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Roc-A-Fella Co-Founder Kareem 'Biggs' Burke Tells Little-Known Jay Z Stories to Rap Radar

"Biggs did it first and Jay put it in a verse."

Jay Z and Damon Dash were the forefront of Roc-A-Fella's golden era, but the man behind the scenes, the rap dynasty's co-founder Kareem "Biggs" Burke sheds light on what really happened during the height of the legendary record company. In his third interview ever, he sits down with Rap Radar's own Elliott Wilson and Brian "B. Dot" Miller.

Many fans were shocked that Rap Radar secured the silent partner as a guest for the show, but the duo never fails to come through for the culture. Biggs discusses his latest venture into the fashion world with the clothing brand, Fourth of November, Kanye West's beginnings and several, pivotal moments in ROC history, including the company's foundation of authenticity.

“It was real important because that’s what we were really selling. People were buying into what we were really living. It wasn’t something that we were just talking about. We went through Atlanta right before we dropped the album and, I mean, we made so much noise that by the time we came out, people were like, ‘Oh man, I really remember. They were really doing what they said they were doing.’ So at that time we really had to show that. It was authenticity.” He put in a lot of work and people don’t understand that. Jay put in so much work and it took so many years to get to that point to just Reasonable Doubt, that people think it happened overnight. It wasn’t overnight."

He also discussed how a Mike Tyson fight inspired Reasonable Doubt's "Can I Live" and how a legendary battle between Jay Z and DMX made him believe in Jay Z's talent.

"In the beginning, when Dame was managing Jay, Jay rapped fast. The things that he talked about, I couldn’t really relate to. He was a more technical and skillful rapper at that time. But it was at the battle with DMX that me and my brother Bob really was like, ‘Wow this dude is dope.’ When he talked about money dancing on the ceiling and all that and rat-tat-tat-tat dough. That battle was legendary."

Check out the full podcast below. 

(Photo: Rap Radar via Twitter)

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