New Rory & MAL - Episode 16 | “I Saw Your Speech…” (feat. HitBoy)

Episode Date: November 5, 2021

The guys sit down in LA with HitBoy, coming off the release of his collaborative effort ‘What You Expect’ with Big Sean. Hit-Boy opens up about his process working with different artists (2:34), his accidental viral rant shading Kanye’s rollout (5:49), an honest opinion on Quentin Miller (11:47), Big Sean’s growth (30:18), + more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Like the latest shit is my greatest shit. That's how I feel, you know what I'm saying? Like that's the zone I'm in, period, right now. I feel like, I mean, you know, I've had certain people hit me like, bro, you like the most versatile, nigga the game than really ever seen. It's just been a development thing. But I don't know, man. I just feel like where I'm at right now, my latest is my greatest, man.

You felt like artists went to you in the beginning more on the, let me go to him from my single off the parachute. And what was the Drake single? The trophy shit. Trophies, like, they went to you on that way. And now I feel like you only do albums with people. Like, it's tough to, like, just get one-offs with you. I mean, I just did Don Tolliver single.

I only did one on his album. He got a number one album right now. So it's like, I still do this shit. But certain artists, when they really come through and they see what I'm doing, they're like, nah, I can't leave you. I got to stay. Like, look it. You know, nah, as first Grammy, you know,

come around just fucking. around, bro, we just having fun with this shit. You know, I'm just trying to allow them to, like, to still be them, whether it's Sean, whether it's not, whoever I'm working with. Just do you to the max. I'm gonna do me, nigga, we both know we good. Like, this shit gonna go somewhere, period.

That's how I look at it. What you prefer, though? Do you like getting into, to do one joint? I like to make music, bro. I can't even call. If I could have did Don Tyler for a whole fucking album, you'd think I wouldn't that? I think I got a great album, by the way.

Yeah, he's crazy. Yeah, that one's crazy. His melody's bar none. Yeah. I had 10 songs with the nigger At one point they was talking about using six of them They only use one That's how the game going

That's what you just got to take in stride Like before when I was the younger me Would have been probably Felt some way about that Felt some way like Oh these niggas gonna tell me To hold all these beats And they don't use them

Like it don't matter though Like make what you can And keep it pushing bro But with that strategy of like Working with the younger artists Like Don Tulliver And then also working with Nause Do you switch in the mode

of, all right, I'm kind of Yoda to the younger guys, but Nas is Nas to you. Is it a different approach in how to make those records and where to overstep and when not to say certain things or let people do shit? It'll be like, yo, let me show you how to make this record. I mean, I feel like even new artists, they might have, they got damn their more confidence

than, oh, geez, because they don't give a fuck. They think everything they do is stadium, arena level shit, which is beautiful for me because I'm working with, you know what I'm saying? Niggas who got records that's popping now, and I'm like, damn, these niggas come in the studio, like, yeah, nigga, this shit out of here our first rip. And I'm working with the

OGs and they'd be like, hold on, let's think this shit out a little bit. So it's a nice balance to see both sides. And I just got, man, so much knowledge, bro, like to apply to both sides from this shit because I can take the energy of, you know, a young nigga that would have come in and do three songs in an hour

versus a nigga who, like, for to write out all the lyrics and make sure every line, perfect. Like, I could balance that shit out. Did you learn working with a legend like Nas, like, what was something you learned creatively that you took from Nas

and the way he creates and added it to the way you create? Man, a whole lot, bro. A whole lot, but to, um, be, like, be super intentional about everything that you're saying, like, make sure the shit is facts. Make sure the shit is solid information.

And going back listening to, I mean, I was young when Nas was, you know what I'm saying? Right. First coming out and shit. Mm-hmm. fucking didn't even imagine me making music but going back hearing this shit I'm like damn he always been this critical thinker

he always been like he's running this on the past and he's able to put it in context and guide you through that shit it's just crazy man so I don't know I just learned plenty from bro so you actually went back and started like listening to a lot of his old shit once you started creating with him yeah for sure that's dope man like uh like when we was doing the first king's disease I remember just one day just listening to all the intros from all this album

And just like making sure that like the energy what he was saying what I was doing on the production was going to make sense and I'm like yeah this shit lined up like this where he had in life now He's not fucking 20-something years old. He is however old he is and I just got to let him do him and I'm a compliment that shit I feel like we're not and I don't know Nas but just from watching him my entire life I feel like gnaz probably don't really fuck with people like that and I don't mean that a bad way Nah just thinks he's not he don't have to Even outside of Of course not But even when he didn't have to I feel like nah

He probably just still didn't fuck with people Like he kind of kept to himself And did what he wanted to do But when he fuck with you He fuck with you Like bro like then came to my mom birthday parties and shit like that Like it's like niggas in the game

It's like Niggas that's like super in my age group That won't even do shit like yeah And he like Nah I really fuck with this nigga He's like he see the energy And the seriousness The time I'm putting into everything we're doing

Right So he's like man I'm really about to embrace this guy, which is beautiful, bro, to see. But did that spark from personality, though? Like, because I also feel like even if you have the hottest beats,

Nass still wouldn't sit and do an album with you. Like, was there some type of friend connection that y'all hit? Because, of course, the music is great on both sides. He's a Virgo. He's the one of the-Go, for sure, right? Yeah, of course. I get along with Virgo niggas.

Like, my nigga Chasing Cash started the surf club shit, came up in that shit. Man, like, I don't know. I just always got along. I get along with two chains. That nigga of Virgo, too. like it's just something I guess creatively I just connect with

them type of people you know we ain't I mean we ain't really with the gossip shit right but so when the yay album came out and I wanted to text you about this but I was like when I see hit I'll just talk to him but

you had some some interesting things to say and to be fair I understood what you was saying and in kicking it with you I'm like hit is not you're not the guy that's going to say something for click-based shit.

