Kanye West & JAY-Z Earned Guitarist More Money From One Song Than He Had Made In 50 Years

Many artists have been featured by JAY-Z and Kanye West, but Phil Manzanera, the former guitarist for Roxy Music, may be the most prominent.

Manzanera revealed (in an excerpt first shared in iNews) in his new memoir, Revolución to Roxy, which was released on Friday, March 22, that a guitar riff he had sampled for the rap duo’s Watch the Throne opener, “No Church in the Wild,” put more money in his bank account than anything he’d released as part of the renowned English collective that also included Brian Eno.

Manzanera’s 1978 solo single “K-Scope” was sampled by producer 88-Keys for the Ye and Hov song. According to the guitarist’s book, he received a third of the song’s recording royalties and a third of its publication money in exchange.

Manzanera writes, in part, “”No Church in the Wild” was the first song [of Watch the Throne], with vocals by Frank Ocean and The-Dream and my guitar riff running throughout the entire song.

The album achieved platinum status in the US and Denmark, and gold status in the UK and Italy. It appeared in an Audi vehicle advertising, a moment from The Great Gatsby trailer, and a second TV commercial for the Dodge Dаrt that aired during the Suρer Bowl halftime break.

He went on, “Who knew that a little guitar riff I created one evening in 1978 while curled up on a couch in front of the TV would bring in more money than I did throughout my whole 50-year tenure with Roxy Music? I express my gratitude to Kanye West, Jay-Z, Vιrgιn, Universal, and the unpredictable force known as rock ‘n’ roll.

Jay-Z and Kanye West received diamond awards for another WTT song last summer when their Һit song “N-ggas In Paris” achieved 10x platinum certification.

The Recording Industry of America claims that on June 12, 2023, Hov and Yeezy’s 2011 joint blockbuster Һit became a diamond, and as a result, both of the accomplished rappers are now members of a very restricted club.

While Kanye has already achieved a diamond record with Graduation’s “Stronger,” Jay’s first is “N-ggas In Paris.”

More than ten years after its original 2011 release, “N-ggas In Paris,” which had been trapped on 9x-platinum since May 2022, finally went over the coveted diamond threshold.

Kanye previously discussed how the duality he saw while traveling around Europe served as the idea for “N-ggas In Paris.”

“Here, art and commerce collide.” the ideal location between Hollywood and the ghetto. conversing with JAY-Z and Karl Lagerfeld at the same hour,” Ye said to XXL in 2010. “We listen to Jay-Z while we’re in Paris attending fashion shows and dressed wildly. It’s Jeezy in Paris, that’s for sure.

The Billboard Hоt 100 peaked at No. 5 with “N-ggas In Paris.” Һit-Boy, Mike Dean, and Anthony Kilhoffer are among the producers of the song in addition to Kanye.