When did Jay-Z first meet Michael Jackson? Producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins says he had never seen Hov so humble in his life

Producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins recently recalled the first time rapper Jay-Z met the King of Pop Michael Jackson. Despite being one of the most confident rappers of all time, Jay was at his humble best while encountering Jackson, recalled Jerkins.

In a recent interview on The Almanac of Rap, Jerkins, who worked closely with MJ for his 2001 album Invincible, revealed that he was instrumental in making Hov meet Jackson. Jay-Z first met Jackson in a studio in 2001.

Jerkins recalled:

“You remember when Michael was brought up onstage by Jay, who do you think introduced Jay to Michael? So I get the call from my man Big Chuck, who’s from Brooklyn, and Big Jon, the publisher — he’s now the CEO of Sony/ATV. And they were like, ‘Yo, JAY really want to meet Michael. Can you make that happen?’ I was like, ‘I got you.’”

The producer recalled how Hov was the most humble he had seen while meeting Jackson, and continued:

"So I brought him up to the studio, took him to meet Michael. That was the most humble I ever seen Jay-Z in my life… I know Jay to be so cool, and you could tell it was a different thing when he got with Mike.”

Shortly after meeting Jackson, Jay invited the King of Pop on stage at Hot 97's annual 2001 Summer Jam festival. Jackson's appearance on stage is widely considered one of the most iconic moments in music.

The late popstar appeared alongside Jay in his customary black suit and blew flying kisses to the audience before making his iconic peace symbol gesture.

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When Memphis Bleek recalled the time Jay-Z brought Michael Jackson on stage at Summer Jam 2001

In a 2023 episode of Drink Champs, Jay-Z's former artist Memphis Bleek recalled the time when Hov brought MJ on stage as a special guest during the 2001 Summer Jam festival.

Bleek spoke about the strange requirements he had to deal with during the appearance, and said:

"Rest in peace to the GOAT of the GOATs... Mike came through, right—listen, if you wasn’t with Hov you had to turn around and face the wall. His security guards came in before he came in they like this: ‘Everybody who don’t got the Jay-Z pass.’ Like, I’m with the family. You had to have that pass."

Bleek also mentioned that MJ's security team asked everyone to avoid eye contact with him, and said:

"They was making ni**as turn up face the wall like it was the pat-down on the block/ Like, everybody because Mike didn’t want eye-to-eye contact. Nobody [could] look him in his eyes."

He added:

"Me, I gotta see Mike. So I’m looking at everybody in the hallway facing the wall like, ‘These ni**as is bugging.'"

Speaking to the NME magazine in 2009, Hov also recalled the memorable 2001 night from the Summer Jam festival with Michael Jackson. Jay revealed that people went "mental" when Jackson walked into the stage, with grown men "grabbing their hats and screaming."

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Michael Jackson recorded vocals for Jay-Z's Girls Girls Girls (Remix)

Michael Jackson - File Photos By Kevin Mazur - Source: Getty

Back in the 2000s, Jay Z also made a special appearance on MJ's You Rock My World (Remix) version. In a 2023 interview with Idea Generation, producer Just Blaze revealed more details about the duo's potential collaborations. As per Blaze, Jackson featured in Jay's Girls Girls Girls (Remix) version.

Blaze recalled that he found rare vocals of Jackson on his computer while working in his studio during the Covid-19 quarantine period. He revealed that he would never have known about MJ's collaboration with Jay-Z had he not unearthed the vocals.

“So Michael Jackson is on the ‘Girls, Girls, Girls remix’ — the A version. And I never knew that. I don’t know if I didn’t go to the studio that day. I thought it was an urban legend or something that Jay said like in jest one day or just was some kind of a myth," the producer said.

As per Blaze, while working on the studio one day, he found a folder named 'MJ vocals'. At first, he thought the vocals were from the You Rock My World remix version, but later opened the folder out of curiosity. After listening to the vocals, Blaze realized MJ had indeed recorded for Jay-Z's Girls Girls Girls remix version.

"The last 20 years, I just found it during quarantine. So all these years, I’ve never known it was a real thing. And turns out the files had been sitting downstairs this entire time," he said.

The original Girls Girls Girls single was produced by Just Blaze and was a part of Jay's 2001 album, Blueprint. The track peaked at No 17 in the Billboard Hot 100.