Veteran Bay Area producer Rick Rock is a living legend that deserves to be mentioned among the great producers in hip-hop. He has worked with the likes of 2Pac, E-40, JAY-Z, and Fabolous, and he’s considered a pioneer of the Bay Area’s signature “hyphy” sound. 

Rock also formed the hip-hop group The Federation, which gave us the songs “Hyphy” featuring E-40 in 2004 and “I Wear My Stunna Glasses At Night” in 2006. His other major production credits include the 2001 hits “Change the Game” by JAY-Z and “Can’t Deny It” by Fabolous, and the 2002 singles “Make it Clap” by Busta Rhymes and “If I Could Go” by Angie Martinez.

In May, we got the chance to sit with the California-based producer, who’s now venturing out as a solo artist. Rock played us his new music and told us some pretty incredible stories, one of which we’ve featured on this new episode of Backspin.

In the video above, Rock tells us about the time JAY-Z flew him out for a studio session, only to tell him he didn’t like his beats after all. Luckily, Rock improvised on the spot and cooked up some new beats from scratch to save the day. 

Watch Rick Rock tell his story and watch for his upcoming new music coming soon to BPM Supreme.

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BPM Supreme’s Backspin series features some of our favorite DJs and artists sharing their memorable, often hilarious experiences and behind-the-scenes stories. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos.

Is there an artist or DJ who you’d like to see on a future episode? Let us know in the comments below.