New Rory & MAL - Checking In With Hit-Boy
Episode Date: September 18, 2025Rory and Mal check in with Hit-Boy to congratulate him on becoming completely independent, ask him how he really felt about his Verzuz against Boi-1da, and play "this or that" with the best hits of hi...s catalog #volume All lines provided by hardrock.betSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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All right. Roy, we are back. Today we are joined by a friend of the show, family.
It was actually one of our first guest, man, ever.
We sat down with him in LA a few years ago, and since then he is...
Live show, too. Live show.
Yeah, performed at the live show. Shouts the big hit.
performed at the live show in LA.
Obviously, somebody we've ever familiar with
has been doing legendary shit for years.
It's continuing on that pace, not slowing up.
One of the hardest working guys in the industry,
one of my favorite people in the industry,
hit boy.
What's up, man?
And most important.
Back for another one.
Exactly.
Most importantly, the independent hit boy.
The independent hit boy.
This is the first time we've got to sit and talk.
The free hit boy.
I really feel like I just got off the pin.
Big hit.
You know what I'm saying?
Exactly.
You know what I mean?
It's the real hit free.
How you feel it, man?
Great, bro.
Now that you, it's completely in the clear.
Yeah, new man, bro.
I just like, you know, had a lot of dark times during them days.
But, you know, now I got shit in retrospect and I could just see, like, everything was needed.
It had to happen to way.
It had to happen just to get me to this place.
And I'm moving, like, with just way more sharp vision.
Now, now, for the people that don't know, you're completely out of your original deal
that you were stuck in for 18 years.
For 18 years.
I was one year out of high school.
I was signed that when I was 19.
How'd you get that deal?
I got that deal on MySpace.
On MySpace.
I met Polo Dodon on MySpace.
And he was like, you know, I just was a fan of his music.
He was like, man, you know, I'm more than just a producer.
I could really, like, help guide you through your career and, you know, put some plays together for you.
So when we linked to you, I end up giving me the publishing deal.
Yeah.
Can you explain what a pub deal is just to the, you know, average?
average.
Average.
I wouldn't know.
It's a company that collects money on your behalf, you know, and they take a percentage
for that.
And my particular situation was like there was no end date because of, you know, terminology
in the contract and whatever you want to call it.
Oh, ancient terminology, stuff that just got outdated.
That was still being upheld in my contract.
So I just got stuck in it, you know.
But at the end of the day, bro, like, it went down how I went down.
I'm happy now for sure.
Because I assumed you were cooped with that gave you.
Come on.
than a year maybe.
Yeah, yeah, quick.
Because, I mean, I feel like, especially producers like you,
because there's the A-List legendary producers
that produce like once a year maybe.
And that's where Pub can be like,
all right, whatever, it's not a huge deal.
But you work actively with A-List artists
or people we've never even heard of.
And that was the part, that was part of it too,
like me just like doubling down
and doing so much work.
Like, man, some going to get me out this motherfucker.
I gave you six Niles albums.
Yeah, come on, bro.
I was like, man, bro.
What's it going to take?
You know, what is it going to take?
And it just like, you know, I guess it just, whatever Desireenhove said to them,
it just, it worked, you know what I mean?
And they gave me an end date and I just, you know, knocked it out.
I just got out in July.
How did that conversation start with Des and Hove?
Me complaining and fucking being pissed off, mad, sad, all that shit.
Just like, bro, like, you know, Hove telling me like, man, I looked at the contract,
like, these papers ain't good.
That's literally what he said.
You know what I mean?
I'm like, you know, you're like, we're going to try to, you know, figure it out.
Then they ended up figuring it out and gave me that was 2021 when I was still being managed by rock.
And he was like, man, best we could do is they'll give you an end date, but it's four years from now.
So I had to wait until July 2025 to get out.
Okay.
Did that defer you from maybe wanting to put out music or work with anyone?
Just because you had stuff that you wanted to keep for yourself on the independent side?
No, I don't even work like that, man.
I was in the middle of the Nause albums during that whole thing.
So it was like, you know, just pushing regardless.
This is why I just love to do this shit regardless, like money or not.
I mean, we want the money for show, but I just love to do this shit.
Is there advice you would give to like a new producer that maybe just call one?
Because that happens now whether it be TikTok, IG, whatever, the TikTok sounds are going platinum.
So you're getting brand new big producers every day at a rate you weren't before because it's easier to discover them.
But it's like a bit of advice you would give a young.
or producer going in?
I mean, number one is if you are going to sign a deal, make sure you got to end date.
Make sure you know that like this contract is not going to go on for like 18 years or like 20 years,
whatever the case may be.
Just make sure it's an end date.
I mean, you know, like if you got the head, then, you know, it's not just one company that's
going to want to do business.
Somebody out there going to want to do business in the way you see it being done.
You know, you just got to be patient and wait and find that right fit.
But that's very different because for somebody to be in a.
deal that they absolutely hate and obviously to have the success that you've had as a producer
as an artist it's hard for somebody to continue to want to create being in a contract like that
it was depressing bro it was plenty times where i definitely like had a little just couldn't think of
nothing just like i felt like i exhausted myself feel like i was just like man making no real
progress you know what i mean and uh that shit definitely was it was it was fucked up like mentally
For sure.
At the end of the day, just my love for this shit, bro.
