Tierra Whack has credited Meek Mill for rescuing her appearance on Beyoncé‘s The Lion King-inspired track “My Power” after an engineer’s alleged error.
Speaking on Hot 97 to promote her new album World Wide Whack, the rapper revealed that her collaboration with Beyoncé on The Lion King: The Gift — which served as a companion project to the 2019 live-action remake — almost went badly after her verse was altered by mistake.
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The Philly star recalled how the collaboration came to be: “They’re like, ‘Yeah, she wants you on [“My Power].’ I was like, ‘Alright, send the song.’ [The team member added] ‘Oh, it comes out in two days, too.'”
She added, “So we played the song, and I was like, ‘Alright, this beat’s crazy.’ I wrote the verse in, like, 20 minutes. Me and [producer] Kenete [Simms] were looking at each other like, ‘Is it good?’ It came so easy. We didn’t want to rush a song with Beyoncé. We don’t want to rush any song, but a song with Beyoncé? You gotta be careful.”
The verse was well-received by Queen B, but there were issues after they were played a follow-up draft of the track.
“We sent our rough, and then we were like, ‘Yo, before it comes out, we need to hear what the engineers are doing on that side, ’cause we wanna make sure and just be comfortable,’ right? We don’t want to hear no effects and stuff,” Whack remembered. “So they sent it back last-minute. Somebody on that side sent it back and… my verse was off. Like, off-beat. It made me sound like I didn’t know how to rap.”
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Whack then revealed that she could not get in touch with Bey or JAY-Z and had to reach out to Meek Mill to try and fix the situation.
“So I reached out to Meek, I’m like, ‘Yo, this happened. And I need you to say it for me,'” Whack explained. “So he hit Hov, and I guess Hov tapped B, like, ‘Yo, Whack saying this verse is not right.’ And then she made a few phone calls, and it was over with. It was good, it was all figured out.”
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She said she was praised by JAY-Z for being adamant about getting her verse right.
“Then Hov hit me and he’s like, ‘I’m glad you spoke up, because your shit gotta be right,'” she concluded. “But the whole world at this moment, y’all know I can rap. But I was like, I gotta be [right]. No, I was like, ‘Does this engineer have ears?’ It was so bad, like, it was so off. I change flows like three times, so it all has to match.”
“My Power” went on to become a key moment to Beyoncé’s critically acclaimed Renaissance World Tour, as it served as her eldest daughter Blue Ivy Carter’s shining moment as a performer.
In an Instagram post with a photo of the 12-year-old last week, the singer’s father Matthew Knowles shared some kind words of praise and encouragement for his granddaughter.
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“I remember coming back stage in London to the Renaissance concert and asking about you,” he began. “Beyoncé replied ‘she is there rehearsing’ and then I understood why because one of your friends had commented negatively about your first performance on the tour. In that moment I was so proud that you wanted to put in the work to get better.
“I want to take a moment to appreciate the amazing determination and willingness to learn that you displayed. Your excitement for life and your eagerness to soak up knowledge and new experiences is truly inspiring. You have already shown the world that you are a force to be reckoned with, and I have no doubt that one day you will continue to astound us all.”
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In 2023, the then-11-year-old Blue Ivy’s dancing was publicly criticized by news outlets and fans early on in the Renaissance Tour.
And in the Renaissance Tour concert film, there are moments between Beyoncé and her daughter discussing the criticism. Bey was equally as proud that instead of quitting, Blue wanted to put the work in and go even harder for the remainder of the tour.