Like, if you say something, it's because you really feel that way and you're being honest. I just think that cameras were around and shit got out. But you said some things where it was like, you know, I know. We don't have to trust me.

I know. Like, looking at it, I was like, he's going to be sick that this came out because you're not that type of guy. But you said some things that was interesting and from the look on your face, I know you, that's like, yeah, I wish that never got out

because it was a real honest, vulnerable moment that you was trying to have. So I woke up, what's good with it. I woke up at a, like six in the morning after the release party nigger blitz from the night before first thing I see

because I always take my emails when I get up for I click on my shit I was an email from Jay Z, bro that's the first thing I see I was like fuck before I even open this so tell me you know the hell well I don't know first sentence

in the fucking email was I saw your speech yeah I'm like damn uh huh he's like bro you ain't you ain't even got to do all that man like you got it this shit hard I fuck with the album just you talented

just stay humble type shit it was just that type of shit OG big bro shit which I respected I hit him back I was like man that's 1,000 I was like man the crazy shit is I was like man if this shit get out

I was like I know Hove gonna see this and just shake his head Yeah he understands he's had his moments at that age too where it was like he wish he could take that back but you know you said things and it was kind of I think it resonated with a lot of people it was like

just give us the music No for sure I mean, I just was in that moment. Like I said, I was blitzed off the hanny or whatever the fuck, bro. And I just, I just was like, man, I just felt, I just felt compelled to be like, man, bro, like, nigga, this shit hard. It just really beat us in the studio. And I'm online.

I'm seeing hoopla. I'm seeing niggas just doing all type of shit. Yeah. That shit cool, but, like, who was really making what? That's all I was saying. Yeah, you know, what we really care about is what it is. But even with that type of shit, because I've done a thousand times, especially on a podcast, for fucking five years.

I've said a bunch of shit that I meant. I was just mad the way I said it and it came across and how it was presented. But I had to realize after, I'm still happy I got it out. I'm glad it came out. It was a reason. I could now move forward and realize

I shouldn't get drunk and be on camera and just say some wild shit. It's not a good idea. You still, I'm glad you got that shit out because I felt that entire thing. Especially at that time because we sat and I'm someone that I like Donna. I think it's a good album.

I still hated how long that shit was. Is like, are we caring about the music at this point? Because this shit is dragging. Now we're just doing a masterclass on rollouts and bullshit. And Ye ain't that one for me. I need the music. If that was a month, I would have been cool with it. Shit just dragged.

So when you said it, I was like, I'm glad somebody that mattered in Ye's life said it. Yeah, I mean, I got a lot of people that hit me in was like, you like, you know, you could buy your whole life. This ain't got enough money. All this crazy. That's not what we're talking about. You got real people that's like, man, I feel you, bro. So it's like, I'm just leaning on that.

I don't even take, you know, the good compliments or the negative shit, no type of way. I just like, oh, with a grain of salt, like, it is what it is. That's how you feel, one way to look at it. But like, you know, that shit just was perspective, man. Like, it's always gonna be 50-50. Some niggas gonna love it, some nays gonna hate it. You gotta just keep doing you.

You had a, he was playing some records in there. A couple months ago, we was playing to join that you did with Freddie and Big Sean. You're like in a, you're like the guy now because I think a lot of your best shit is from people that you really fuck with on a personal level. Yeah.

You know what I mean? Like, I think that that's something that I've been noticing with you, like, is that something that you try to do? Like, if I got a connection with whoever, we try to get something done? Or is it just something that you like, fuck it, let's just... Thinking about it right now, I mean, I feel like if you come to me

and you got this idea in your head of like, Oh, I need some shit that sounds like it's already in the top 10. Like, I need a record that sound like this or some shit like that. It's probably not going to work out with somebody like me because I literally just create song by song, bro, and try to just max out and make that song the best it could be. Certain people, they can't hear past. Like, if that shit don't come on, it sounds like Wop or fucking whatever,

some simple, easy shit that a nigga could just hop on and win with, you know, which, I mean, I do have simple, easy join. too, but at the same time, bro, I'm always trying to push it. Like, every beat coming from me pretty much going to sound different. Right. Half a Mill with Dom. Yes, sir. I love the in the hills joint that y'all did with Quentin.

That was energy right there, man. Are we going to get back to that? Because I feel like it's a space for that. You know what I'm saying? Like, I feel like that shit that y'all was doing, that was almost like y'all was creating the soundtrack for, like, the summers in L.A. Nah, that's crazy, bro, because at that point of my life, I was living in Beverly Hills, I had this crib, this stupid crib, I was living there.

Dolo right before I had my son, a couple years before I had my son. And that was like, that was my heyday. I was the turn-up, like, you had the stupid vacation backyard. And I just was in that energy. So make it in the hills and them joints, we was really in that, bro. Like, it was, it was turned. There was some dope music. That's Dom already.

Yeah. West Side would love one to yellow album. Dimes is the same shit. He talked to the females on his shit, man. His new joint I'm fucking with. Man, that's that shit. He just put up. Yeah. He sound good.

Yeah, yeah. He sound real good. But I like that half a mill shit. I liked what I was doing. And Quentin, for whatever reason, I was just talking to one of the homies about this. Like, he was blackballed and everybody kind of not fucking with him. Which I'm like, I don't think Quentin ever did anything wrong. Nah.

I mean, I don't really know the serious rude how shit got out or whatever the shit was. I just know that, like, that niggas, he's a solid motherfucker. Like, I fuck with Quentin on a personal level. Right. He pulled up on me last night. That's just my dog. Right. He just come kick it.

Like, let me hear what you got. He's talented, man. That nigga cold, bro. He's talented sometimes. I'm gonna say this own record. Quentin Miller, one of the coldest niggas in this shit, period. I'm with you on that. You know what I'm saying?

