Stormzy Rejected JAY-Z Verse For His Ed Sheeran Collab "Take Me Back To London"

Stormzy hoped on Ed Sheeran's No. 6 Collaborations track "Take Me Back To London."

As the grime rapper told the BBC, JAY-Z could have been on it too, but Stormzy turned down the chance to collab with one of his heroes, who happened to be in the same studio when they were recording "Take Me Back to London"

"We got into the studio and we were writing for this song and then [Jay-Z] just stops the music and he said, 'Tell me about London, I need some inspiration,'" Stormzy said.

So they explained the city to Hov, and JAY went to work.

"At the end [Jay's] smiling, we were probably talking for an hour and he goes, 'So what do you think of the song?'" Stormzy remembered. "I was like, 'I love this song but you being on the song changes everything.' I was like, 'I know how it goes, Mr Z. You are the most brilliant, busy man and I will probably never get this opportunity ever again but hand on my heart, I don't think this is the right song for us. I don't know why I'm saying this to you but this is not the song.'"

According to Stormzy, JAY was shocked but understood:

He fully understood. He couldn't believe that I did it," Stormzy said. "I felt proper bad because I was like, 'You're saying no to Jay-Z!' "Jay-Z was super proud and super shocked and taken aback by the fact that this kid told him."