Los Angeles, CA – Scott Storch has handed out hits to numerous major artists throughout his nearly 30-year career, but there aren’t many of them he remembers as vividly as “Still D.R.E.”
The 46-year-old iconic keyboardist drew from his memory bank in a recent video interview with HipHopDX and clarified Snoop Dogg’s claims that JAY-Z wrote the song while also providing valuable commentary on the recording process.
“If my memory serves me, we sent the beat off to him. We sent the beat off to him and it came back immediately like fire if I remember right,” Storch began.
“He’s a prolific writer. To nail that for them, being an East Coast dude and like … You know what I mean? It was a lot of East Coast influence on there because I was a Miami/Philly guy and yeah, man, that’s his thing.”
Storch went on to describe the excitement while “Still D.R.E” was being crafted and mentioned that Dr. Dre was in the process of making a sandwich when he first heard the signature piano line.
“Dre heard it immediately,” Storch recalled. He was on the other side of the door. And the way the studio was set up, there was a control room, and then it was like a kitchen right outside of it. He was in there, making a sandwich or something. And he had the drum pattern that he programmed which is left on play on the MPC. He just let it loop and he would let us all jam out and see if anything comes from it. And he opened the door, he’s like, ‘That’s it right there. That’s it.’ His ears are so dope. Dre was like, ‘This is it. This is a single.’ And he was so excited that he ran back in and we fucking recorded it, and we started layering it together, and just boom.”
To this date “Still D.R.E.” is 4x platinum and resonates with Hip Hop heads everywhere, including Jonah Hill, according to Storch.
“I have recently spoken with Jonah Hill and he said that ‘Still D.R.E.’ is probably the most iconic piano line in the history of music. That was an honor because he’s like a true Hip Hop historian too.”
Catch the full interview below.