I'm with you on that. But when you're working with people that's bigger in you, and it's not even a Drake or Meek thing. It's just that situation and all that energy that came. Somebody needed to be the pawn. And I don't mean that in a disrespectful way. But somebody needed to take the blame off all the bigger people that are over you and put it on somebody.

Yeah. And that's the unfortunate part that I feel bad for Quentin in that whole situation. Because he had to be the sacrificial lamb somehow. No, I feel like, man. Because even, I don't think Drake was mad at him, and I really don't think Nick was mad at him, but somebody had to be mad at it. I'm gonna go on record and say this too, I don't mean to cut you off. I think Drake should do a song with Quentin.

I mean, he might not ever, especially after me saying this shit. Right. He should do that shit. That shit would be hard. That would be some real niggins shit. Quentin is talented, man. You know, like I said, I know that whole situation has layers to it, but from what I I know, I guess, with the rest of the general public knows, I don't see what Quentin did wrong in that instance.

You know what I'm saying? Like, I know it's other hands involved in that or whatever, but point being that happened. Unless it was a shit like where Drake was like, nigger, don't fucking play these references. You know what I'm saying? I don't know that ends up to that, so I can't speak on that. But I'm just speaking off of how I know Quentin, he is solid motherfucker like, he's a real nigga. The Quentin seems like he comes across like he's a solid dude, though. The Quinn's shit with Meek and Drake both getting mad at him.

That's like the equivalent of when your girl cheat on you, you mad at the dude. Right. Like, the dude ain't doing nothing wrong. He didn't do anything wrong. He was mad at his business. He landed some pussy real quick. She's mad at him. She's telling him she's single.

Like, you know what I mean? You don't know what she was going to do. He went in there helped out on some records and minded his business, put out a statement saying, yo, I love everybody. And now all of a sudden he getting beat up in a foot locker store or some shit. And now Drake mad. dissing him too, it's like, all right, man. Yeah, man. Working with Drake, is that

to you right now? Because obviously, Drake is probably the biggest artist in music right now. That nigga, he just do numbers. Like, it's fucking nothing, bro. Yeah. It's crazy to see. I knew that nigga since MySpace, bro. Like, he know me, bro. Like, for real. Talking about, like, talking to this nigga on Blackberry message or whatever that shit was back in the day.

The side kids. Him rapist, Surf Club, all that shit. Like, matter of fact, I got G. Right right here. This nigga did laugh. Man, Cupsay, what up, nigga? Yep. What's up, man? G. Ride produced fucking T.J. single that, what's the shit you did? Call on my phone?

What's up, man? All that shit. We've been down since he knew Drake since way back, too, through Chase. I met him through Chase. They used to always come to my crib and Fontana. And niggas just cooked, bro, just going in. To see this guy, you know what I'm saying? Go to where he's going.

This shit is insane, bro. But that's dope that you still keep that, you know what I mean? that energy around you. Yeah. You guys keep in-house teams to keep shit going. This was around the Polo the Dawn days?

This was before that really. Or like, yeah, just like right around the same shit because we was, I was like one year out of high school and the Polo shit. So I've been to him right there. I feel like before we don't sign an art deal. I feel like people don't get Polo that credit. Nah, Polo, I ain't going to lie, bro.

Polo is stupid inspiration, man. And I've seen it firsthand. Like I'm 19 And I'm in a studio With this nigga And Usher pulling up Sierra pulling up Furgy pulling up

Fucking pussycat dogs I'm seeing all this shit And I'm like This nigga's at the top top top He ain't Just stay here with some Some local trap motherfuckers I can't add crazy shit

Bro no cap I came to this studio nigga in 2006 Joe Fontana I had an Alexis SC 400 I was I was 18 or 19

I was 19 at the time. I drove to Chalice, bro, and he was in here with Sean Garrett. Sean Garrett just wrote Summer Walker new single. They was in here working on PussyCaddaaws, bro. And that shit is just wild to full circle. I'm in this, this is my home now. I'm in here, fucking first two years in this studio,

I won Grammys. This is my third year. If we get nominated this year, I'll take that, but I would love to win. Yeah, you want to win. Three nominations in a row. It's crazy, man. Actually, this would be four.

Gacchomo, it lost the year before in the accident. middle. You definitely have a like looking at your discography. You have an interesting, like not many people could say they worked with Beyonce, Travis Scott, you know what I mean? Like it's just like that big Sean.

It's just like you make music that really doesn't sound like just one particular person. I think you create shit that forces creatives to be like, oh, I want to try that. Because even with Nas, like the knock on him his whole career was people didn't like his beat selection. They didn't like the way his music sounded in production.

That's crazy to me, because that nigga got classics, but I can feel what you're saying when it comes to body of work and maybe some of the beats just, like, was overpowering with how he raps. He raps with a lot of knowledge, a lot of words. So you need a bed of music that can allow him to breathe on that shit,

you know what I'm saying, and you don't get overpowered by the beat in the lyrics at the same time. I think that's just the confusion. I don't think it was whack beats. Right. I think it's just... It didn't fit him.

It wasn't tailored from. Lingers had to really lock in. Yeah. I think there's been signs when Nas has pick whack beats like every other artist ever. But I really never understood it. Maybe because I am a Nas stand in that degree. I kind of hated that stereotype that one person said it and it just continued on. That Nas is the worst beat.

Yeah. He's picked some bad ones, but who the fuck has it? He also has fucking, what, 13 hours or so shit? 14 hours? A lot of goof on a lot of niggins. Yeah, like, yeah, he went. And you got to look at the era that he was trying to navigate through too. You went from that early, early 90s to having to navigate through the Puff Bad Boy era.

So Hove picked bad beats at that time. Nas had to pick bad beat. Like, he was navigating. So no one really puts longevity next to decisions. Like, niggas had to be outside for real and had to be moving around and see what was going on. Like, you couldn't just hop on YouTube and be like, oh, this is cracking in Florida. This shit cracking in whoop-ty-whoop. Like, it wasn't none of that, nigga.

