"Go shorty. It's your birthday."
If those words weren't stuck in your head 15 years ago, you were probably living under a rock.
The lyrics made up the refrain to "In Da Club," rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson's most popular song to date, according to Billboard .
But they weren't very hard to come up with, Jackson said Tuesday afternoon at Business Insider's IGNITION conference in New York.
"Simplicity is the key to a lot of success in entertainment," he said. "It's not rocket science," he said of "Go shorty. It's your birthday." "Every day is someone's birthday."
Jackson added, "I didn't have to study" in order to write those lyrics. "It just came out when the music was playing."
Read more : A neuroscientist explains why your first idea is hardly ever the best one
"In Da Club," cowritten with Dr. Dre and Mike Elizondo , was released to tremendous success: It was nominated for Best Male Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Song at the 46th annual Grammy Awards. Artists like Beyonce have since produced their own remixes of the song.
Jackson has spoken before about getting into a state of creative flow when he records songs. In 2018, he told The New York Times that, in his studio, "there are no windows so it's very easy to lose track of time. I could be there six hours and not even feel it."
At IGNITION, Jackson said that even a seeming stroke of genius like "In Da Club" may need some edits. "There are always notes on a project," he said, because everyone "needs a reason why they're getting a check."
NOW WATCH: Why most people refuse to sell their lottery tickets for twice what they paid
See Also:
- If you own an iPhone 6 or later that isn't holding its charge, now is the time to get your battery replaced
- Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian says we need to move past 'hustle porn' and have a more realistic understanding of what it takes to be successful
- Theresa May's government found in contempt of Parliament
SEE ALSO: The 50 best-selling music artists of all time, ranked by platinum albums