Memphis Bleek has been a staple in Hip-Hop music long enough to be considered a veteran and the Roc-A-Fella soldier said his upcoming album, 534, may be considered his last stand.
“This is four times [albums], man. How many chances is the label gonna give me? Jay my man, but at the end of the day, its business,” Bleek told AllHipHop.com. “I put my all into it.”
The Brooklyn native said his reality is a stress that isn’t so strange to him.
“Its fun, because on the first album I felt the same pressure. You just got to go out there with a big smile on your face, because if you lose you still gotta style,” he said.
“I think it’s his best work so far. You have to check the subject matter that he deals with,” said Young Guru, engineer for Roc-A-Fella. “He’s saying now is my time to step up now that Jay-Z is retired.”
Incidentally, Jay-Z opens the albums with a Just Blaze-produced track called “Summer,” but the Delaware-reared engineer said the Def Jam president just sets the tone for the rest of Bleek’s career.
“Its just a passing of the torch. If you listen to the track its saying to [the season] Summer, ‘Look, I know we’ve been together for the last eight years but I’m not gonna be with you no more.’ If you listen to the end of the song, he says ‘Show the same love to my friends.’ It’s a song we know is going to get people excited.”
Aside from Jay, Bleek doesn’t offer an overabundance of cameos on the album save memorable appearances from Foxy Brown and M.O.P. Swizz Beatz, Bink, 9th Wonder and others contribute production to this CD.
“I just been working. I didn’t think I would be done the album this early. Jay-Z heard my whole record and said, ‘Lets go.’”
534 hits stores on May 17.