Oh, we had to fly down there. We went to a festival or a fucking college show. You know what I'm saying? In the South, oh, we learned about these niggas is cracking. We got to do a song with them. Like, it ain't, it's like, man, this shit. Even from the way that people record. Even the way that artists record music together now.

Like, most of the time back in the day, you had to be in the studio together. So you build that energy. Now you could just send it, email it. I was when it's his first Grammy, nigga. We're in the studio together. I didn't fucking send him beats to New York. Right. It was like, this one.

you at, this where you work in, I'm gonna pull up. It's really that simple, bro. Niggas be thinking about this shit too much. Right. I'm not on no industry shit, bro. I just make music. I'm just a real nigga that came up off this shit because I put the work in.

Speaking of and to try to like kind of change directions on this, have you been following a lot of the artists selling the catalog to whatever that buyer is? Yeah, for sure. I mean, I didn't have three, four people approached me like talking about numbers and shit, but I ain't, I mean, you know, I got some records. I feel like, shit, if I hold on it is, I'm gonna be good.

So I'm curious, because I had, when that first report came out, like when the dream was selling it, I forgot who else was. I was like, damn, why would they sell their catalog? That makes no sense to me. Ownership is the greatest thing, everything that we're taught and understand. I started to look at that shit from a different angle as of recent, because I've been keeping my eye on that shit. I know it hasn't been super trendy because a lot of people are doing quietly,

and I was like, something's coming. And then I saw nothing was really happening right away. And I was thinking to myself, if I could grab a 100 mil liquid in this era and I could know my kids could take 100 mil liquid or I could, I have something I want to invest in outside of music right now and I got liquid cash. That might be the better option

than my estate and my kids and my grandkids trying to chase down a streaming service to get my five grand a month. Yeah. So maybe the liquid money might be better. Did y'all hear about Tina Turner? Oh, damn, I don't even know if this is out or if there's some shit I should be talking about.

But she saw her likeness and shit and all that shit for like 50 mil. She should have got more, right? Absolutely. Tina Turner, bro. But you think about- She in wax museums, right? But I've just watched in this business

how hard it is sometimes to track down your money even if you own your likeness, your money, your catalog, everything. And you start getting in with lawyers. And it's like, all right, we're down to half a penny on a stream. Yo, I might take that fucking 100 mil or that 50 mil for my likeness and give liquid money to my kids. Not some shit they may have to chase the fuck down. That's a great perspective.

It sounds good owning your masses and your catalog, but it's like, yeah, but the way they're cutting this dope right now, fam, I don't know what this is going to be worth in. We don't know what's for the happening for the 20 years, you know what I mean? Game is changing rapidly and we just don't understand like what's going to happen next. I feel that man getting the fucking extra 40-50 mil that shit don't sound bad at all because that's something

you could legitimately pass down and your kids won't have to chase it down yeah exactly because I see the biggest artist chasing down streaming services to get their own money and money to them that's light yeah they just do it off principle

off GP like give me the money you owe me hell yeah I'll sell this shit for a hundred million to you it took me a while to get that perspective because I was sitting there like you know dream is one of the greatest writers ever. He's worth more money than his catalog is worth way more money than this in my head. But then you've got

to look at, dog. I got 30 more bombs from the drop like, fuck I'm fin to sell this shit. That's, man, I'm fucking with it for sure, but it just got to make sense on my end. What, I mean, would you really consider, I want to ask, of course I want to ask you

a number because that's weird, but is that something that has crossed your mind with seeing all that? Because I know more it's happening behind the scenes more than public of people selling their catalogs. Like I said, I had conversations with people, but I just like, I don't know. I'm so on the zone right now. You're not even thinking about that type of shit.

Like, I'm laughing at just, like, I'm like, I'm on an up. I'm going up, you know what I'm saying? Not the time to think about that. If I was going down right now, I'd probably be like, yeah, I'm going to get this shit. Yeah, you got entertained then. I like the fact you posted a picture or a clip of the verses that you and Boy Wonder did. And you was like, yo, it was just crazy how far. that shit blew my mind, that shit was like a fight.

Like, I was like, nah, bro. Even the shit, because I was in here with Nye, I was just chopping the vibe. He's like, man, let's watch this versus shit. And it took me a minute to figure this shit out, bro. Which versus was it? To down the KRS and the Big Dirty K and I had to download the app, put my credit card.

I'm like, Nick. A lot of shit, right? Yeah. Nick, I'm buying this shit. I was on this one. Yeah, yeah. That's crazy. But you got,

y'all got a piece of that, though, right? Yeah, yeah, they gave us a piece for sure. Yeah. The pyrotechnics and lights. I'm like, wow, they did it right. KRS was out there going dummy. I heard inside it was a different shit from watching it.

Niggas was like KRS. I liked his energy. Yeah. Well, Karrs 1 is, you know, that if you know that part of hip hop and that legacy, that's what they do. He had East Coast gangster, and I didn't realize that, like,

it sound like, Dre studied his sound. NWA was kind of located. he birthed from listening to his shit. Absolutely. The nigger rap like an East Coast ice cube to me, bro. Some niggas might be like, what you're talking about. But that nigga, one of them, I think Ice Cube must have studied him.

I don't know who came about. Cuths. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Everybody's studying Carole. I'm like, wow, this nigga rap just like Cube. Because I'm from the West Coast, so I'm more familiar, obviously, with QB voicing his songs, but I fuck with KRS too. And BDP wasn't for PlayPlay.

Yeah, no. Chris is a nice guy now. Yeah, yeah, much older and more. Sure. You had a, um, did you, do you feel like you and Boy Wonder should get back in the ring now? Uh-huh. Just because it's a bigger performance and the biggest stage? I see me and say that like, man, no, bro, you're going so stupid.

