The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Hit Boy Talks Music Career; Industry, Ye, 'Software Update,' Album & Movie Collab With The Alchemist

Episode Date: September 19, 2025

Today On The Breakfast Club,  Hit Boy Talks Music Career; Industry, Ye, 'Software Update,' Album & Movie Collab With The Alchemist. Listen For More!YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakfastClubPower1051FMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Every day I wake up The Breakfast Club Are you all done? Yep, it's the world's most dangerous morning show The Breakfast Club Shalameen the God Jet's hilarious DJ Envy Envy had to run

But Lauren LaRose is in And right now we got a Man, I want to say young legend But you're just the legend at this point You know what I'm saying? You know what I mean? Listen, anybody that delivered Daz his first Grammy? Word.

I got a salute. Hit Boy is here. Respect. I appreciate y'all having me. I've been waiting to get on here for some years, man. Happy to have you, man. How you feeling this morning? I'm solid, man.

I feel better than ever, for real. Yeah. Just running around New York. You know what I mean? We was out late last night, so I'm dragging a little bit. But I'm good, though, man. I'm blessed. You went to our fashion week?

I'm just here, man, moving around. Yeah. When did Hit Boy feel like he arrived? I mean, you produced for everybody. for everybody from Jay-Z to Beyonce to Nas. When you look back, was it a beat? Was it a moment that made you feel like, yeah, I'm here to stay in this game?

Yeah, it's crazy, man, because I, you know, I was in a situation. I was in a deal for like 18 years with a UNPG, Universal Music Publishing Group. And I was just talking about how I kind of never felt like I all the way made it, because, you know, it's funny, bro. You don't even know this.

You tweeted something a long time ago that triggered something in my brain, bro. Somebody said something, and you, tweeted like this is probably 2011 something you was like hit boy got that otherworldly money because I guess I did niggas in pairs I did other joints and I was like hold up I'm supposed to have

otherworldly money this is jZ first diamond record you know what I mean and I'm like yo so that's what I didn't even know I was in a bad deal till I made niggas in pairs you know I mean I did drop the world with my boy chasing cash for little Wayne and M&M I did other joints but that was the first hit that was like okay where the real money

at now you know I mean I was able to get some bread I went and did a record a deal and label deal with Jimmy Iveen at Interscope but my publishing money wasn't what it should have been I just I couldn't go get that crazy advance so you trigger something in me I'm like man I'm supposed to be touching who do you who do you had that conversation with though because a lot of times man especially when you black you don't like to tell people you don't know something yeah yeah yeah you know it's crazy though because that's bro Jimmy Ivin I went to his crib when I was about to sign my deal just chopping it we eating food you know just connecting

and I'm just telling him like bro I don't know nothing about about none of this shit and he was like you know that's actually the smartest thing you ever said because everything I do you can learn but what you do I can't learn that you just got that in you so that you know that was just like a little moment where I mean but I mean bro it's just been it's been a journey it's been a hell of a journey and I got out my deal just this past July two months ago so I feel like I made it when I got out my deal you know what I mean so it was jimmy Ivin who got you on the right track base well because he just handed you a piece of paper and say oh just sign this and well I mean well that's kind of what happened he handed me the papers he gave me

a couple ms i'm like 24 years old i went and did the the most niggins shit i could do got a crib and moved all my homies in and just like turned up and you know i was able to make some hits yeah i mean but basically uh j z was the one who got me out my deal j z and desiree peres they uh they stepped in i was being managed by them like 2021 and at that point i was in my deal for 14 years and i was like yo i need to get out this deal and it was like well the best we could do is you know you can go from here to 2025 and you know july 2020 25 hit you'll be out your deal and I just did them last four years I was in my deal for 18 years July 1st 2025 what did you wake up feeling like a new man a new man I was just like man

the pressure that dark cloud is just gone now like it was like I didn't realize I was depressed like I've been doing therapy you know what I mean I realized a lot like a shout out Melissa Dumas my therapist like she made me realize I never had boundaries and that's that made me go back to like oh that's why I was like just basically handed people around me the same life lifestyle you know I'm taking 20 30 people out to dinner I'm doing all this all the young niggas shit period so just you know basically just to be in this place now I'm just feeling refreshed man how are you now with that though right like I got good like it's a circle small it's like a dot it's not a circle no more it's like

it's small now you know so just more condensed than you know I got the right people around me that I know really care about me versus just letting anybody hang what did Jay-Z and dad do exactly to get you out your situation you Everybody like to blame Rock Nation for the bad shit. Right, right, right. Nah, I mean, bruh, they did what they did. I don't know. They bossed up and went in there and figured it out, you know.

They got me a nice little advance, 2021. It was like, well, you know, you can get this advanced, but you still got to do four more years. And I just took it on the chin and just thugged it out, you know what I mean? So now you can do a new publisher deal with you. No, I could do whatever I want to do. I'm free man for the first time I signed my deal one year out of high school. I was 19 years old, you know what I mean?

And I was in that deal. I'm 38 now, you know what I mean? It's been some time. So I'm just, bro, I feel refreshed. I feel like I just started, though. You know what I mean? You've done so much. Yeah, like, what's the offers like on the table?

Because everybody heard about you getting out the table. I know they're talking you down. The offers is nice. Gotta be a poor to be a better. I mean, I ain't going to say all that, you know what I'm going. But we are working our way up to that because I'm, you know, I'm expanding. But I just bought a horse. Shout my boy, a DJ from Blue Bucks Clan, crazy group from the West Coast.

But my boy just started messing with the horses. And he, like, he put me on, like, you know, game. naming me up about how to get money with that. And it's like, it's a whole different world. A race horse or agriculture? Yeah, a racehorse. Yeah, racehorse is, yeah. It's like, it's like you buy DNA.

