The Breakfast Club - Swizz Beatz Talks New Music, Jay-Z, DMX Spirit, Verzuz, GOAT Talk + More
Episode Date: April 26, 2023Swizz Beatz Talks New Music, Jay-Z, DMX Spirit, Verzuz, GOAT Talk + MoreSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
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Oh, yeah.
Ready?
Morning, everybody.
It's DJ Envy, Charlamagne Tha Guy.
We are The Breakfast Club.
We got a special guest in the building, Swizzy.
Zone, zone, zone, zone, zone, zone.
Y'all smell like new money in here.
This building is crazy.
If Swizz say he smell new money, then we must really smell like new money.
Something must be smelling new in here.
But Swizz know what new money smell like.
Absolutely, damn it.
Well, Swizz is here.
Now, you decided to drop an EP.
You're back in your music bag.
What got you back in the bag?
I got a phone call from my Virgo brother, Nas,
two years ago.
And he was like, yo, you know,
I need you to do me a favor.
Mass Appeal is representing the Hip Hop 50th
and we're doing something with producers.
And I was like, okay.
And he was like, Primo gonna do Volume One,
you'll do Volume Two, then Hip Boy,
and a couple other producers.
And I was like, okay, let's do it.
But I'm telling you, the two years went so fast,
I got a phone call that was like,
you know, you're up next for your EP.
And I'm like what
and so i'm not gonna lie like when i first was when he first told me i wasn't taking it serious
like i was like i'm gonna just get five songs off the hard drive and just whatever but then like as
it got close i was like nah everything count you know what i'm saying like i can't come out and
just put anything out so then I started taking the project serious,
and here we are now.
Well, the crazy part is if you was up against a deadline
to have Jay Electronica on a project.
How did you catch him?
That's dangerous.
That's cutting it close if you're waiting on a Jay Electronica record.
I was like, is that a Jay Electronica?
Yeah, let me tell you about, and we love Jay Electronica.
He's a very special guy.
He is.
So I dropped the
the commercial for the for the for the EP I get a call from Jay Electronica yo I gave you my word
you know I told you I was gonna give you a verse I'm I'm ready to do it like what we doing like
don't I need I need you to change the track listing so people notice one track list and
came he wasn't on that track list. So people noticed one track listing came.
He wasn't on that track listing.
He was on the next track listing.
This is the fastest I ever seen him send music.
So I was happy that he was inspired by what he was seeing.
That's dope.
And was just like, yo, he gave me the verse in 30 minutes.
Really?
Yes.
Wow.
And so you had to send it to him?
Huh?
You worked with him in the studio or you sent it to him?
No, yeah.
He was in Egypt somewhere. That's what I No, yeah, he was in Egypt somewhere.
That's what I said
because usually he in Mexico
somewhere,
he's traveling everywhere.
How do you pick
who you want on a project
that's only five,
six songs though?
It was pretty,
it was pretty easy.
I actually like
that amount
of length
for music.
It's easy to digest
and then,
you know,
I knew
I wanted to put Nas on it.
He invited me to the project.
And then I also wanted to work with some of the younger artists because I talk to them
every day.
We don't necessarily talk about music, but it's just like, you know what, since we speak
every day, let's have some fun as well.
I speak to Dirk, I speak to Boogie, Favio, we kicked it with him from when him and my wife did the track um
band manager i like what they got going on in jersey and then also you know going to jay like
trying i just wanted to make like like a little gumbo just to like have fun and be inspired myself
i didn't want it because the hip-hop 50 if i didn't want it to just feel super nostalgic
like i'm not even i'm trying to move out of that space actually now what about
scarlet i see you worked with scarlet yeah yeah as a new artist from the bx that's the uh the video i
posted a couple of weeks ago so how did you get up with scarlet i met her for the first time a couple
days ago she's good she's a good person she's a good person i think that you know like the song
that she got out now is amazing but what made me like that song was the other styles that she can do i'm like okay she could do dmx but then she could do lauren hill
like that's especially like when when you find somebody that's like super versatile like that
that's not just one lane one way like she can go like five different lanes and that's why i was
like you know i'm i'm exactly to produce her record i always wanted to do do something like
that for somebody from the Bronx anyway,
and this is the perfect opportunity.
Oh, you're doing her whole project?
Yeah.
Wow.
So she signed you?
No, I don't want to sign nobody.
But I want to support.
I'm an executive producer of the whole thing.
I think she's going today to sign.
I think she told me that Tuesday she was going to hopefully close a deal.
So I told her I would play the record in the morning for her on her way to her deal.
So hopefully she closes that deal this morning.
She probably helped to close the deal.
If she was EPing the whole project, they probably like, let's get that closed.
She got a lot of options on the table, you know.
I could just stare in the right direction.
But, like, you know, you got to let the artists do their thing as well.
And she's a very, very smart girl.
And so I think we're going to see something great from her.
When you say the city sounds like,
do you feel like this is what you want the city to sound like
or do you feel like this is what the city sounds like now?
Because the city's missing production.
That's what I want the city to sound like.
That's what I said.
This is what the city's supposed to sound like.
This is what the city's supposed to sound like.
Just because, you know, when I was coming back and forth to New York,
it didn't sound like I was in New York
You know I'm saying sound like I'm in Atlanta or sound like I'm somewhere else on Africa now, too
You know saying so like as much as possible
I want to contribute those records that you know that that just feel good when you ride around in the street you get off the
Plane you you turn the radio on you hearing something that make you feel like you're back home.