Just like, you know, it's fun to me.
Like, it should always been just fun,
especially the beat-making aspect.
Like, it's like, a video game.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
So I do that for entertainment.
Yeah.
So what's the difference then?
Because I think it's easier to understand
when a rapper is independent
or on a major label.
But as far as a producer being free of a pub contract,
what does that look like independent?
Are you collecting on your own?
Like, how does that work?
Yeah, I mean, well, basically, you know,
the percentages that I owned of the songs that I did, you know, I can move that around and do what I
want to do with it. And basically, from here out, you know, the plays are serious. Like, you know what
mean, it's got to be some real, some real dollar signs and some real, like, business being done.
But it's smart that you continue to keep that work ethic, though, because, I mean, you've
produced some of the biggest records last, since you've been in that contract 18 years.
No, it's particular, the sixth album thing.
Are there any records left over that never saw the light of day that y'all plan on doing something with?
No, I mean, we probably do got a little hooks and verses just scattered around, but we ain't got like full, full songs like that.
We, you know, we emptied the clip, bro.
We put 80 songs out in three years.
That's crazy.
Like, we basically dropped damn near everything we made because we was just in a groove and literally having fun.
Like, you know, this is like, he don't got to be doing this shit.
You know what I mean?
And it's like, that was just an opportunity for me to grow,
being around an elite MC like for three years in a row,
watching this nigga write verses and freestyle of hooks and whatever you're going to do.
Like, I got to grow through that whole process.
Is that, is that something that you look back on that helped you as a, as a writer yourself?
Because a lot of people, you know, no hit for his production.
But I speak to people about your ability to also rap better than a lot of producers
that rap and produce.
Like, being around Nause for those years,
did you, did you sharpen your pen just like listening to them?
That's why I'm excited about what I'm doing right now
because I feel like it's going to be a good showcase of that.
Like the new projects I'm doing,
I got like four new projects.
I'm going to drop this back to back.
Like, joint with Alchemists,
some with my homeboy Spank Nitty.
We got a crazy tape.
That's just, we went to Starless and fucked that shit up last night
with them joints.
Like, we got straight just...
Tell you was hungover when you walked out?
Yeah, I know, bro.
I had to lay out on the beanbag.
I really dozed off for two seconds.
But, no, I'm just, yeah, I'm feeling empty the clip again, bro.
Like, on my own shit and just, like, just show people where I'm going, you know,
is just stepping stones.
One of my personal favorites, is there another half a middle joint coming?
Man, me and Dom, we do got, we got albums worth the shit, bro.
For sure, we got joints.
We got joints.
We got joints in.
But, you know, Dom is, plus, like, Dom's son is super good at baseball, so he really
locked in with his stuff.
Like, like, a crazy high school.
school like, you know, top ranked.
And so he locked in for real on that.
Okay.
Yeah.
Got to respect that.
Which artist would you say as the weirdest recording process that you've worked with?
Jay Electronica.
He might FaceTime you at three in the morning from the jungle.
And the, yeah.
You see these grays?
They're not from my daughter.
They're from him.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Already you just were telling me.
It's serious.
Yeah, that niggit right there, crazy.
And he changed his number like every week.
Oh.
Oh.
Yeah.
And didn't hit you, like, you're supposed to know he changed his numbers.
Like, well, I don't even know who this is.
No, no, no.
He'll send me a random, like, YouTube video or something.
I know.
I knew exactly what type of YouTube video we ain't going to say it.
Yeah, for sure.
Okay, well, outside of Jay Letke, because just the mystique of him,
I feel like the whole world knows that he's a unicorn over there with processes.
But, like, some of the artists that are on earth, like, who has,
doesn't even have to be weird, but just.
I mean, everybody got their own processes.
You know what I mean like when I worked with T's old touchdown like instead of like recording on the super high quality C-800
Mike on you know that's like you know there for the quality he wanted to do a handheld and he like literally late the whole song just on a handheld like you know he's interesting artist period but yeah that was probably like damn he like that's that's the quality he won't you know what I mean yeah now coming out of the year that you know because I don't think we spoke since the whole
Kendrick would turn out to be West Coast versus.
I don't even know if it's East Coast or Toronto.
I don't even know.
It just got weird.
How has that affected just the energy amongst the MCs in Cali, especially, you know, a lot of guys that's coming up that you work with on a close, close basis?
Like, how has that changed the energy of guys wanting to rap?
I mean, you know, the nigger gave a lot of people opportunities, you know, through that whole, the pop out.
and putting niggas on his album and all that.
I feel like, you know, you see like Azee Chike taking advantage of that,
like, left doing this thing.
It's a lot of people that's like, you know, like,
I got to take my shit more serious, you know what I mean?
For sure.
He definitely, he chose a side with Starr Dissor.
Once I saw the video, I was like, all right, now I know where hit boy.
I chose a side.
I mean, you West Coast.
I'm just on West Coast, nigga.
Yeah, I ain't choosing aside, but I think I got love for Kendrick,
you know what I mean?
For sure.
Yeah.