You know what I mean? We basically, like, trying to find Michael Jordan mom. Like, you know what I mean? Like, they kid, you know what I mean? They kid, all their kids didn't want races. It's like, you know, if they kids or their dad won races, it's just, you know, the value goes up. So learning that type of stuff and, you know, expanding into film.

I'm doing some stuff with Alchemist, the homie Alchemist producer. You know, we're going back and forth, just rapping on these. other beats and got a couple other people in the mix and we did a movie to go with the with the album too so I'm hype on that because you and out rapping okay yes sir how do you balance being seen as one of one of the greatest producers would still being hungry and I guess chasing the next sound maybe I mean it's not that I'm chasing it's just that's just that's how I keep myself entertained man like producing it's always just been fun for me it's just been like a replacement for

video games because I started when I was like 15 16 and I stopped playing video games to start making beats and I'm glad I did you know what I mean yeah you still look so young you're talking like that's right you're still young how old are you're 38 yeah yeah but I felt 25 for sure right and then if hearing you say right you feel like you about to just start all over yeah so with more knowledge just way smarter way flyer way richer you know yeah so but the way you make it sound is like you haven't enjoyed any of it at all no I have I have I I have. I have. I've, you know, I've had some good times, but, you know, I just, I just been chasing, like, something within myself, like, just trying to push myself to be, like, great. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I look up to the greats, you know what I look up to the JZs, to the Ys, to the Ys, to Nazes, like, you know, and it's like, I know it's more to get, you know? When you talk about going to see a therapist, was it just a bad publishing deal that had you?

No, no, I've been dealing with, you know, it made me realize a lot just about my childhood, you know, my pops had got out of prison a couple years ago. People kind of saw. a splash, but I've been dealing with that, you know, since I was three years old. That's something that, you know, my mom and my grandma, they did a great job, like, raising me, you know, making me a respectable young man and all that. But, you know, I just still felt some type of void with my dad. And, you know, every time we get out, we start to make some stride, we start to move. And then it's like, boom, he's back in there. He's doing another three years right now.

Dang. Yeah. Crazy, man. Did you feel like you wanted to be in hip hop because he always had that dream or wanted to be a rapper? Nah, nah, I just love music, period, you know, because my uncle was in a group called Troop. Back in the day, my grandma, I was just talking about Troop last thing. We were just talking about True. So my grandma is the one who started then when my uncle was like 13.

Like, he found some kids from his high school, and then she was the one to whip them in the shape to what they got a record deal. I had a couple number ones and all that. But I, you know, I got to see early in my life I got to see a lot because I live with him when he was at his height. Me and my mom, I'm like two, three, four years old. I'm hearing all this like R&B. I'm hearing soulful. I'm hearing NWA, gangster West Coast music. And living pretty nice up until I was like five.

And then, you know, my dad was dealing with my dad being in prison. But living with my uncle, I got to see a high level lifestyle. But then I also seen how it started to be new R&B groups and the sound switched. And Troop wasn't what it once was. And it was like we went from living in nice condos to now we living in a one bedroom all together. You know what I mean? In Pasadena, yeah. So I got to see.

highs and lows, man. That's why I keep it just humble. I keep it cool. Right. I was going to ask, how has that shaped you? Because you lived that pretty early. Yeah, no, for sure. Yeah, man.

Just visiting prisons and then going back to my uncle condo where you got a elevator in a spot and a pool. Like, it was just like I'm being tugged in a bunch of different, you know, ways. But it just kind of kept me balanced at all times. Like, I come from a super humble, cool family too. So, you know, I'm always just pushing, man. I was just talking about troop last week because I forgot. Somebody sampled all I do is think of you.

A couple people were out. And Niala played it last Friday. And they was like, that's B5. I'm like, B5. But then it's really Jackson 5. Right. But the troops just, they, they, they went crazy on their version. Now, you've got Grammy wins, you got plaques, you got accolades.

What do you feel still hasn't been said about your legacy yet? What hasn't been said? I mean, I can't really, I don't really know. I'm just living it. You know what I mean? like me i feel like i'm the most i'm the least like technical producer ever everything has just been coming flowing through me it's coming from the soul like i'm that's why i just i don't feel like people could pinpoint my sound i can go from bioncée to naze or go from niz to beaver or to

beaver to drake or whatever it's like i just make music i don't got one thing that i specifically do so i feel like people still have any like i got family members that don't even know like damn you did uh trophies for drake or you did right here for beaver and drake you know it's like People still don't even know what I've done yet, for real. It's some people that still think Kanye originated the niggas in Paris beat. You know what I mean? Like, there are still people. I'm not going to hold you.

I literally thought that. Yeah, so I'm saying. It's still people that don't even know I was associated with niggas in Paris. So I still got, you know, my story is yet to be fully told. Break the association down with you and the song for people who don't know that. I mean, I produced the song, made the beat, you know. I just, yeah, I worked on that. And I worked on a liftoff from Watch the Thorn.

