Before Kanye West and British singer-songwriter Mr Hudson collaborated on tracks like “Paranoid” and “Street Lights,” off the former’s third album, 808s & Heartbreak, the duo combined their stellar talents and emerged with “Forever Young,” a record set for release on Jay-Z’s highly-anticipated Blueprint 3.

Last year, while recording with West at a studio in Hawaii, Mr Hudson laid his vocal stylings over a beat the super-producer created, unaware that the song would land in the hands of one of the best rappers alive. Hudson exclusively reveals the details surrounding “Forever Young” to staging-rapup.kinsta.cloud.

“That was my last day in Hawaii,” he explains. “I was about to go back to London for a couple of weeks.” Before the U.K. native departed, he and the Chi-Town MC sipped on a few drinks, and then returned to the studio. “We just did it at the last minute,” says Hudson. “It sounded massive and everyone was dancing around. Kanye knew he [did] it again.”

Once the record was complete, West sent it along to Mr. Carter. “I think [Jay-Z] played it 150 times in a day, because he rang Kanye up and said, ‘I just looked at iTunes and the count is at 150,'” Mr Hudson reveals. “And that was only 24 hours later [after he received the song]. With the good news in tow, the singer headed back to England. “I went home happy that I had made a track and Jay-Z liked it.”

While Mr Hudson has not yet had the opportunity to be in the studio alongside Jay, the rapper took a liking to the pop star’s distinct sound from afar. Hudson is featured on two other songs on The Blueprint 3, though their titles remain a mystery. “I sang on a whole lot of beats, so I don’t know which ones they’ll be using,” he admits. “It’ll be a surprise for me. I said to Kanye the other day when we were in L.A., ‘Are you sure I’m on three tracks?’ [and] he’s like, ‘Yeah, you are.'”

As of press time, Hudson has yet to hear Jay-Z’s verse on “Forever Young,” but can speak for Kanye’s production. “It’s bigger than big,” he says. “It’s big with two i’s and two g’s.”

–Georgette Cline