Key Takeaways
- Max B maintains that he wrote the chorus and added the female vocals to Jim Jones' 2006 hit "We Fly High," but says he no longer wants credit for the song.
- Max claims Jones called him at 2 A.M. to help with the record, while acknowledging that Jones wrote the verses and had the momentum to turn "Ballin'" into a career-defining anthem.
- Jones previously denied that Max or anyone else wrote his music in 2016 and admitted he "hates" the track despite it becoming his only Billboard Hot 100 hit.
Max B has once again addressed his involvement in one of Jim Jones' biggest records, "We Fly High," but this time he says he's done taking credit for it.
In his latest appearance on VladTV, the Harlem rapper maintained that he wrote the chorus to the 2006 hit and helped add the female vocals to the hook. However, after years of discussion over his contributions to the record, Max said he's ready to remove himself from the conversation entirely.
"I wrote the chorus and put the girl on the chorus," Max claimed. "So somebody on the internet saying they wrote the chorus [...] n***a called me out the bed, two in the morning, to help out with that record."
Despite standing by his version of how the song came together, Max then declared that he no longer wants any credit attached to "We Fly High."
"But you know what? Look, let's do this. From this point on, I'm not taking no more credit for 'We Fly High,'" he continued. "That's Jim Jones' record. That's his song. I don't want nothing to do with it. My name ain't on it. It's his record. I'm dethroning that song. Don't say Max wrote ['We Fly High']. I don't want that no more."
Released as a single from Jones' 2006 album Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment), "We Fly High" became one of the defining records of Jones' career and spawned the hugely popular "Ballin'" catchphrase.
Max, who was closely affiliated with Jones and ByrdGang during that period, also recalled traveling to California to shoot the music video. "We shot the video in Cali. That was my first time in California," he explained.
Vlad argued that Max's influence on the hook has always been apparent; however, Max wasn't interested in diminishing Jones' role in making the song a hit. He pointed out that Jones wrote his own verses and was already riding a major wave at the time.
"Yeah. But it wasn't even about that. He wrote the verses. Jim had the wave at the time," Max said. "Like, it is what it is. It's no big deal."
According to Max, "We Fly High" was also just one of hundreds of songs the two worked on together. He believes his creative approach naturally rubbed off on the people around him during recording sessions.
"I wrote like 500 songs with this n***a so everybody that work with me kind of like pick up shit off my shit," he said. "They inhabit some things. And he just learned how to be more creative with me."
Jones has previously told a very different story about Max's involvement. During a 2016 interview with Complex commemorating the 10th anniversary of Hustler's P.O.M.E., Capo denied that Max or anyone else had written his music. "Max B never wrote one ounce of my music, nor has Stack Bundles, nor has Cam, nor has anybody in my whole life," Jones said.
"We Fly High" became Jones' first and only Billboard Hot 100 hit, but he admitted in the same interview that he had developed a complicated relationship with his biggest record.
"I actually hate the song. The record makes me cringe," Jones said, while acknowledging that it elevated his career and opened new business opportunities.