too but we had did a bunch of other songs I was out here in New York we was at Soho you know he was in the Mercer Hotel just doing songs and I'm hype on all these other joints that we was working on I had like hearing Jay Z vocals and Yee vocals on my beats I was losing my mind you know what I mean but none of them songs seen a lot of day they just so happened to go to Paris and I guess they was lit they went through his emails and heard that beat it just they was turning up and it went crazy you um you know you started a trend right well I I wanted it to be a trend right when when you and naws got together yeah and started creating all of those dope

projects i was like that's what i want to see happen i want all of these legendary emcees to get with younger producers who probably grew up on their sound and understand they sound and know what they need yeah why do you think that didn't become more of a thing i mean i think i think it did kind of you know what i mean we're like we inspired a couple movements that's happening you know what I mean but I just the game is just different now man I feel like you know people don't care as much about producers you know I mean even just like that you know it's like me doing my own music and wanting to like push my stuff forward it's a lot that's like that goes into that like I just had a song drop last Friday right

with Tia Corrine and Jid that I produced made the whole be by myself be crazy as hell energy and um I didn't know the song was dropping until I looked on Twitter but but my lawyer and my manager was reaching out to the label like yo we're supposed to get primary credit on this we're supposed to get our payment taken care of mind you this song came out still ain't even been paid for them you know what I mean even though it just came up but still it's like I just that part of the game I feel like producers is the most disrespected like period you know I mean like we like I might do a song for somebody they can go taking on a whole tour I

ain't even got my fee yet I ain't even got an upfront it's something this measly man they compared to what y'all out there making but I'm trying to break down that I'm trying to like get more respect put on producers' names. And I know we got people that's pushing in Metro, having successful albums. There's a lot of people that's doing their thing. Mustard going crazy, being on the Super Bowl.

Like, that's good looks. It's like, but I feel like it's still a lot of respect that we don't get put on our name. That's crazy to say that because I come from the era where all the producers did. You know what I mean? The Swiss Beats, the Timberlands, the Rizzards, the premiere, like you knew all of them.

And they was getting chilly. They was getting prayed back then. And they didn't even have, what's the name drops in their songs. Yeah, I know. Yeah. I don't know. You just knew it with them. Yeah, they was in the music videos.

They were everywhere. You would see it. I mean, shit, I'm on that same way now. I'm about to push my movement forward, man. This movie with Alchemists and just all the other stuff I'm doing, it's just, I feel like people going to look at me in a whole new light. Why Nas? What was it about Nye? Man, he just wanted to work.

You know what I mean? These niggas be on bullshit. Like, I'd be like, I link with people, I'll playing beats, you know, they'll take beats or they'll come record stuff and then never use it. Nause just kept coming through and kept using them. music I was providing and it was that simple like I just kind of was like if he gonna dedicate his energy this is Nause you know he don't even have to be doing this shit like he already solidified but it gave me a chance to like really just learn like it's like being in the gym bro we was just put we put we dropped 80

songs in three years you know I mean six albums so it's like that was a lot of a lot of practice you know and just we shit we made it happen we want a Grammy what did you what did y'all unlocking each other creatively that the industry probably didn't even see coming um i think just empowering each other man like you know he was open to the ideas i was bringing him like you know i had certain um like hooks like i had the don't tulliver hook already you know i had like this uh anderson pack hook that he used on the first album that's just like he was just opening my ideas and it's like i'm you know i'm a shooter man everybody that pull up i i try to get these ideas off and most people don't understand it but

he understood what i was on and he you know we just felt the vibe how much you sitting on from them watch the throne session how much I'm sitting on what this extra music um I mean what I was so long ago man it's like I got stuff to just that's just sitting but I don't really got nothing with their vocals oh you know I mean I might have beat ideas and stuff I was working on at that time but yeah not they you know they ain't letting the music out like that got you who was the best person you would say well what was the best experience with the audience experience yeah man it's been a lot of good ones I mean I guess I would say

working on Beyonce album in 2013, the Beyonce album that job. I did a bunch of stuff on there. She let me have that opportunity. We went to the Hamptons and we worked and I was just like, that was ill. That was a lemonade, right? No, that was the Beyonce album.

The one with the pink. Oh, okay, okay. I see you this. Sorry. Uh-huh. But not, just being out there seeing that level of lifestyle and just like how she creates a community with the creatives that she brings around,

like making everybody have dinner together and you know tell each other about themselves and just like really you know getting to know the people that's around her like that was ill that's what's what's yeah what's your relationship with Kanye today I don't really got one you know what I mean but I mean I love that dude man he's funny is a motherfucker to me bro like everything he said everything he do be hilarious and I mean he a genius obviously you know he got crazy vision and uh if he ever you know what I mean if we tap in we tap in but it's all love is it a collaborative thing when you're in it with him or is it more of a

oh yeah no no it's it's everything bro i'm bringing them i was bringing them beats we were sitting down making stuff together we was you know i mean he was having me flip songs that he had like putting my take on it it's everything it's though i mean i didn't i didn't realize you come from such a musically inclined family like i knew your dad of course but then i know you i didn't know your uncle yeah so do you remember the first time you fell in love with music fell in love i mean i i remember one specific time i must have been four years old

baby five and uh my we was right my uncle had this green mustang it was ill like you know green rims and all that and he had the top down and he was playing nwa music and i just remember like hearing all these cuss words you know i'm a little kid but i was like but it just sounded so ill like i was just like i was mesmerized by like you know what i was hearing do you feel like you have to do for an artist from the west coast like an ogy artist from the west coast or maybe not even an ogy artist from west coast but you have to do for them but you have to do for them but What you did for Nass? I mean...

That's got to be a dream, though, right? Did, I mean, I did like five, six songs on Snoop Dog back on death row. And, you know, I worked with Snoop. I worked with a game. I worked with a bunch of different... I did a bunch of stuff on, what was the album that you job? Because I worked on Easy with Kanye and a game. So whatever album that was on, dramatic.

