D.I.T.C. MC O.C. has several championed releases, stemming from his 1994 Wild Pitch Records debut, Word…Life, his 1997 Payday follow-up, Jewelz, his near-bootleg release Starchild, to his Apollo Brown tandem, Trophies. 2001’s Bon Appetit is not one of O’s more celebrated works, though the Brooklyn, New Yorker maintains it’s the album he wanted to make, and highly personal at that. Still, the lone JCor Records release had all the makings of fan satisfaction, featuring the same Buckwild-bulk of production as his debut, with contributions from Lord Finesse and Ahmed.

In a new interview with Australia’s Acclaim magazine, O.C. revealed that Bon Appetit was made following plans of a collaborative group between him and Big L (which evolved from a mix of “Get Yours” appearing on The Black Mask soundtrack). Tragically, Big L’s 1999 murder would end those plans, putting “a dark cloud,” as O admits over him and D.I.T.C.

One thing the album did have was “Bonafide,” originally a 1999 white-label single, this was an official collaboration with a multi-platinum-era Jay-Z. In the interview, O.C. explains how the small label was able to release the song free of Jay’s hefty appearance fees, and Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam Records legal teams.

“Jay’s my homey, I got him on the record for free,” O.C. said. “That’s actually for the Jewelz album and it didn’t make it. I caught him fresh off that [Vol. 2…Hard Knock Life] album, which was two million [sold] at the time, and the label used to give me problems about paying for artists. They couldn’t understand how I pulled off Jay coming in D&D [Studios],” said O.C., regarding the studio where he, D.I.T.C., and Jay Z recorded.

“Me, [DJ Premier] and all of us all see each other on the regular, this is not no industry bullshit now. You walk in D&D, you liable to see anybody that records up there, so it becomes kind of a family thing – M.O.P., Nas, Slick Rick, [Kool] G Rap, whoever. I got Jay for free on the project. “Did I clear it?” Is the question, but he never bothered me about it.”

Jay Z and O.C. would also appear together on “Crew Love” by Original Flavor’s Tone Hooker. O.C. would also appear on Murs & Ski Beatz’ Love & Rockets, Vol. 1, which was released by Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Dame Dash’s DD172 imprint in 2011.

O.C. is currently at work with Army Of The Pharaohs MC/producer, Apathy.

Read the entire Acclaim interview with O.C.

Related: Ever See These Big L, O.C. and Lord Finesse Freestyles? Get Down with D.I.T.C. (Video)