“It’s Fucking Sick”: “Empire State of Mind” Producer on Soundtracking the Knicks’ Win

If you walked anywhere near Midtown Manhattan over the last decade, you were likely bombarded with a fleet of rickshaws blasting the 2009 concrete-jungle anthem “Empire State of Mind” through makeshift speakers. To some who live here, it’s one of the reasons to avoid Times Square—that is until last week, when the New York Knicks’ playoff run ended in the city’s first NBA championship in 53 years, sending residents into the streets to hug strangers and sing Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ hit at the top of their lungs. With the song getting a fresh soundtrack-of-the-city moment, I rang up Al Shux, the British producer who wrote the single with Angela Hunte and Janet Sewell-Ulepic, for his take.

Are you a basketball guy? Have you been following this Knicks run?

I've been following it a bit. I'm not a huge basketball fan but I mean, it's been hard not to follow it.

Was there a moment where you began seeing your song picking up steam?

I was late on it. I started getting sent videos of people singing it after the games; there’s the one where everyone's singing it in the street [after the Finals win]. That was surreal. I know that it's a big part of the New York identity, at least when it came out. But it’s really cool to see how it's still sticking around. I have to pinch myself sometimes that I was one of the people responsible for making it.

And you were involved with the song from the beginning, right?

I mean, there is a sample in it [the Moment’s “Love on a Two-Way Street”], so I guess they were the first people. I made the track then worked with the writers to get the demo of the chorus written. It was pretty humble beginnings just making do with, you know, a bedroom set up.

What was the original concept? Was it different from what we heard on the final version?

No. The concept was pretty plain to see. There was no, like, deep hidden meaning or anything about it. The core of the message was in the original chorus.

Did you create the demo in the States or in England?

The original beat I created in London. The girls who wrote the chorus, they were from New York. They had come to London on a trip… It’s kind of ironic that there is a British guy a part of it.

Did you talk to Jay or Alicia ahead of their recording it?

No, not before. It all happened very quickly. I remember getting a call that Jay wanted to record it. I'd just come out of the movies and I had like 10 missed calls and 100 texts asking to send the stems. It was kind of nerve-racking because when I sent it, I thought I would have a chance to work on it more. I was a bit naive. But I guess they were really happy with how it was, even though it is a bit rough sounding. But maybe that's a part of the magic.

I’m wondering if you know much about the reputation this song has for lifelong New Yorkers. There seems to be a divide that if you’re from here or live here you hate the song—at least until this week, where even people I know who never liked it were so happy they were singing it to strangers.

Yeah, not every song is for every person. I've had that where I've heard a song too much that I maybe need to give it a break. So yeah, I'm not really thinking about that. If people don't want to listen to it, that's fine too. It’s not really up to me.

Do you still feel a personal connection to the song? Or has it been so long and gotten so big that you don’t anymore?

I still feel a connection to it. It’s taken a while just for the dust to settle off the initial surreal feeling of having this huge global record. This record was a big reason for getting my life and career going, just being able to make more music and being able to travel. People wait their whole lives to have a record like that.

Any, any last words?

I just feel grateful. It’s fucking sick to see people loving the song, especially younger people who maybe didn't know it the first time around.