Yeah, a bunch of shit on there, yeah. But, hey, man, whoever want to lock in and it makes sense, like, the Nasha was just a genuine moment. like you know it wasn't like we chases some industry thing or it's like bro i need you to put he wasn't putting no pressure on me i was putting the pressure on myself more so to be like let me deliver for niz you know what i mean and that's what pushed us to make so much music his lights is hitting wow where you have a like nervous at some point working with nons because he is a great and you know he's very particular yeah i mean he kind of he laid back and humble and chill like

me so it's like it was it was pretty easy you know what i mean it was never no ego that's why we was able to do so much stuff and I feel like that's half of the thing like with rappers especially like ego you know you see a lot of people that had hits with big producers and they stopped working with them and then they don't make no more hits like that and it's like nigga why don't you just keep working with this producer that's right you know for a producer like you who can do so many different people from different places how do you feel about the regional identity conversation that metro was having like like we artists need to have a certain sound from yeah I mean in this day and age just just just

kind of all mixed in like especially with social media it's like everybody see how everybody dress everybody see how everybody talk from different places and it's like everything is just being put into this melting pot so I don't know you know but it's like I mean you got your musters you got me you know but I mean I kind of do different sounds and shit but you got you got people that's locked in on what they do and uh but I feel like it's a new day it's a time to experiment and exploring and take advantage of that melting pot and just like pull from different places like I've been working with with a lot of Detroit artists,

Shout Baby Tron. You know, I didn't work with T. Grizzly, Rio, the young OG, Peezy, like all the hood, niggas, you know what I mean? It's like, I'm pulling from that, and then I'm bringing them into my world and just kind of meshing it together. So is it the lyrics that influenced the production,

the production that influenced the lyrics? It's all one thing. It's all one thing. I feel like, yeah, if you hear that right beat, as an artist, you know, like, it's like, it just come to you. You ain't gotta overthink it. I feel like if it works, it works.

Every producer can't, you know, dip and dab, every genre of music or heavy because none of your stuff sounds the same that is creative that's dope right but um going to so you were saying metro boom and said that you're supposed to or not you're supposed to but producers that like one particular sound yeah because he's basically was saying that like because of social media everything's mixed in and it's and it's we're kind of losing the feeling of like Atlanta sounded like Atlanta new york having a sound like that's type of thing yeah i think if it worked it worked you're one of the examples of it working

yeah for sure i love i love metro last project that futuristic summer yeah Yeah, man, that take me through there, man. I went to the most hood club in L.A. last week. I just be moving around. They was playing that and the way they was turning up. I put that right on my playlist, man. Like, that's shit hard. I just like it because of the nostalgia that he provided.

It really do sound like a future in the summer. 2013, 2015, Bob, yeah, yeah, for sure. But it sound like now. I see what he did. And the Waka Flocka records on there, Super Slept on you. What do you want to work with now? Like, who do you, because you work with a lot of artists, that are people's dream artists to work with.

I want to do an album with Kodak Black, man. Kodak, but I think that shit will be soulful, fly. Like, he'd really be rapping, he'd really be saying shit. You know, I haven't got to really connect with him, but I rock would do it for sure. I always think Kodak is like, I would say Kendrick's evil twin, but Kendrick evil is goddamn, so.

No, for sure, for sure. Kendrick's evil a twin. Yeah, he's a wild dude. You said, have you, you haven't reached out to him or nothing? Who that? Kodak. I have, he, he rap. He wrapped on a song I did on Big Sean last album, but I ain't connected with them on

some like, you know, let's really tap in. But, you know, I'm dumb. I want to do that for so. Yeah. Do you ever people feel like, you ever feel like people don't give you your flowers because you're not like a loud personality in the industry? I mean, it could be that, but man, I'm over that whole conversation. I'm over, I'm over list and rankings and flowers and all that shit, bro.

I'm just making the fly. I know I'm better than I ever been. And that's where my, that's where the bar is at for me. Like, okay, if I could just keep getting better, I know that I can, like, create more headspace in my beats now. My 808 literally blew out the fucking sprinter speakers last night. Like, my 808 is hitting so crazy, but not in a disruptive way, in a way where that shit is punch you in the chest. And it's like, I'm excited to just dig into that more, you know what I mean? Just creating the Sonics that's just, like, I know I've advanced personally, you know?

What's the, I guess, most trash beat you've ever made? They ended up being a smash. Damn. It would be in a smash. I wouldn't say trash, but I would say, bro, I didn't know niggas in Paris was about to be what it was about to be. I literally didn't. I really didn't, man. I had a my homeboy Chili Chill I used to be rapping with and, you know, just working with.

He was about to put that song out, that beat out on a mixtape of his, like literally a few days before I got the email from Don C. Don C was like, yo, I need you to send me the files to this beat. And I was like, damn, oh, the homie was just about to drop something on this. Let me see. Then I got an email from Yang. and he was like, bro, me and Jay was in Paris. We made this song. He was like, when this song dropped your life about to change.

So I, but I didn't even, bro, I still didn't know until I really heard the song and got around. I went to the planetarium where they did the listening party and Cali was there and a bunch of people was there and the way they reacted when niggas in Paris came on. Now was when I first understood what it really was, you know? So, but I didn't know that shit was about to be that big. I know a program director who went to a Washington

Listening Party and I was like, how was the album? And they was like, I was dope, but ain't no radio hits on there. Oh, shit. And I remember, listen, I remember when niggins and paths,

I'm like, did you go to the bathroom? Hey, everybody, this is Matt Rogers. And Darwin Yang. And you're never going to guess who's our guest on Lost Cultureistas. It is Bradley Jackson, Elle Woods, Tracy Flick, herself.

Reese Witherspoon. It must go in a girl's trip. I have to have a tequila. We must. Oh. The Q rating. Coo rating. When they run diagnostic.