Is this next project going to be more in that vein?
the joint with spank
yeah it's called yeh's talking like we got
we got Azee Chike baby Tron on there
we got Big Sad 1900 we got
the shit we did with Don Q last night
that's going on there we just got a Rio de Young O.G
like that's the type of shit I'll be listening to
just like really on the daily just hood shit
Pizzy um
them type of niggas and um
but then Alchemist album is just straight
fucking soulful like hip pop like Chops
and niggas just talking shit through the whole
album. I'm coming with different
vibes, bro. Speaking of A. Z,
we were out at the BT Awards and did
like the media room shit
where you interviewed a bunch of people.
And we sat down with Berg, our guy, hitmaker,
and we discussed
how, I guess, I
instigated the entire beef between
y'all. Have y'all pieced it up yet?
I ain't ran into you, nah. But I mean, you know, that's, you know,
that was just a little moment, man. It was
just a little splash. Like, I ain't tripping
off that shit. Yeah, and when he sat with us, he was
He wasn't on any type of time like it was an issue,
but I'm just not sure if y'all had ever spoken
since that entire thing.
He did what I do, what I do, you know,
everybody in their own pocket.
Yeah.
So in the vein of producers,
uh,
who do you think one of the verses with you and wonder?
Like,
personally.
Like, looking back as I,
I started to watch that.
He was killing me with all the Drake records,
like,
for a minute.
I was like,
I was feeding into it.
That's where I fucked up.
But I feel like once I start coming with the new nip
and new nyes and all that shit,
it was like,
you know,
to even out but yeah i see why niggas was like oh man you gotta play more heads and this
thing was just stinging me with drake i thought drake you played trophies and then it was an
hour after of just classic boy won to jake records i spoke to him he was like yo man he's like yeah
asking who he think one of the verse but he said he got nicely that's my god no for sure i got respect
and love for one day yeah yeah but that was that's one of those verses that i wish we got in a
different setting because that's when it was like really just that was the raw that was the first
That was the first one after they was just fucking around on the ground.
Yeah, but that's why we needed that with those type of records that y'all have, respectively.
We need that, like, on a stage.
We need that.
I set up, like, a nigga on a video game after that shit live start turning up after that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It would have been better, too, because, I mean, obviously both y'all are real producers.
So, like, playing that shit live would have just made it awake, a cool experience in that.
But, I mean, speaking of, you know, Drake, not on the beef side, but I feel like you started with the quote-unquote
big three around the same time, Cole, Kendrick, Drake.
Who do you think is the next superstars?
Or do we have superstars?
I can't call it, bro.
I don't think this game is what it used to be.
The world ain't what it used to be.
Like how we consume, you know, the respect on the music.
That's just none of the shit is the same, bro.
So I can't really call it.
But, you know, it's like, it's space for it to open up.
It's space for an undeniable motherfucker to come through and be like,
yo, this is it type shit.
So, you know, I'm excited about that.
I just don't, I don't know what the shit is no more, bro.
That's like, I look at, I'm not even looking at myself as, like, in the music industry.
I'm just, like, making art, whatever there's my music.
Me and I got a film that we're working on, high-level shit.
We really invested time and money and put real effort and got high-level actors in this shit.
Like, you know, I just feel like that's about to make people look at us in a whole different light.
And it's like, I'm just on some straight art shit at this point.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, do you feel like, because you do it consistently as far as working, again, with big,
artist or just artists you like.
I feel like Farrell,
Swiss, well, maybe not so much Farrell,
but like Swiss, Timberlin,
even Kanye, after he got H for the Izzo.
He wasn't going back to Chicago to mess with some local
mans. All A-List artists would only work with
A-List producers.
And now that there isn't really like the A-List
artists coming up,
do you think producers get left behind with that mind state?
Like, you should work with everybody.
It doesn't matter with their status or if you just did
a record with,
Gunna. Like, don't think now you
just the gunner status is what you
should be doing. Everybody could do what they want to do.
I just like working with shit I'm inspired by.
Like, when I heard Spank, like, this nigga, bars
literally didn't have me in the crib
and tears laughing. And that's the type
of rappers. I fuck with niggies that make you laugh.
Like, but it'd be like smart. It's intelligent.
But it's hilarious the way to put it.
Yeah. Like, you know what I mean?
Just like, I'm like, let's do
a whole album. Fuck. Yeah.
So a couple months, I think it was a couple months ago.
But time is flying. You put,
a Frank Ocean snippet on
Instagram that was fucking crazy.
You were in your studio
and was like a minute.
Man, I think that was
this demo that he did
with the homegirl Stacy Barth
back in the day.
Love Stakes.
That's before he was even
Frank Ocean though.
Actually, my boy,
B. Carey from our clique,
surf club, he actually produced that shit.
I was just playing that one fucking
because that's a vibe.
Yeah.
But you could find that song
on SoundCloud too.
Okay.
When was the last time you saw Frank?
some years ago, probably about
2019.
Okay.
Yeah.
What was his vibe?
Did it look like
you want to talk about music?
I know he went through some personal shit.
So it was before like,
you know,
he was dealing with that.
So it was cool.
Like,
he was locked in.
Yeah,
because when I saw that snippet,
I didn't recognize the song.
I was like,
oh shit,
is this,
is this the rollout?
We're about to get a hit boy Frank Ocean EP?
That would be ridiculous.
No,
I think that type of shit need to be happening.
I agree.
But I'd make it exciting.
Like,
why wasn't he just come,
fuck with me, do a whole project.
But guys like, artists like Frank, though, like, you know, he's in his own world.
Yeah, like, and it's like, you know.
