Mario recently shared that he once passed up the chance to perform with Jay-Z at Madison Square Garden—all because of a date.
Speaking on Drink Champs, the “Let Me Love You” singer looked back on his teenage years, right when “Just A Friend 2002” was blowing up. He recalled, “(Jay-Z) had two shows in Madison Square Garden and he wanted me to come out on his set and meet me.”
But instead of hitting the iconic stage, Mario stuck with his plans. “At the time, I was dating this girl in Jersey. And the night they wanted me to come out, I already had plans with her,” he said.
His manager reached out to inform him of the major opportunity, but Mario turned it down. “I was like, ‘Shh, ahh, I can’t,’” he admitted.
Mario admitted he didn’t consider the consequences at the time—but years later, he’s seeing one that still stings. “I passed up on that, and I don’t know if Jay took that some type of way, but I was young, having fun,” he said. Interestingly, he also pointed out that he’s never been invited to the Roc Nation Brunch.
And he just might be onto something. Jay-Z isn’t exactly known for letting things slide—just ask Ne-Yo. Back in 2023 on Club Shay Shay, Ne-Yo shared how Jay-Z still gives him grief for handing over “Let Me Love You” to Mario.
“Right before the Def Jam deal, I was mainly a songwriter,” Ne-Yo explained. “‘Let Me Love You’ goes number one for like 12 or 13 weeks, becomes one of the most played songs in radio history.”
He recalled his first time meeting Jay-Z in L.A. Reid’s office: “I walk in like, ‘Hey, it’s nice to meet you.’ He’s like, ‘Man, why you give that damn song away?’” Ne-Yo added, “To this day, he still yells at me about giving that song away. But I wasn’t an artist then—I was just a songwriter.”