We can run it on you guys. I'd be scared. I'll run the Q rating. No, on the Q rating on us. My resiliency score is down to adequate because we were on a red eye. My resiliency score. My grit. I got to get my grit score up.

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Together we're launching The Moment, a new podcast about what it means to live through a time, as uncertain as this one. We sit down with politicians. I would be the first immigrant mayor in generations, but 40% of New Yorkers were born outside of this country. Artists and activists, I mean, do you ever feel demoralized? I might personally lose hope. This individual might lose the faith, but there's an institution that doesn't lose faith. And that's what I believe in.

To bring you death and analysis from a unique Latino perspective. There's not a single day that Paola and I don't call or text each other, sharing news and thoughts about what's happening in the country. This new podcast will be a way to make that ongoing intergenerational conversation public. Listen to The Moment with Jorge Ramos and Bolivia. Paola Ramos as part of the MyCultura Podcast Network on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Ed.

Everyone say, hello, Ed. I'm from a very rural background myself. My dad is a farmer, and my mom is a cousin, so, like, it's not, like... What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? I know it sounds like the start of a bad joke, but that really was my reality nine years ago. I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. On stage stood a comedian with a story that no one expected to hear. Well, 22nd of July 2015, a 23-year-old man had killed his family.

And then he came to my house. So what do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? A new podcast called Wisecrack, where stand-up comedy and murder takes center stage. Available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I started trying to get pregnant about four years ago now. We're getting a little bit older, and it just kind of felt like the window could be closing. Bloomberg and IHeart Podcasts present.

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Listen to IVF Disrupted, the Kind Body Story, starting September 19 on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When we look at the time, you know, like, how you ain't here this? Yeah, yeah, that's funny. Man, also, this ain't need no question. Click as well. Click is one of my favorite songs. That's what's up. How was that experience?

Shout out, big shine, man. Yeah. Yeah, man, just, again, just getting back into, I was, you know, signing good music at the time. So I was just working on everything I could for Ye and Whit Ye and his artist. And I think he was in London. We started working on that song. And the original beat was actually a beat I gave Dom Kennedy. And he actually put it out.

It was a song called CDC. And they did the original demo to that beat. And I ended up having to tell Yeh, like, man, my boy, Dom Kennedy just dropped the song on his beat. So we just flipped it, took some of the sounds out, adding more sounds, and just turned it up, made it what it was. Look, the vocals in the beginning, right? When they, what, uh, who is that? That's James Fonleroy legend, man. James, I love James, I did not know that was him.

Yeah. Okay. You know James joined on the anti-Rihanna album? That's about, that's named after James. Okay. So he made those vocals specifically foreclick, or is that something you all took him somewhere else? He, uh, he, yeah, took that joint. Like, yay just gave him a bunch of stuff and that was something he did over that.

Yeah. You said you were signing a good music? Yeah, I was signing a good music. Yeah, that was a time. Two, I had to sacrifice because I was already signed to Paul O'Don and his managers was managing me. So I was giving them 20%. Then when I got around, yay, him and his team was like, well, we want to manage you. And I was like this young, humble, loyal guy. So I'm like, I stuck it out with my other team. But I also did a thing where I was giving 20% to good music. So I made

a sacrifice to get that brand energy just to be around and just like, you know, I got niggas and pairs out of it. Click. I got a bunch of stuff out of it. But I sacrificed. I was giving up like 40% of my money at that time. I see why you wasn't making no money. I mean, man, you know, shout out to no ID. Like, he always called it brand energy. It's like me being associated with, yeah, a lot of good came from that too. I sacrificed, but, you know, it also landed me in this place where, you know,

if I want to go sell my catalog, if I want to, you know, move my music around, I can do that and I can make some real money now. I didn't know the Polo to the Down situation either. Yeah, I was signed a Polo and Universal since I was 19 years old, and I just got out in July. Yeah. So what did you produce with Polo? Like, what came out of that?

I was, I mean, I was a, I produced, like, certain little stuff with him during those days when he was, you know, in his heyday. But I was more so just signed to him as a producer. And his managers was managing me. So they was, they had a whole situation going, but. They couldn't just release you? Like, once you realized it was a bad deal, did you go to that? I'm sure they could have, but they didn't want to. You know what I mean?

They're like, shit. No, we got them early and we're about to extract as much as we can. And, you know, how did that make you feel? Like, does that something you take personal? You're just like, you know what? That's business. That's what I signed. I mean, at this point, yeah.

But I, man, bro, I've been depressed for years, money. I've been depressed going to lawyers and they're like, yo, it's the worst deal I ever seen. You know what I mean? Stuff like that. And they like, well, they don't want to let you out the deal or they don't want to give you an amendment or whatever the case is. And it's like, that was, you know, I was like chasing, like maybe if I make a bigger song than niggas in Paris that I can get out this deal. You know, and it's like, I probably fucked up certain relationships like that, like, just trying to put pressure on different artists and trying to, like, just do too much, I guess, you know what I mean? But it never was about that.

I was just in that contract. That's just what it was. That's why I'm just happy as hell to be out now, man. So Polo ate off niggas in Paris and all of that stuff? Yeah, he did. Damn. Yeah, he did. For sure.

Great business for Polo. No, great. No, for sure. I mean, I did too, though. You know, it is what it is. I just talked to Polo last night, man. Solid dude. Got love for him.

He gave me an opportunity. I've made a lot happen with that opportunity. And I'm just taking that knowledge down to the next phase. And so I'm starting this foundation. I just started a foundation called The Next Hits. So it's like the next hit boys or the next hit songs. However you want to look at it, just, you know, helping underserved communities and kids that's like got dads that's locked up.