Guys from New Orleans, clearly.
Yeah, well, it's something out there.
But it's, it makes sense for a frank, like, just if somebody said, yo, Frank Ocean got an album
coming out and hit boy is producing.
That's just that'll fly already.
You see what I'm saying?
Like, it's like, wait, why, why haven't we gotten that already?
Yeah.
everybody in their own world, everybody got their process and, you know, what they vibe and then in the moment.
I think it's what you said, though, people are, I think it's,
creatives and artists are just in the space of, you don't, we don't, you don't really know what's going on.
Like, if you take all this time to put out an amazing project and once you put it out in two hours,
people are either killing it online or they love it.
You don't even take two hours.
Yeah, five minutes.
Yeah.
So it's like, wow.
The house is an hour and you comments in five minutes into it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
trash on the second song garbage it's like why would the artists like people everybody say
yo we want a new j album jays in the studio i'm like i don't think an artist like jay wants to put
out music right now like what's inspiring him to do it right what's like what would be the point of
him doing it he's only gonna go on you know take a project or album and go on tour if his wife is
with him like they're obviously only torn together at this point if they're torn at all so i just don't
understand, you know, where the artists are as far as, like, you know, things that are going
in the industry, how people consume music, how long they live with the music, what it means
to them.
Because right now, if I put out a great project, people might not go back to it in three weeks.
Like, it might not be, I don't even listen to that no more.
It's like so much shit is out and available whenever we want to hear it.
It's like the news circuit, just, shit coming up, just happening out of the blue type shit.
You just don't know.
Like, it's shit moving fast, man.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think artists get into patterns, especially from the era Frank is in and behind Frank,
where you can put out a project that's deemed a classic and disappear for three, four years,
whereas now you kind of have to, you know, play the consistency game.
But to me, that's even better.
Like, for example, Nas, you could say what you want about Street Socieple, maybe Nostradamus.
Cool.
He's had things that maybe have not met the standard of it was written, but he's so consistent
that you forget about, quote unquote, a dud.
But when you only have two albums, now the anticipation to put out another one is like,
now I'm going to wait 10 years because it's going to take me 10 years to make that type of project.
But if you're consistent and you could be like, yo, Frank, you just want to do a three-pack real quick?
That's fine because it's like, I'm consistent.
I know we're going to get more Frank music, by the way.
I think that's like I've seen an interview that Virgil did and he was talking about how just in general with art,
you put out a gang of shit, like the stuff you put out that is bad.
nobody going to remember that shit anyway.
You want to hear me?
Just keep shooting, keep making shit.
And the good stuff is going to stand out
and the stuff you're not proud of.
It's like, we don't even think about the bad
Nikes that Nike have met.
Right.
We don't want forces, all the fly shit.
Yeah, we know we want some Nikes that ain't sold.
That has been trash, whatever, but we just don't give a fuck.
We don't think about that.
Even with Chance, for example, like the internet killed the big day.
Yeah.
Obviously, he took some time because he was going through
some personal stuff and COVID and everything.
But now the,
entire timeline has shifted to this may be one of the best rap albums of the year.
Yeah, I've been seeing people say so.
You can also put out a dud if you're consistently putting out music.
You can change people's mind to Virgil's point in that regard.
For sure.
People are going to forget if you keep putting out quality shit at that time.
That's where I just wish Frank would get because obviously he's a writer first and works
quickly.
You could just be putting out a bunch of fucking records.
I'm sure. I'm sure they're great.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, for sure.
But again, you know what I mean?
We don't know what's going on this person.
for sure, yeah.
How you feeling was going on.
So should be real out here.
I just had this motherfucker and do court this morning.
They got like, you know, I got a bunch of amazing shit happening.
Then I got some low level, low vibration shit happened at the same time.
It's like you got to balance this shit out.
For sure.
And it leads into creativity sometimes in a bad way in that regard.
That's why I went to Star is going crazy this last night.
Well, start with just therapy.
That's a therapy.
Yeah, yeah.
That's a high vibration.
Definitely.
Strip club-wise, what do you feel about New York and strip club?
I mean, I only really went to Starless and maybe one or two other ones, but that's amazing, bro.
It's lovely.
I just, you know what it is?
Only somebody from L.A., I feel like, would say that about New York strip clubs.
Because we don't think they're that great.
Even in L.A., I like crazy girls and Sam's and all the hood shit.
That's what I fuck with.
Sam's is fun, but I fuck with the hood shit, period.
But New York and L.A., just once you start driving, you realize we don't do strip clubs, like, that good.
I lived in Atlanta when I was 19.
I fucked with Paul O'Don, Don Cannon.
You've seen it.
They had me in there.
I wasn't even supposed to be in Platte 21.
And they had me going crazy.
I'm seeing the thickest joints I was saying in my life.
Like, what is this?
You know what I mean?
So it's like I got programmed on that shit early, man.
But you know, it'll just be a good time, a good little quick.
You know what I mean?
So what's up, man?
When you moving, when you moving to New York, man?
Man, shit, I'm feeling look at some real estate.
Yeah, because I see it.
It's all on your face.
Like, you're trying to spend some real time.
But I think it makes sense for you to be in New York because, you know,
everybody has to come through,
you know, L.A., New York, as far as artists
and things like that.
