J. Cole was honored when Beyoncé called on him to appear on the remix to “Party.” The Roc Nation signee recalls the unforgettable experience of working with the pop megastar and reveals that he was originally supposed to appear on the album version.
During an interview with Hot 106’s “Rise & Grind Morning Show,” Cole explained why his verse was cut short. “You know how many verses I did for that song,” said the North Carolina native, who replaced André 3000 on the remix. “I did a version of that before her album [4] even came out. I did two verses. I love these verses too, but they ended up going with André’s verse and André killed it.”
B enlisted Jay-Z’s protégé when she was ready to release the song as a single. “Then she reached out to me and she wanted me to get on the remix. I did two more verses. Out of the second set that I did, she picked the first verse. But my second verse, I just gotta say for the record… It was just too long, I think she was looking for something shorter and more to the point.”
But Cole is not complaining. “It’s just a blessing to even be able to work with [Beyoncé]. I’m on my defensive rapper, like yo man. When you follow in André’s 3000’s shoes, you’re expected to really go in. Just the fact to even be on the song with her and shoot the video with her and just be in her presence… She’s such a hard working, incredible artist. I’ll never forget that day we shot the video, I’ll never forget being able to be on that song, and hopefully we got more as time goes on. Shout out to Beyoncé.”
J. Cole will appear in the video for “Party,” which is expected to premiere this week.