Like my dad was locked up and teaching them about the business. The business side, the engineering, recording, producing, whatever they want to do. We got to get Polo up here because his, his, his, name is always coming up and i i didn't know he was uh he signed uh came brown is no i know man he got it here man he'd be out here for sure so when did you get out the good music situation all this just happened no no i was i was only in a good music situation for like two years okay yeah for like two years and just you know ran through that but i mean even with my deal like yay wanted to be involved in that and i went to jimmy ivy you know he went to jimmy

of any tool and it was basically like well jimmy told him like this is up to hit boy and jimmy came to me like well do you want to be your own man do you really want to learn the game or you want to keep being up under somebody else so i just like kind of i lost that brand energy but i just got to really get on that road to learning about you know running a label you know how the money is being spent marketing and all this shit like i understand it a lot better now so you know i just you know i just been pushing for these last you know however many years so you got you're dropping a solo out You got some projects coming out with Alchemist in October, but you're dropping a solo album in November.

Software update. Software update. Just like that's where I'm at, period. Just update myself, like the therapy aspect, like, you know, being a better dad, being a better, you know what I mean, just dressing better. Whatever the case is, just update my software. You know what I mean?

Getting smarter, educating myself more, whatever it is. How do you protect your mental health in an industry that's all about constant output? They always want something from you. Yeah. I mean, I live my real life, man. I had got off of social media for, like, the whole 2025 since, like, January. I just got back on in July, and, man, it made me realize a lot. Like, I'm actually living an incredible life, you know what I mean?

You might look at somebody else and, like, oh, man, this person got a bigger mansion. This person got a bigger fleet of cars. Like, none of that shit matter, you know what I mean? If I look around, like, I got my son. I'm a real dad. I got my son full time. Like, if this was in L.A., it'd probably be sitting right here with us. You know what I mean?

He's everywhere when I got. him so um yeah man life is uh life is amazing right now when you said you didn't understand boundaries yeah what did that look like what did the what's it was that looked like being taking advantage of you know I mean just anybody who needed something at any time you know even if they didn't deserve it I just was open arms just giving to people and like even family whatever you know just learning how to say no learning how to just understand that I'm not the worst person in the world if I do say no you know what I mean

it is what it is like you know I'm out here hustling I'm out here doing what I got to do I'm pushing around I'm in New York doing interview at the interview and just like session after session like you know I got to take care of myself make sure my mind straight first and when I do got I'm I'm a very generous person you know what I mean I help a lot of people I do a lot for people but I got to make sure I'm straight first I think the best I'm sorry go ahead I think the best thing that you're doing is that foundation that you just you just name what is the name of it the next hits the next hits i think that's dope helping you know kids want to learn the business you know does not have their father you know i think that's pretty dope and proud of you for that

appreciate that yeah uh yeah we just getting started man and uh gonna push it to the max yeah what of your uh conversation's been like with your dad's just bit about the business side of it since you've come up out of the things that you said with my dad yeah man that's a whole thing right there man like i man he got out we hit the ground running he was making bread i was trying to educate him. I'm taking him to my accountant and wealth manager offices and he just lives a different life, man. He don't differentiate prison from real life. Like, he can, I'm cool in here, I'm cool out there, you know, and it's like, I don't live like that. Like, I couldn't imagine being around niggas all day. I couldn't, I couldn't imagine it. So it's like, that's, that's just

him. And I try to, you know, show him, teach him, put him on, like, put him in the most comfortable situation possible. And that still couldn't change his mind. And that was like, eye opening for me. like you know you could do anything for a person and if they're not ready to accept it they're not ready to move forward with how they think it's nothing you could do about it you know so that just how does that how does that hurt you how does that hurt you now I mean real every time it's like worse and worse because this time when he got out bro he do a song he was on the fucking stage with kendrick at the pop out holding my son it's a picture kendrick my son and my dad on stage at the pop out did songs with snoop dog did a whole album with

with the game that one on iTunes he did a bunch of shit and for him to go back this time it probably hurt the worst because i'm like bro like you actually was doing getting to a getting respect getting love getting money all the shit and it's like you stealing it up back in there it's like that's where the software update comes from like i gotta update my software i gotta stop playing with my life i gotta just take me more serious you know instead of always pouring into everybody else as much as i do have you um offered him help like you know listen man maybe you to sit down the therapist. No, for sure.

We didn't, man, bro. We didn't talk about it all. Like, I'm like, I might have to take him the most random middle of America city and just like where there's no action and bring a therapist and just like work out all day and make music, man. Like, that's probably the only way to save him. You know what I mean? He'll probably find some bullshit out there too.

He'll probably still find something to get into. So is the institution? Yeah, for sure. He is, man. For sure. I mean, brother, like, he had a plea deal to not even have the three years. he just got down and he said he would rather be in prison than be on the streets on probation because he can get washed up for a longer time that way i guess but i couldn't imagine that man

you know what i mean and it's like oh you don't want my help then you know what i mean i pay for the lawyer to get you to plea deal you want to you know do your thing so howl at me when you get out bro howl i mean when you get out what kind of friction is that caused between the father and the son though yeah no i mean it's deep bro it's deep and that's the friction where it's like I'm all, I've always been forgiven. I've always been like, you know, there for them, sending breath, sending help, whatever the case is. And this is the one time where I'm like, it's got to be tough love, bro.