So I think hit boy just being in it,
like you said, last night,
you just stumbled into, you know what I mean?
Like Don Q at a restaurant
and just like got in the studio.
With the choir and shit.
Yeah.
I think it just happens like that.
All my West Coast homies was like,
man, y'all sure y'all want to go to choir
and you already know what they think about.
Yeah, yeah.
But that's a lot of, dude.
It's a whole different world.
It's in the middle of fucking Times Square
and like, it'll be great
because you'll get to listen
to 10,000 Buster Rhyme songs because he lives there.
He has a mattress.
He has a residency.
He has a residency.
He has a residency in Quad.
Absolutely.
But that's funny that it wasn't, wasn't New York culture, the food history.
He was like, no, I just went to Starless.
I want to move.
Starlets.
And now I'm looking at one.
No, no.
I'm looking at one.
I got a sprinter out here.
Like just, you know, driving down the street, motherfuckers getting dressed up.
Do you do that?
Do you just go out of the city just to get the energy?
Nah, really, I just be on the way to places this city, you know what I'm on the way somewhere,
just looking at.
How motherfuckers moving around, the energy, the tempo is just us up out here.
I fuck with it.
What do you think is, like, what would you say is the difference?
Because I felt a difference in the energy in LA post-pandemic.
Like, I think a lot changed in California, like just the energy as far as, you know, the nightlife and things like that.
Yeah.
What do you feel is the differences right now between energy here in New York and in L.A.?
Dog.
I just, like, went to say less the other night, bro.
I never see that many superstars in what building, man.
It was like, it was like an all-star game.
It's like, I didn't bend a tab and it catch you.
You see some joints.
You see it going crazy.
It be vives, but that was something different, I mean.
Yeah, you know what I mean?
It's like, man, New York.
And they'd be just super fly.
Like, I didn't really take pride in how they present themselves, like,
getting dressed up flies and one fucking head to toe.
I'm like, and then the Dominican joints is serious, man.
I knew that was coming.
I was waiting on now.
We all go for the chicken skewers there.
That's why we go.
I just don't watch the game.
Yeah, the neon sign.
I like to take a photo in front.
That's why I'm like to say less.
But no, shout out to say less.
That place is good.
Definitely, yeah, for sure.
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A win is a win.
A win is a win.
I don't care what you're saying.
Yep.
That's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th.
You might have seen the skits, the reactions,
my journey from basketball to college football,
or my career in sports media.
Well, somewhere along the way,
this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.
And now I'm bringing all of that excitement
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This is a place for raw,
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Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?
Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.
I know what you're thinking.
What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim?
Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast.
I'm Sam Jett.
And I'm Alex English.
Each episode, we picket here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.
Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill,
waxing all about crack in the 80s.
To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because.
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I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know.
I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack.
So I'm starting to see that there's a through line.
We also have AIDS on the table right now.
Thank you for finishing that sentence.
Yes.
I don't think there's a more important year for black people.
Really?
Yeah.
For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.
Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your
I went and sat on the little ottoman in front of him.
I said, hi, dad.
And just when I said that, my mom comes out of the kitchen.
She says, I have some cookies and milk.
This is a badass convict.
Right.
Just finished five years.
I'm going to have cookies and milk at my mom.
Yeah.
On the senior show podcast, each episode invites you into a raw, unfiltered conversations
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On a recent episode, I sit down with actor, cultural icon Danny Trail, talk about addiction, transformation, and the power of second chances.
The entire season two is now available to binge featuring powerful conversations with the guests like Tiffany Addish, Johnny Knoxville, and more.
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and they are experts at everything.
Here, the Nick Dick and Poll show, we're not afraid to make mistakes.
What Kugler did that I think was so unique.
He's the writer-director.
Who do you think he is?
I don't know.
You mean the president?
You think Canada has a president.
You think China has a president.
Does Laugh-Rouzette.
God, I love that thing.
I use it all the time.
I wrap it in a blanket and sing to it at night.
It's like the old Polish saying,
not my monkeys, not my circus.
Yep.
It was a good one.
I like that saying.
It is an actual Polish saying.
It is an actual Polish saying.
Better version of Play Stupid Games,
win stupid prizes.
Yes.
Which, by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift,
who said that for the first time.
I actually, I thought it was.
I got that wrong.
Listen to the Nick, Dick and Paul show
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I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fault and Our Stars, and now I guess also as the co-host of The Away End, a brand new world soccer podcast.
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My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game and I fell in love.
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Football.
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Very debatable.
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Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important.
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We were talking.
We had JD on, I forgot, a couple months ago maybe.
Yeah.
And we did like this or that segment with him with some of his records on what he had to choose.
Out of the two.
So I want to do with you, start out the gate.
Paris, well, if you want to say the full title, or click.
I'm going to have to go with Paris, man.
Yeah, I think that's just seeing him just recently performed that shit a few weeks ago.
In Paris.
It felt like, I mean, at the Vegas show, the last,
oh, yeah, okay.
Went to that motherfucker.
The whole stadium was just like rumbling, bro.
I'm like, it sounded like that motherfucker just dropped the night before.
Yeah.
Just came out.
I'm like, you can't beat that, bro.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What was that click session like, though?
Man, I was, I think we was in London when we started that.
And that original beat, it's this song, if you look it up, called CDC by Dom Kennedy,
Casey Veggies and this other nigga named Carter.
