Levine and West were on a flight to the 2004 MTV Europe Music Awards held in Italy when they met for the very first time . The two artists were sitting in first class on the flight when West approached Levine with his iPod , introduced himself and played " Heard 'Em Say " for him . He had been keeping a demo on his iPod alongside other tracks intended for his forthcoming sophomore effort since he enjoyed playing new music for people . On his part , Levine had ready a chorus he 'd written but was hesitant to use because he was unsure if his band 's fans would like it . Levine recalled , " He started playing me stuff on his iPod — which was far fancier than my iPod — all this new material for his record , and I was really excited about it in general . Then he played me this song that was kind of what ' Heard 'Em Say ' eventually became . He was rhyming over it , and I had just written a hook that was so perfect for it . It was one of those natural collaborations where you 're so excited because it 's all very pure and very easy . " According to West , " And I played it for him and he said , ' Yo , this reminds me of a song that I wrote but I do n't know if my band will want to do it . It sounds kind of R&B . But I want to do the song . ' I said , ' Yo , we should work together . And that 's all it was . " Levine further stated , " He was just getting big too . And he played me this record . Like , ' Hey , I ’ve got this record . Do you want to write a song together ? ' On a plane . You know ? And I said , ‘ Yeah , sure . ’ And that was it . The next thing I knew we were in the studio making the record and it was that easy . " West was able to contact Levine and get him on a record after acquiring his number from American record producer Rick Rubin . He was hesitant at first , feeling the singer was a bit too popular for him . However , West came to be impressed by the quality of Levine 's voice after hearing his band rehearse backstage at the 47th Grammy Awards ceremony . He remarked , " They were so big that I thought they 'd be less ill , but I heard them rehearsing backstage at the Grammys and he was hitting all them mockingbird notes and I said , I have to get him in the studio . ' " Levine came to the reording studio right after the ceremony , sang the song and West discovered that the melody fit perfect with it . The track was done rather quickly , as Levine had only a couple of free hours available . Since the singer had a vocal that the duo had already discovered meshed well with West 's music , Brion was able to translate the two pieces in a matter of hours . Brion said , " Adam had something , Kanye loved it and the three of us went at it like banshees , and there it was . " West distinguished the results and circumstances surrounding the collaboration as something of a gift from God . In retrospect , Levine described he recording session by saying , " It was really a cool , organic process . Kanye 's lyrics were beautiful . " The musical collaboration reportedly left a good impression on Levine . He opined , " Kanye West is a genius . I know that he causes different reactions in people . But the bottom line is that he ’s brilliant . Love him or hate him , he ’s brilliant . He ’s a really pure , creative person . I really respect that about him . Everything with him is very legitimate and very real . I love that dude . " " Heard 'Em Say " is a midtempo hip-hop song that lasts for a duration of three minutes and twenty-three seconds . It harbors a soothing lullaby tone , with moody atmosphere and soulful undertones , containing a melodic R&B chorus as well as elements of art rock . The track has a subdued instrumentation which consists of piano chords , bass synth , and acoustic guitar while incorporating various bells , whistles and keyboards for its coda . Its musical composition is primarily built on cascading broken chords , with Adam Levine gently crooning over them in a luscious falsetto . The song contains excerpts of " Someone That I Used To Love " as performed by Natalie Cole . West employs an arpeggiated piano motif which forms a figure that runs throughout . According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Universal Music Publishing Group , the song is written in the time signature of common time , with a moderate tempo of 95 beats per minute . " Heard 'Em Say " is composed in the key of F major , while Levine 's vocal range spans one octave and three notes , from a low of F4 to a high of B5 . The song follows a basic sequence of F7 – Bmaj7 – F7 – Bmaj7 – Faug/G – F/A – F6/A – B/D – F6/A – B/D during the verses and coda and F7 – Bmaj7 – F7 – Bmaj7 – Faug/A at the chorus as its chord progression
2004 MTV Europe Music Awards
2004 MTV Europe Music Awards
Heard 'Em Say