inhabit millions.”
Nipsey’s commission from the song goes to his family as the “Victory Lap” star owned his masters.