And they had did a song on that same beat
And then Yee ended up picking that beat out of, you know, a bunch of beats I had
Once they did the hook, I had to tell Ye, like, look,
The homie Dom already used this beat.
So then we ended up just muting some of the sounds I had adding more shit,
acting choirs and them snares and turned it up into, you know, what it became.
But, yeah, that shit was the first time I heard it,
I was in the Hamptons working on the Beyonce album,
like the shit that came out in 2013.
And they came in and just playing that joint over and over
everybody was going crazy.
Was it just...
First time I had heard,
Hove verse on it.
Okay.
So, Ye was on it first,
then Hove was Sean last?
Yeah, Sean,
did the, yeah, his part,
and then,
yeah, and then the last verse
I heard was a whole shit.
I would love to ask
Pick Sean what that was like.
Hove and Kanye,
like,
all, we got this record together.
Yes.
We want you to close the shit.
Like, that must have been a feeling.
All right.
A-Sap Rocky,
Goldie, or Drake trophies?
I'm going with...
Damn.
They both are.
I fuck with Goldie, though.
You know what I mean?
That was,
the Rocky, like, first single on a major label, I believe, you know what I mean?
So, like, that helped, you know, crack his shit off, you know what I mean?
It just helps, you know, solidify what I was doing a little bit more.
Okay.
Backseat freestyle or racks in the middle?
Damn, that's fucked up.
Damn.
Yeah.
I don't know if I could pick out of those two either.
Damn.
I mean, I feel like I'm closer to racks in the middle because I was there for the whole process.
And that was originally my song, you know what I mean?
I had gay that to lip because he asked for it.
And he felt like the, you know, the fact that we wanted Grammy and shit off that shit,
he felt like that was a Grammy-level song.
So it was like a proud moment when we actually won a Grammy.
Like, we really felt like this was high quality, like the new wave of the West.
How did Roddy getting involved with that?
Man, he was across the hall from my old studio.
And I used to work, got challenged, bro.
He was working with Future.
And my home boy, that was A&R in the Atlantic.
I don't know if he still is.
My nigga,
knowledge.
He was like,
bro,
I got Radi over there
because I told knowledge.
Like,
bro,
I fuck with Rottie.
Like,
I used to like that
Die Young song like
so heavy.
So I was playing that shit
showing it to people
every day.
Like,
this shit hard.
And he was like,
I got Radi coming over there.
He's going to be with future.
So they recording songs all day
doing their thing.
It's probably like,
it's time to leave.
It's 12 is one.
We didn't been there all day,
whatever.
He just come over to say what up.
He got his backpack on and all that.
And I knew he was over there.
So I'm like, I made a beat.
I made that beat that same day.
And I was like, if this need come in, I'm playing this shit.
And he was just, no, coming to say, whatever.
I'm like, check this out.
Boom, played the beat.
He was like, fuck it.
Let me try something.
Load it up.
And then he did that hook.
Let me try.
He actually did a verse for us.
He did a verse tool too.
Yeah.
And I was supposed to be.
It's supposed to be hit boy featuring Roddy.
And that's when Nip heard it.
It was like, let me get this.
Yeah, I need that.
Yeah, I need that.
It was like, it was like, this could be the perfect record to like segue from
victory lap like to be my you know to start the next you know me energy the next rollout do you have any uh
because you obviously one of the biggest uh moments on the verses was when you played the nip verse
that we had never heard before do you have any music with nip uh in the hard drive storm i got like
maybe a couple things nothing crazy but yeah i got some stuff that's in but i know they're working
on some stuff like internally family like saying putting some shit together so they ain't really
trying to let nothing out like that but yeah yeah and i mean the way nip works
I'm sure there's thousands of verses that that Sam probably has over there so um well shit
how did backseat freestyle even come about that was measured as hard we went uh
i went out with td e and kendrick and the gang of homies and shit to Vegas in like 2011 must have
been 2011 because it was before the album dropped and uh we was just out there working we was like
he had recorded on a couple other beats i did and just like started little ideas and shit
And then he was whatever, we came back to LA.
He was like, man, like, I fuck with him with them ideas, but you got any more beats to me or some beats.
So him and Day Free came to this old studio crib I had and I played the shit.
And they was like, yo, we're going to take this, go crazy on it.
And then he texts me and was like, bro, we got one.
He was like, I guess he was in Dallas or something like that on tour doing shows and shit.
He was like, we got one, send me this song.
And I'm like, damn, that shit was tough.
Like, he just really gave you that feeling.
Like, he was really freestyling.
Yeah, no.
that that record is a classic.
Travis Scott Sickle Mode or Rihanna Wu?
Man.
Just listen to the songs you throwing out is crazy.
No, for real.
I mean shit, bro.
I can't say woo because I'm going to tell you why.
That album I did Pose and I did Woo on the entire album.
And I was, I used to trade samples with a lot of people.
You know what I mean?
I traded some samples with,
John Cannon, he gave me a pack that said royalty free on it.
Literally said royalty free.
So, like, I took, it wasn't even a loop.
It was just a bunch of guitar stabs.
If you hear it, like, you know, I made that arrangement and, like, chose the stabs
and then built on that.
And then basically once, like, the pre-sale thing came out, the dude that gave him
the sample pack went, like, the lawyer route and was like, oh, hit boy stole my sounds
and da-da-da-da.