Holl at me when you get out because I did everything. I paid for the high price lawyer. I flew to North Carolina where the case was, got on the stand, talk to the judge, spent my time out there, time away from my son, all this shit. And you still went against everything that I, you know, put the energy into. And I'm like, well, like, bro, I got to focus on me, period. Does he have a sense of entitlement? I'm sure you do

yeah yeah so and I made it so easy all these years and it's like yeah no I can't play them games no more mm-hmm so crazy how like it yeah

what do you think about AI man like how is AI going to impact the production process man I think it's a dope tool man don't use it as a crutch don't press a button and then get a person to beat and be like that's it

like you know if you press that button and you hear something dope try to flip it as if you was just listening to a sample off the radio or a sample off a record whatever the case is

just it's a tool man I'm rocking with it I don't even not when you say press a button what do you mean like it's like you could let it's literally programs where it's like you could type something in press a button and it'll give you like an outline of what you typed in whether it's a like make a hit boy beat make a east coast hip hop 1999 type beat and it'll give you something that's in that area type you know vibe but you know I don't think you should just take that and be like oh boom I hate this I mean you could I'm sure this happening I'm sure I'll be hearing music on the radio like man it's sound like it could be AI sometimes But, you know, I don't know.

But, yeah, I think it's an ill tool if you use it the right way and just use it as a tool, not a crutch. So it has sparked some creativity? Yeah, for sure. Like, you know, it's like I use it kind of like how I would use MIDI. Like, if I play a piano progression

and I want to turn it into some, like, strings, I could just, boom, run it through that. And I could take them strings and then chop them up and make it, you know, into his own thing. What did you think about AI artists, though? AI artists. I mean, man, I feel like K-pop demon

Hunters is AI, you know, all the kids listen, it sounds like it, bro. My kids love them, my daughter's love them. I can't even get one song off in the car no more. I'd be trying to play my music, my son. Like, nah, play a soda pop. I'm like, man, damn, it's humbling, you know what I mean? But it's also eye-opening, like, man, it's doing numbers. Like, what am I missing?

Are they A-I? I don't know, but it sound like it to me. I don't know, but I know everything they do is just like magic. Like it goes up for them kids. Yeah, it's crazy. Number. Yeah. pair is though you got producer ears so you probably is something that we don't

I'm just I'm just listening I'm messing around with AI and listening to that it just sound like it's some AI in there it might not be I don't want to disrespect the creatives that's behind that but it's like you know that's just how I feel I've got a couple more questions you ever you ever gave an artist a beat you knew was dope and they just completely wasted it plenty times I ain't gonna put no names out there but you know I was it was certain songs that I just wish would have been like actual hits like watch and learn for Rihanna

like every girl I run into like that's my favorite Rihanna song you know what man and it's like damn that should have been a hit or like right here with Justin Bieber and Drake like I don't understand why them songs wasn't like top 10 or whatever but that's part of the game you know watching learn is my jam

I wish uh I mean you know we all wish but I wish Nipsey had to pass oh man come on man I feel like racks in the middle was the perfect follow up the victory bro that was his whole vision like he came to me and uh i was actually about to put that song god it was going to be it was going to be on my production album i was about to do like a callid-esque type album with different featuring different artists and that was going to be me featuring

roddy rich righty had a verse on there and we was about we literally starting the paperwork process and i low-key had knit pull up i wanted to him to throw a verse on it he heard the song he was like bro run that back i ran it back he was like man let me get this joint bro he was like this could be the perfect song to like push you know into my neck and next rollout, you know, post-victory lap. And I'm like, I'm just like, cool, let's run it, you know what I mean? And he came through, he did the song. It was a movie.

Like, him doing three verses talking about the stuff he was talking about and laying it on the line like that. And for that to play out that way, it was just a movie for me, man, like, insane. And I was looking for, I was talking to nip every day. We're texting at six in the morning, you know, top of the morning, just like sending samples back and forward. I'm sending him beats I had just made. We're talking about, he was telling me he wanted me to be involved in this next project,

heavy. And for that to, you know, how it happened, it was super fucked up, man. Sad time, for real. Yeah, because on Rack, that's what he talks about. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I know. Oh, my God.

Insane. That was airy after you. That was airy, bro. It was airy. And the way to beat sound with the choirs and all that. It just him walking through the graveyard. Like, man, nuts. It was dope, though.

I, you know, at the video shoot, I got to meet his grandmother. We was on a private jet kicking it. They drank a champagne. I was flying, like being the table experience. that moment. Oh, I remember that picture. Yeah. I remember when he posted that picture in the gram on the jet.

You were there? Yeah, I was there. I'm in the video. That was my, that's my McLaren, like next to the other car in front of the private jet. Okay, McLaren. All right, with the flex, y'all. That's who you would have ended up, like, what you did with Nas, that would have been... Yeah, I agree.

I think we would have did damage, did damage, man. Like, I feel like racks in the middle is still one of the most, like, revolutionary West Coast Beach from the modern. era you know i mean i feel like that's where if i was to think about like if jay was actually going to make detox i think it should sound like racks in the middle level like you know because it's got that that west coast like you know drag on it but it's still sound new you know you got to push it forward you all want a grammy for that too right yeah we did bittersweet man crazy but but the good thing is like when we made the song we felt like that we felt like man

this is grammy level we was playing that joint back to back we was turned up in the stool we it was really feeling that so for it to it was just validating like damn like nip was on he was right on spot on you know what i mean have people really embraced the loss of nipsy like did people really realize how big of a loss that was especially for the west coast i think so i think the world you know you know i feel like you know obviously when you know it's fucked up but when people pass they get even bigger more people tap in so it's like you know his legacy is spread it and you see what black sam doing he taking a brand and just like turn it into you know a monster man and It's amazing. So, yeah, man, it's crazy.

I'm glad that you are, like, making yourself seen, and I hope you do a lot more press at this, because I'm tired of Googling your name stories of boys actually being hit come up. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. You know, you're right, you need to know you. It's that time, it's that time, for sure, yeah. What's harder, making a beat that gives a rapper a hit are making a beat that gives them like a career.