You got to get back in that verse and shit. I mean, Boy Wonder already said he don't want to do it. I'd do it versus somebody else. Just saw some fun shit. Right. Just like see how these new records work out. Right. Because it's not even a battle no more.

It's like a performance. Yeah, the sound was shitty with y'all because it was IG live. And a lot of your shit. And not to say. That shit is not too much. That's not even a four year. That's crazy, bro. How fast shit progressed.

Yeah. Not even to be on some verses shit, but the JD Puff shit that came up. J.D.'s, J.D. Well, I have to ask you opinion on this, because I feel JD in the sense, and I've been on record saying to me outside of Quincy Jones, Puff has the greatest ear in music history. My, I love Puff. But I feel J.D. stance on saying, all right, there's a difference here. difference here. You're a producer. I'm a beatmaker, writer, and producer. If we were to do a

versus, tell me what you really did on that. And that's not to take anything away from Puff, because he definitely put them records together. But it's a different type of shit that J.D. did that I could see if I'm JD, not getting in that ring. Put us both in a studio. Just us and let's come out and see, let's see who come out with this shit. That's how I be feeling too, for real. It's like, man, I'll be seeing these lists, top 50, top. Like yeah come on bro Yeah Some of these niggas I ain't no disrespect

But niggas I look at them like businessmen Like yeah Niggas hire producers to do shit for them They delegate a lot of shit And it'd be like niggas don't even add nothing Like even if I do co-produce with some Some niggas that might be signing me or to my homies I'm gonna really go in and fucking put the man hours

Into the shit I'm gonna be with the artist putting the time into the bars Adding production Some niggas be getting put over me And can't even fucking show up to the studio by this So that's a ridiculous thing So I get where JD is coming from Like, nigga, I'm gonna blow this NPC up

Right What you're gonna do? Like, you know what I'm saying? And that's no disrespect to Puff. No, but I mean, Puff says it. Don't worry if I write rhymes, I write checks. Period. And then J.D. was, I don't know about y'all

but every night I, you know, the money and the thing. I write the songs that the whole world sing I don't know about y'all, but every night I swing in the Farrar. So it's just like, it's just different musical geniuses. Period. Puff makes it cool. Puff makes it cool.

gives it that lifestyle. He gives it that gloss that. He knows who works. You know what I mean? But JD is going on. That's producing. Yeah, JD's going to build it from the ground up and really make like music. He's going to play instruments.

I never seen Callet make a beat, but the nigger could get Beyonce, Drake and fucking Jay Zillan song at right now. That's a skill. That's insane to me. That's beautiful. Like he got something that he cultivated energy. He can get in the studio and inspire the artist enough to want to fuck with some shit he's fucking with. That shit is beautiful. He makes you believe it.

If Caled didn't blow up to what Khalid is now, Callid would have been one of the greatest A&Rs of all time. If he would have stayed behind the scenes and just been himself, Cald would have been one of the greatest A&Rs ever. I mean, I feel like you still got to put him up there because what are you doing for us up? I know, I put him with that much more because he's done much more, and he has really become that person that really puts those albums together and puts his face on him and he's one of the best promoters I've ever seen in my entire life,

one of the best marketers. But if he would have just been his ear, and that's it. That's all he ever had and stay behind the scenes, He's Caled, I think. He still would have been straight. Nah, that's... Fat Joe was able to turn this into a brand. Like, niggas love just watching him do anything.

Cut up a fucking piece of lobster. Like, you're watching that shit. Yeah, he's just entertainment. He's entertainment. Who's one of the producers right now that every time you hear him, it, like, it pushes you like, yo, this, dude. Damn. Boy Wonder, DJ Dahi, T-minus.

T-minus. Mawah. Maw fucking G. My nigh, my nigga G. Dave, that's the homies, B.C. Um, motherfucking, yeah, that's, yeah, like, for show, for show, the first three niggas I name is like, when I, they be putting out a lot of shit. When I hear they shit, I'm like, damn, I had DJ Dahi yesterday off the Maxo album. I did a song on Maxo Cream album, and he did some shit on there.

I'm like, love Maxo. And it's funny because I didn't even read the credits. I'm in my car just playing an album. I'm like, every beat coming on, every song. I'm like, this shit hard, bro. Every song, I'm fucking with you. You get to this one, whichever one Dahee had did. I'm like, this shit different, bro.

I'm like, I don't really hear beats that much where I'm like, damn, that shit. That's some shit. I was like, this might be Daihi. So I go on Wikipedia and look Dai this Dai. Hit that nigga like, you spazzed on that. Dajahy's fuck. And I don't mind showing love. Yeah.

It's funny, like, how niggas are like not show love to me. But it's like, I still don't give a fuck nigga. I show love to everybody, bro. But, you know, that's the insecurity coming from, you know, peers that they, because you're, obviously, it's no, you're the guy right now. Right. And that comes with it where, you know, because, again, people may feel like they're better than you and they make better records, they produce better, their snares are better.

Like, you know, producers, y'all are real educated. You're like, my bum-ass drums he got. Like, you know, y'all do shit like that. You get some nerd out on this scene. That comes with it. That insecurity comes with it. It's like everybody obviously knows you're talented. But people have a hard time expressing it because they feel like, you know,

it's just supposed to be competitive. Yeah. And he can't see me sweat. He can't see me blink. It's kind of like I got to keep a poker face. I've been there before too, though, so I get it. Yeah. But it's like at this point, man, we just all just making music, bro.

This shit all pushing the next nigga to do some fire shit. Like, it's shit beautiful to see, man. Well, we found out I'd hit you to sit down right before I even seen the Sean Leaker's freestyle, which assumed. Smoke that. She was sitting next to him. No, that's Sean freestyle. by Sean's standards was crazy.