So I had got paid $45K per track for Pose.
I got $45K for Pose and $45K for Pose.
for woo. I had to get this dude the whole 45 bands for the beat, you know what I mean?
Like, it's just crazy, I'm me. I sat there. I chopped that beat in front of the weekend.
Travis was there. Tad Dalla sign was there. It was a gang of motherfuckers in there. I was chopping,
making the beat right there on the spot, bro. And even Travis was like, damn, bro, like that's shit weird.
I watched you make the beat type shit, you know what I mean? And, yeah, dude just was like,
nah, like you stole my sounds. And I'm like, bro, I'm not even in Canada. Like,
what's up? And it's like, I don't know if that nigga reached out or not.
but it just was ugly.
I had to give him the money back and it was fucked up.
But, yeah.
I mean, I understand giving some money, but the whole, if you arranging the whole shit.
Crazy, bro.
And I was like, bro, like, let's work, my nigga.
Like, send me some more loops.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
He's like, nah, we'd be better as friends.
I'm good.
Like, all right, for sure.
Game to bread.
And so, yeah, sick of them all.
Yeah.
I say all that to say sickle mode.
And I mean, I don't know who dude is and what a situation.
And I don't want to speak on them like that.
but I feel like
Has he gone on and done anything
Do anything?
I think he did the melodies on
Calut.
I got the keys
but that's the last thing
I think I heard from him
like,
I'm sure he probably has done other shit.
I just feel like an offer
from you of like
Hey,
how about we just work together?
It's worth to make
way more than $45,000.
And they say do a name or nothing.
It's just like royalty free sample pack.
I'm like, oh for show.
You know?
That is crazy.
Yeah, bro.
Yeah, that's definitely wild.
What?
Yeah.
I have three more here.
Beyonce sorry or Beyonce Flawless?
flawless
flawless because they did the remix
to that shit
yeah Nicky one of that feeling
myself came out of that so I
yeah I had like the triple
triple double with that one
you know what I mean
this thing is just
you hear this thing
discography is crazy
yeah
Kaya West Cold
or A Sab Rocky One train
featuring the world
Oh damn man damn
What was the Kye song?
Cold it was a Cali
Air Flu
Yeah
Oh yeah
I believe what
It ended up on Calid
Yeah
yeah
pun intended one of the coldest beats everything that shit is crazy recently um we did that at jungle
city that was tough um man one train though it was crazy man one train was hard that represented like a
whole era that was like coming out the blog era everybody on one everybody who was really
getting seen on two dope boys and not right it was like shining on that motherfucker you know that is
crazy i didn't not know he did that record damn that's why see so i'm saying i got family members
i don't know half of my disguise dude that's no
crazy. I definitely did not know that.
So you're going on one drain?
I'm going with one train.
Okay. Yeah.
Now this one I was very curious about.
I would have asked you this off, Mike.
The Magic series or the King's Disease series?
Damn.
Damn.
See, like, it's like
the magic shit felt like more like
mixed tape. Just having one.
King's disease we was trying to laser in on a good concept
and all that. So they both mean a lot.
But I just can't choose, bro.
Like, I just love, I love all that shit.
I was on the Kings Z side until Magic 3 was like kind of made it difficult for me to pick out of the...
That was a bomb.
KD3 was some shit.
KD3 was hard too.
Yeah, yeah.
You said, what's your one of magic?
Magic 3 is my favorite on the magic side.
I think Katie 2 is my favorite.
Most people say Magic 1.
Really?
Yeah.
Nah, three is that shit to me.
Yeah, there's some shit on there.
I know we're getting the wrap-up thing.
But we did do this with J.D. briefly of the rather produce on an album that you didn't produce on.
Reasonable doubt or I'm notic.
That's the current.
I don't say reasonable doubt.
Why is it?
Shit.
Man, he was just on that braggadocious.
Just dope boy talk.
That shit was, I only would have made some sick.
And I feel like dead presidents kind of sound like a hit boy.
Yeah, that's funny.
That sound is very hit boy.
Yeah, feel it.
The infamous or low in third?
the infamous dark gangster gutter crime yeah i only put those two together because you do have that
sound but you do do like more rmb slowest not to say tribe is that but some of the soft
soft stuff yeah i was curious which which you would prefer at that entire thing yeah chronic or
doggy style chronic the first chronic yeah doggy style they yesterday they they elevated on that one you
I mean, they took the sound up.
They, like, lasered in even more on that shit.
The old style made niggins from New York feel like we was in L.A.
Yeah.
Like, that kind of, that's how, that music was so, like, detailed in L.A. and California culture.
Yeah.
That everybody on the East Coast, definitely New York, listening to it, we definitely felt like we knew what L.A.
said about.
Like, we've been there before.
Yeah.
That's crazy.
Ready to Die or All Eyes on Me.
Take your West Coast by his way.
Even though Ready to Die is production-wise,
West goes up. Damn, I want to say all
eyes on me. I've damn near got to say that, but
then producing
for Big would have been. Probably we got the same birthday
and me and Big made two months. So I'm like
that we would make some crazy shit.
Miseducation or
Alia one in a million.
Oh shit.
Miseducation.
I ain't going to lie. You answered that too fast.