I don't want to say revival, but like resurgence. It's all the same thing. I'm just making music. I never meant to make a hit. I just made music that I felt. You know, and most of my hits that y'all would know me for came from me just being in the stool just damn near by myself, just cooking up, having fun, man.

That's what this production shit has always been about for me, just literally having fun. At this point in your career, are you making music for money, for legacy, or just because you can't stop? That's what you know. All the above. I need the bread. I'm trying to, you know.

I mean, the legacy, that's just, it's going to shape up. It's going to be what it's going to be. And I just love to do it, you know what I mean? Like I said, like I love when I feel my own growth. I love when I feel myself advancing and being able to do certain things that I wanted to do five years ago, musically, that I can now accomplish. And I can now, you know, fully manipulate and bend these sounds into ways that I can make them do whatever I want to. Yeah.

And if Hit Boy stopped producing a day, what do you think, what do you think the game, with me man some authenticity it's just like just raw like you know my i mean i just like i said i shoot from the hip every time like i don't i don't know i don't know how to make a hit i'm just making music and it should just be coming what is becoming like you know just being able to see some of these songs performed in stadiums and watching bioncay watching ho watching you know Travis uh kendrick doing backseat freestyle still on his tour like it's ill you know what i mean just like and it's still rocking as if it just dropped it's like man you just got to make what you feel and you know i've been making some stuff that's you know timeless

have you have you you you got anything but kendrick tucked away i'll be chopping it bro man that's what i'll be telling people man it's crazy so my lulls my son that he five years old now before his fourth birthday he made a he made a song he made his first song because he was in most of the sessions with me and nash just sitting in the back didn't realize he was taking this all in told him you know i asked him did he want to make a song for his birthday put him on a mic He literally freestyle with context. I was laughing. It was crazy.

But put the song out with a video. And I think it was the day not like us dropped. And that's how I knew Kendrick was just like this was like work for him. This whole shit. Like he texts me about my son video. Like go ahead nephew. Like you know what I mean? You know what I mean?

It's like, bro. In the middle of all that's going on. I'm like this nigga like he's crazy. He really crazy. He cool though. Well, hip boy and Spank Nitty James. Y'all got, y'all coming out October 3rd. Yeah, shout my boy Spank, man.

Shout out him it, man. the whole inland empire. Where are you from? He's from him. He's from deep in the IE, yeah. So, that's in, like, east of L.A., like, an hour east of L.A. That's where we all kind of came up. I grew up in Pasadena, but when I was 13, I moved to the IE,

and that's where I learned how to make beats and all that shit. So it was vital, but I was sad when I first moved out of Dena for sure. But, yeah, the I.E., that's, you know, a lot of homies out there. And then you and Alchemist got an album coming out of October 24th. Yeah, yeah. We got an album in a movie that's, I feel like it's going to make people look at us in a whole different light.

And then a solo album called Software Update. Software update. Damn, him. I know. Look, you couldn't wait to get out. But you got to move. Word up. Yeah, I mean, I'm excited, bro.

It's like, it's genuine. It's coming from a place of, like, it's coming from our soul, man. So, like, I'm just, like, looking forward to, you know, letting people see me in a different light and just, like, pushing, you know, what I've done forward. Yeah.

And you're free now. Man, free. It's amazing. Hit free. I just threw like a million-dollar party in LA last week and shot a video with Azee Chike, Baby Tron, and Spank. And that was the illest. We had Marathon Burger up there. We had this whole eat couch activation because we got this song called Eat Couch. And it was crazy.

Like pussy? No, no, no, no. It's like smashing a girl on the couch from the back. And her face is in the couch. So she eating the couch. Oh. Yeah, yeah. Got you.

What you mean? It's so old. You know there's a pillow for that. That's funny. You know there's a pillow for that. No, no, I know, I know. No, no, I know. Spake is just funny.

When he said he couch, man, that just had me laughing so hard. I'm like, we gotta put this joint out, man. Why the hell is the party a million dollars? Because it was a celebration, 18 years, man. I'm like, I gotta go all out. I just went crazy. I just had all type of activations. I had, you know, hood taco spots,

Marathon Burger. I had, you know, just a lot of fly shit going. All right. That's what so. Oh, it's hip boy, man. Thank you for coming, my brother. For sure, appreciate y'all, man. It's the breakfast club.

It's an honor. Yes, sir. Hold on. Every day I wake up. Wake your ass up. You're going to finish or y'all done? In the heat of battle, your squad relies on you. Don't let them down.

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Lenovo, Lenovo. Hey, everybody, this is Matt Rogers. And Bowen-Yang. And you're never going to guess who's our guest on Las Coulteristas. It is Elle Woods, Tracy Flick, herself. Reese Witherspoon. Maurice, it must go in a girls' trip. I have to have a tequila.

We must. Oh! Whoever said orange is the new pink. Seriously disturbs. Listen to Las Culturistas on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jorge Ramos. And I'm Paola Ramos. Together we're launching The Moment, a new podcast about what it means to live through a time as uncertain as this one.

We sit down with politicians, artists, and activists to bring you death and analysis from a unique Latino perspective. The moment is a space for the conversation. we've been having us father and daughter for years. Listen to The Moment with Jorge Ramos and Paola Ramos, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On a cold January day in 1995, 18-year-old Krista Pike killed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in the woods of Knoxville, Tennessee. Since her conviction, Krista has been sitting on death row.

How does someone prove that they deserve to live? We are starting the recording now. Please state your first and last name. Krista Pike. Listen to Unrestorable Season 2, Proof of Life, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.