Sean's standards are great. Who pitched them off, man? What happened? Man, honestly, he just, we talk every day, bro, and just the, his energy is just like, man, nah, bro, like, this shit got to be at the top. If it ain't at the top, then, nigga, we're not where we need to be. What we doing, right.

And it's like, that shit inspiring to me. Like, that nigga, that nigga living good. You'd have said? Like, it niggas is out here living, and it's like to still be that hungry, still want this shit like nah bro we gotta really take hands off like every bar this nigga

spitting nigga on liquor shit we drop his shit like I see what's going on like he just really take his time and he makes sure that every line is going to hit you in a way and it might not even immediately hit you but when it does it's gonna be like yo this shit is crazy

so in making that because I know you and Sean obviously have worked forever and worked very often having this EP come out to your point of Sean living so good EPs usually come from people that one are hungry and want to put music out or two people that need to put something out Sean does not need to put something out

Did y'all go in thinking let's do an EP Or were y'all just making records at the time And was like, yo let's put out six of these real quick I mean since Detroit 2 we never stopped cooking So that's my shit I mean just like he pushing me I'm pushing him Right we talked every day fucking Whether it's about the music or just about life whatever

And we just had songs And we just like, nah, bro. After we made a certain amount, we like, we got to put something out. We got to really make this a whole situation. Like, the song with Dirk and Bryson, this coming out a little later. We can chop this part. I mean, by the time this comes out, it'll be a story. The song with Dirk and Bryson, like, Don Cannon sent over a loop to Sean.

He sent a bunch of loops. Sean sent some of the loops to G. G.R.I. started to bounce on it. Brought it through. It was like, fuck with the 808s, add some more drums, ask some more sounds. and did that and we just built you know what

saying like just we always just on this shit bro like we didn't know what that record was even going to be there was just shone at first

that record is like this shit just going to be shined and he like fucking Bryce want to hop on this shit yeah then after he hopped on

it we like man let's get dirt on this bitch and it's just about to be a whole it's just a movie bro that record's crazy

thank you I feel like Sean over the last few years has kind of publicly shown his growth like as a person

I'm not talking my music at all. He's been in a gym. Pause. I feel like he's really opened up about him being depressed and him not really feeling fulfilled on certain shit. And you can hear it on Detroit 2. You could hear about the rollout with that.

And even listening to the EP, it kind of felt like he got to the end, not the end of that journey, but he got out of that mess. It feels like a center person. When I watched that LA Leaker's freestyle, it felt like I was. I was talking to somebody that finally understood all the bullshit that was bothering there for so long. Like the most centered person I've ever seen Sean. And I feel like with a lot of like the top tier artists, we haven't really caught like

a centered person because they've disappeared and just don't say shit publicly really about their lives. Sean, I feel like has done that to the degree of a top tier artist more than anyone else. So that felt, watching the LA Lakers freestyle is like, he rapping his ass. But this motherfucker finally found himself. He finally found himself. Which I think is beautiful. He's talking about just like even in interviews I didn't see him do.

Like talking about his meditation and him just really going on a true journey for that shit. Like it ain't just like, oh, I'm just talking out my ass. I read two or three books. Exactly. I'm talking shit. Like, no, he really dug deep to be like, man, I'm feeling elevate myself. And he come in talking about, man, we just have conversations before we even start working. It might be two or three hours.

and niggas just chopping it just about all type of things and it's that shit going to the music, you know what I'm saying? That's really what it boiled down to. Like, he's talking about this shit as we in the studio and then he might think of two or three bars like, oh yeah, you got to put that in there. And then I'm there to push him to be like,

nah, nigga, you really got to write that shit down or put it in a voice note, whatever the case may be. Do you see yourself working with like any R&B acts and like revamping their sound? Like legendary R&B artist? Man, for sure.

Like, locking in on full projects. I do an album with Charlie Wilson. You know what I'm saying? He was on both the Nyes' albums. Like, I feel like we already got some type of synergy going to where it sound natural. That'd be hard to do something for, bro. I mean, actually, man, damn, I don't know if I should even speak on this shit. Actually, I already said something about this, but me and Dream got something crazy with Usher.

Like, he put the whole play together, but I produced the beat. And he actually, he had a production to it, too, but he orchestrated the whole shit, wrote the song. fucking crazy, bro. Like, I mean, doing the whole Usher album, that shit would be insane, bro.

Listen, man. With Lauren, too, I know y'all connected on some rap shit. Yeah, yeah, which was also hysterical when,

we could talk about it now because it's out now. But you heard it before it came out. When I heard the shit of you just playing nah shit and then just don't say nothing.

Yeah. And then a Lauren Till verse comes in. It's like, all right, man. You're just going to sit in the court like quietly. Like,

oh yeah, just play you some shit. Oh, now I'm, my best. Now, I got a long-in-hieler. Nah, because I like seeing that reaction, like, if people are going to catch it or not, because some people I would play it for or wasn't catching it, like,

not understanding what was really going on. Anybody that's not catching that, you should never be in the studio with you. My ass, yeah, right, when she dropped the I-get-out bar, I just looked at him. That's my favorite Lauren song, I get out. Mm-hmm. What?

Shit, with the EP shit, did you and Nas want to put features on this one or just leave it alone? You're talking about, The EP out now. KD2? Sean. Oh, Sean.

Oh, Sean. I said, I'm going to make sure. We can edit this, put a timestamp. I just want to make sure we get the EP shit out. Project, what you expect, man. We, like I said, everything came together natural. Like, we had a couple records that was just him for a while.

And it was like we should add somebody, like a record called offense. Baby Face Ray came through. We did. I ended up doing his single that night. Then I did this Sean joint That's on what you I mean what a life I mean what you expect

I'm tripping He um Then we had them to for a while Last minute 42 Doug Send his verse in And it's like man This is a whole It's a whole situation

Now like that shit is about to be Going crazy in the spot You think Sean felt Like and again I'm speaking from a fan perspective Not knowing With Cole coming out this year Drake coming out this year

Kendrick supposedly coming out this year That ain't supposed to be coming on tonight, right? Yeah, that's right, yeah. In a few hours. Did Sean feel like, nah, I'm part of that three? Because I feel like everyone says, Cole, Kendrick, Drake.