But you got rapping and singing
on that. I feel like it gives you more space to
try shit. But I mean,
yeah, come on. I ain't no disrespect to
since you name it, I'm trying to choose.
Last one, DeAngelo Brown Sugar or Shadee Love Deluxe.
Ooh, yeah.
I would have...
I feel like Hip Boys' only producer we couldn't even ask these type of questions, too.
I would have wanted to produce on...
I know you didn't say Lovers Rock, but that album is one of my favorite albums like that.
That joint got blapsed after blapsed.
Like, you know what I mean?
That album, particular, I would have allowed to produce on that.
Is there any album that you thought you had a record on?
and it ended up not making it.
Man, what?
motherfucking, everything is loved.
That was the Jay-Z and Beyonce.
We had so much shit in the tuck.
I was like, what?
This nigga all literally told me.
You just sent us the hard drive.
He emailed me.
It was like, you got two on here,
send me some Moby, so you get some Mow.
And then the album come out, I ain't had nothing.
I was like, God damn.
I was distraught.
But then, you know.
You started making plans on the car of this shit.
It would just be like that.
I was at the park with my family when I found out.
I had to go to the car.
Like, yeah, fuck all this shit.
Like, damn, maybe they changed the title of the song
And there's something else.
I'm like, oh, shit.
But I mean, a lot of times with albums like those where Jayze and Beyonce were on tour
and they just dropped it.
Not, not for sure.
I guess it's a process, bro.
I ain't tripping at all.
I'm saying, what's that feeling like on both sides?
They're like finding out you on some shit with the rest of the world.
And then finding out you not on some shit after maybe you was at the family picnic and was like,
I got three joints on that.
Talking crazy, talking this shit.
Damn, I'm like, it's just dropping.
Oh, shit.
See my name.
It's like when you're gonna fucking
you're on this shit on her
You're gonna fucking old TV shows
They get basketball list on them
I don't see my name on that motherfucker
I ain't make the team
You gotta work harder next time man
Yeah
They give you that speech
But we're ours like that
What could you even do with those joints?
Like can you repurpose those beats?
I'm gonna repurpose the beats for sure
But you know
Hopefully them bitch to see the light of day
They timeless artists
So you know
I ain't heard them songs in a minute
But I know they're hard as far
I think you should just chop Beyonce's voice, just sample chops.
That'd be crazy.
Repurpose it and then.
No, you thought homie sent that.
He needed that 45K.
You know what the V.
Yeah, you don't want them problems.
He's going to need the deed to your house.
All right, so start dissing.
Yes.
Start disson.
Out now.
When can we expect the album?
Man, me and Spank drop in October 3rd.
And then shit, later that month, me and Alchem is coming with some shit.
In November, I'm coming with a solo, bro.
We just, we fire enough.
Damn.
I love it.
Man.
You think you do a tour?
Oh, yeah.
sure like I feel like me and out could have a crazy just experience like playing hits we made
rapping whatever the fuck just like it just be a whole situation even how Al does his
DJ sets is so yeah yeah that would be fire if you guys did that even like that first video you
guys put out of the side-by-side shit like seeing that live would be crazy now it's coming bro
we don't shit I'm gonna keep a rashing you about the half a mill joint oh yeah for sure
dumb I understand it you know everything's getting older you know high school playing baseball I
I hope you get that old tiny type check, man.
Like, you look like they're coming forward for sure.
You know, he locked in.
Listen, if I'm dumb, I ain't mad.
Well, I wouldn't put another half a meal out of half a meal.
My son might be worth half a bill.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
I respect it.
I respect it.
Well, hey, we appreciate you.
You know, you always got a home here whenever you want to come by.
I'll be back in a couple weeks, man.
Let's go to dream instead.
Let's run it.
Let's do something.
That's it.
Boy, I'm that nigga.
He's just ginger.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'm Daniel Alarcon.
And this is my friend.
He's much more famous than I am.
I wouldn't go that far, but I'm John Green,
co-hosted the podcast The Away End with my old friend Daniel.
On our podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football,
all leading up to the 2026 World Cup.
Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important.
Listen to The Away End with Daniel Auer Kohn and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives.
people in need with thoughtful solutions.
Sike, I'm a comedian.
I'm not qualified to give good advice.
Join me and my comedian friends
as we riff, rant, recommend some of
the most legally dubious
advice known to me.
This is Help from a Hypocrite,
the worst advice from the dumbest people
you know. Listen to Help from Hypocrite
Wednesdays on the Iheart radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your
podcasts.
American soccer is about to
explode. The World Cup is coming.
Ramo sending on to Ernie Stewart, the chip.
Score!
I'm Tab Ramos.
I'm Tom Boe.
On our podcast, Inside American Soccer,
you'll get the real storylines,
the biggest decisions,
and the truth about the U.S. national team.
It wouldn't be a huge surprise
if our team ends up in the quarterfinals
or potentially a great run into the semifinals.
Listen, Inside American Soccer
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Real talent is defined by what people can do, not where they learn to do it.
So by stopping at the education section of a resume, you might throw away the perfect hire.
Skills first hiring helps you see talent others miss, like more than 70 million stars, skilled through alternative roots.
Let their story unfold and gain a competitive advantage because hiring managers who start with skills are 60% more likely to find a successful hire.
Hire Skills First.
Learn why at tear the paperceiling.org.
Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Adoption.
Council. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