Sean is always that fourth that I feel should be in there, but somehow with the accolades doesn't quite get in that conversation. Did he want to get in the mix? But like, let me put this EP out because he's rapping his ass off. Did he want to just prove some shit?

Because Cole's album, Cole just wrapped. Yeah, exactly. I mean, I don't think it's like a, he never personally bring like anybody name up or like, oh, I need to be up there with these niggas. Like, no, I didn't know shit like that. It's more so like, nigga, I know who I am. I know what I need to be doing.

I know the level I need to be at with this shit. And the radar I need to be on. So that's just more so to focus. Like, man, bro, I got to take this shit up to the notches. I know I belong at, period, point blank. Are there any for like the up-and-coming producers and the cats now that are trying to get into music with the technology that we have now? Like I feel like I say this all the time. I feel like it's easier to get on or be seen or be heard than it was years ago coming up.

What's something that no, you with somebody would have told you or producers, you would have heard a producer say when you was coming up that you would want to say to like the younger. That's making music now. Most definitely. I mean, obviously people kind of know now that you can just go. Like, you could shoot videos, however many videos you want to upload the motherfuckers and they're going to do what they're going to do. Like when you're just going off the rip and just having that natural fan base, honestly, if I could go back when fucking Drake was repping Surf Club

and we had, you know, all this shit going Surf Club-wise, fresh with the polo situation. Nick, I would have been shooting videos, nigga. living in Atlanta with our own spot, fucking Polo was letting me drive his Jaguar, nigga this is 06 I'm fucking 1920 and it's joints in Atlanta so I'm

looking like, you know what I'm saying? I'm looking like that dude. And it's like, man, I could have been just shooting a surf club video after surf club video but we thought we needed this you know it was 06-07 we thought we needed a crazy budget you know we thought we needed this music

exec to be the shit like bro we have fucking Drake shouting us on multiple songs. We had niggas really trying to be down with the click, but we didn't understand our own power. And that's what I had to take back. That's why I'm at this zone. I'm at now because I fully understand my power.

I understand my talent level. And I also understand the fucking amount of time and hours I put into this shit. So everything that's coming, I need a nigga deserted shit, bro. I thug through a lot of fucked up shit, falling out with Kanye, fuck me up for a minute, bro.

I was like, damn, nigga, am I going to be able to really still do this shit? Like, I'm thinking it ain't on black ball And, you know, just being A thousand, bro it's niggas that came to me That was like,

Yade said to this nigga Don't use hitboy on your album. Like, I really live through that, nigga. How many niggas How many motherfuckers could get through Kanye trying to derail their shit, bro? So now you kind of see

where my, I'm at the Nause party like, nigga, I did a harder album than for Nause than you did. Like, you know what I'm saying? And that's just real. But you think, you think, you could have realize your power until you thought it was taken away?

Yeah, that was part of it, bro. Like having to go back into like, all right, when I got on and I was doing this shit and I was flying out to fuck with different artists, I was just coming from the crib, bro, from naturally doing what I do every day. I wasn't thinking about the industry. I wasn't thinking about no rollout. I wasn't thinking about none of the bullshit. I'm like, nigger, these beats is hard.

Niggas need to fuck with these. And getting back to there, I'm fluried. now because it's like I know where I know where I'm at I know what's going on and I also know that momentum is a motherfucker bro I got the momentum right now so if I keep putting in the work that got me to this place right I think I'm only gonna keep going up if I slow down or if I stumble slow you know it's gonna be on me yeah because I did it before right do you feel some of that same pressure though that same Kanye pressure in I have the momentum now I can't fuck this up. Do you feel that tension at all? Not at this point. Not at this point bro. Like

nigger didn't won Grammys with Nas, bro. Like if I would have came to niggas and been like, hey yo, I'm fend to do this. How a Nause album? You think we going to win a Grammy? Niggas would have been like, right. Bro. Come on. It'll be a cool little side project y'all do. Coming off the Kanye shit, all that. The narrative. Niggas would have been like hit boy. Nick, fuck you're talking about. You're not going to win a Grammy with Nause. But I was like, this is fucking Nize. And again, I got these beats in my computer. How the fuck we're going to lose? Like, that's how I looked at it.

Do you ever want to have, like, a real personal, like, conversation with Kanye, though? And just, like, a heart to heart? I mean, that would be the shit. I want to work with the nigga for real. Like, I love the nigga because I just grew up on him. Like, that was my era. Like, I started making beats

03. The nigga came out in 03, basically, like, as far as his own shit, turning up. And that shit inspired me, watching him. And that's some things that I told him with certain, you know, situations we had certain conversations we we we nigga we didn't have some bro

he had Gemini I'm a Gemini I'm on the cusp though towards Gemini we didn't have some real back and forth and I mean I like to tell niggas how I really feel and certain niggas at a certain stature don't like to hear that shit yeah but I don't give a fuck nigga I'm gonna tell you how I feel

bro I don't care who you are so that's just what it is and in that made us bump heads but I'm like at the end of the day we made fucking a son that You could perform 20 times in one night. You can't do that. I went to the Astro World concert. I just knew fucking Travis was going to perform sick or more at least twice.

He did that bitch once. That bitch, diamond. Niggas in Paris ain't even diamond. But you could before that motherfuckinckin'n't 20 times in a night. That's a fact. So why wouldn't me and Kanye just be able to chop it? But you don't know where niggas is at. Exactly.

All that. But also, was it was it personal relationship? No. No, man. Was the yay shit a personal type of level two or just a professional? I took it personal after I heard certain shit about him telling people like not to put me on the albums and shit like that. And just certain little things that I'm,

it's certain shit that I'm not going to speak on because it's just too real. And it's too like crazy. But yeah, just certain shit that I see going down was, it was kind of crazy to me, bro. Like, that's how niggas get down in this shit. Like, oh, it's not about. if you hard or not. Nope.

Like that was my thing. I would have rather have been like, your shit not hard. Your beats is, these beats ain't the shit. Right. Niggas is sitting there.

Man, nigga, I want you to do my whole shit. Nigel. I'm canceling out everybody. There you go. And then the next week, like,

I ain't fucking with you because of whoever, whatever, however it went down, ego, whatever. Don't tell me I'm the shit and then it'd be like,

fuck you the next week because that's just, I mean, that is what it is. Unfortunately, ego is something that, you know, especially as black men when we...

We just was talking about that. Yeah, like when you reach a certain, you know, level of success or you start to make a certain amount of money and fame and whatever the fuck else, like our ego's get in a way of a lot of beautiful things. Yeah.

It stops a lot of things from happening. And, you know, it's good to still hear you say like, yo, you love Kanye. You know what I'm saying? Straight up. You would want to have a heart to heart when I'm like, that's you removing your ego because you're the guy right now.

You can talk a lot of shit right now And you can have a crazy ego yourself. But you still keeping it to a point where it's like, nah, but I really love dude, though. You know what I mean? And I think as black men, we need to do more that. It's okay to be upset. Nah, for real.

For real. But let's still talk and get that. Man, bro, I really be studying, man. Like, sometimes I go back and listen to old interviews. I had ran across an old Naz interview at the height of the fucking hove Nause beef. The niggas on the radio, like, that's my brother. I love this nigga. Whether we talk shit, that's still my brother.

I love him because of that He's a black man That's my brother Like you know what I'm saying Like niggas could go through They shit but that's why I fuck With nah so heavy bro He ain't no petty ass nigga

Like period Right And he has every right to be Because of who he is He can be very petty If he wanted to For real A lot of people have done him dirty

Where he could be pretty Oh God, why yeah I guess The last question I have Non-music related Outside of music and your family What fulfills you side of music

and my family man bro fucking going outside and it's sunny and it feel good and I got a nice fit on and my fucking joy it's regular shit

I see what you need much I don't need much bro I like to go out with my you know what I mean that's family my son like go to the park with my son bro I'm some regular shit I'm simple things

I love that shit you know what I'm saying it's good to have you know money and be able to do things you want to do obviously we need that shit. Yeah, but you're talking about just on a level of just in life, everybody's healthy.

It's like when I feel happy, nigga, I'm out doing the most regular thing, man. That shit is the best. Yeah. You think music's consumed you too much just to the position you're in? It's funny. That's heavy. Like, even with the leakers freestyle that right when Sean got

on the friends, Drake and Jay record, when he got into that family being your backbone and everything that you're doing, Like sometimes do you know how to differentiate between I'm making music because this is my passion or now this is my job and people in my life are required. Their livelihood is required on me making this shit. Is there a difference in how my mom, you know what I'm saying? My mom, I take care of like her.

I take care of my grandmother. I take care of my sisters. I take care of pretty much everybody in my family. Bro, that shit is everything. You know what I'm saying? So it's definitely an obligation, but I love it so much that it don't feel fucked up to me because I will be doing this shit regardless.

So it's like for me to be able to be in a position to work with prominent artists that really want to come rock with me and want to buy beats. That's shit beautiful, bro. I look at myself as like a sax fifth. I'm coming through, Nick, I'm going to have variety. You might not get your whole album, nigga,

but you might get this coat. You might get a pair of shoes. And you're going to find something If you come through with a level head And be like, I want to fuck with this name for real Right. Right. You know? Yeah.

Well, listen, man, I mean, you know, aside from us just wanting to kick it with you On a personal level, man, I just want to, you know, say It's been a pleasure watching your career Take Off the way it has Working with, you know, legends from my childhood like Nas, you know,

it's just dope to watch good people win, man. And you one of the dudes that I sit back and I watch And I'm like, yo, hit is just, he's just a dope dude. He's a good dude. He's solid. And he loves what he do. He does. He's passionate.

I love how you are with your family. Word. I mean, it's just anybody, nobody has anything they can say negative about hit boy. That's love. You know what I mean? And I think that's why your blessings have been in such an abundance because you're just a solid individual. So salute to you, man. I'm doing what you're doing.

I appreciate your boys. Pulling up y'all right here in my back yard. I mean, this one for you, hey. Oh, no, you know, whenever we come out here, I try to shoot you a text. I know you busy, but just to let you. you know like, yo, listen, man, we in town. You know, it's all over, man, run the exclusives, running new shit.

Hell yeah, yeah, got to. I appreciate that. We got to hit the new records, man. You know, I'll talk passionate, man, so I don't think I'm like, with the calm, not feeling no way about none of this shit, bro. I love it, man. I just talk, how I talk, man.

Don't explain it because you realize you talking to an audience in the world. The moment you say something that don't belong to you, they're just gonna assume what they assume over. Right, exactly. I know you're not really feeling away about it. That's just how you talk. I know we go through that shit all the

times. I'm yelling. It's like, no, I'm not mad. This is just how I talk. Right, right. So, yeah, you can't get caught up on that. But thank you so much. Appreciate you, bro. Nice love, man. Off the top. No one. 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, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, the Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrating. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.

84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's Financial Literacy Month, and the podcast, Eating While Broke is bringing real conversations about money, growth, and building your future. This month, hear from top streamer, Zoe Spencer, and Venture, capitalist Lakeisha Landrum Pierre as they share their journeys from starting out to leveling up. There's an economic component to communities thriving. If there's not enough money and entrepreneurship

happening in communities, they fail. Listen to Eating While Broke from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.