Us having an identity in New York is very, very important.
People used to just travel here just to get that energy and go back and make their music.
You know what I'm saying?
But you can't just complain about it and don't do nothing about it.
That's why even the Scarlet track with Benny and Kiss,
that's on purpose.
The KRS drums with it is on purpose for the boom bap.
The Onyx sample.
Yeah, the Onyx sample.
All those things are purposeful
so you can put that identity like,
oh, this is like a New York song,
just trying to get back to that.
But now New York,
even the music don't sound like that no more.
My kids could care less if the KRS one
or whatever drums on it, they listening to what they listening to. don't sound like that no more. My kids could care less if the Karras one
or whatever drums on it, they listening to
what they listening to, but I still gotta give people
some of the authentic energy because I come from it.
How come you think y'all never got backlash
as Rough Riders because there was a time
when your production was, it felt so New York
but it still had that bounce to it, you know what I mean?
Like why do you think y'all never got flack?
Because you see a lot of artists now like,
oh, you sound like you from the South.
I don't think they wanted problems.
They probably, you know.
You know what I'm saying?
But people used to always, like,
I used to hear it through the rumblings.
Like, nah, that's not real New York.
Like, that's this.
And, you know, we put Juvenile on down bottom.
That's when I really was feeling it. You know, it was like, nah, that's like and you know we put on we put juvenile on down bottom that's when I really was feeling it you know it's like nah that's like what's that
cuz Atlanta wasn't like what it is today they was like yo that's that Bama stuff
and they used to talk all crazy like yo we sound gotta go everywhere you know I'm
saying I felt that it was New York because drag was on it and I produced it
you don't get no more New York than that. It shouldn't matter who the feature is.
You know what I'm saying?
It's just like, I'm the New York producer
for the Mass Appeal Hip Hop 50th,
but I got Dirk on it.
You know what I'm saying?
There's different artists that's not from New York.
And I'm just like, nah, everybody don't gotta be
from New York for it to have a New York energy.
I'm the New York energy.
Now what happened with Versus?
I know one time you
know versus was everybody was all in with you and swizz and you and tim then you said stop effing
with verses because it was a problem with trilla so i never said stop effing with verses that was
the feeling so so what happened with uh with verses and trillian is everything worked out now
and are we gonna start getting some more verses back? We definitely gonna get verses back you know we're in a we're in a great space I actually like
that we took a time out um it was getting wild I'm not gonna lie you know like it was it was
becoming crazy um but this time when we coming back we're gonna give you a full calendar
bigger verses well I don't like the word bigger versus, but just still unique versus that the people want to see
that they probably thought they wasn't going to get.
And so my thing is, like, with me and Tim is, like,
I'd rather us take our time and come back, like,
with an amazing schedule that people are going to go crazy
and y'all will see this very soon.
And then also with new management, like, with a whole new,
like, take it serious.
You know, like, this started out in our basements, you know,
and then we turned into BET, like overnight.
So we had to take time out to be like,
listen, we have something special here.
Like let's treat it like that.
And then also let's show the artists
how to treat it like that.
You know what I'm saying?
Showing up late like how I did today.
You know what I'm saying?
But treat it like how you treat in those other shows
that you're not getting nothing from,
technically.
You might get a beautiful trophy,
but this right here,
your stream's going up 700%.
Mostly every artist that did Versus,
they've been on festivals and tours
since Versus.
It actually helped artists.
And so my thing is,
how can we come up with
a new schedule how can we have a real showrunner like treat it like for real and i think that um
when it come back it's going to be a breath of fresh air even without us talking about it versus
i hear about it versus every day not that all of them make sense but i hear about it versus every
day it's good conversation yeah it keeps it keeps the culture talking and what happened with trilla
did y'all and trilla work that situation out?
Y'all sued them, right? Yeah, we
definitely
sued them. We definitely
got to a settlement.
And I feel that
me and Tim are in a great space now.
Like a very good space. So is Trilla still involved?
Yeah, as of right now, they're involved.
Yeah. Are you excited about
some of the ones you've been hearing? Of course, JD and
Diddy, they say that's a go.
I hope that's how y'all relaunch it, right?
But then you're hearing about 50 and Wayne.
Yeah. What you think about that one?
I mean, I think
it'll be good, but I mean, I think Wayne
will win, but I think it'll be good,
you know? Yeah. And I love Fifth,
you know? I don't know, I feel like that's
a weird one for me, but the people definitely, it's's not i'm not using my personal judgment on the person the people
wanted we're gonna try to we're gonna try to do it i just i just for some reason and put 50 and
wayne in the same verse i don't even know how that how that happened but you know it's like i tell
everybody it's it's it doesn't matter how many songs sometimes it don't matter the catalog and
me and you spoke about this is the songs the songs that you pick and what you do.
Because, you know, we've heard people with,
we thought, I always go back to the Lox Dipset.
Everybody thought Dipset was going to wash the Lox
because they had so many records that play on radio,
so many cultural records.
But that night, the Lox took it serious.
But that's what makes 50 and Wayne so interesting
because they can both do their commercial joints, right?
Right, yeah.
But then when they get into their mixtape bags,
both of them,
with freestyles and everything else, it's just like, whoa,
that could be a special one.
I agree with that.
I see where you're going with it.
I think for me, maybe it's like because when you see 50, he's like,
he's not a small guy.
Wayne is like a small guy.
You know what I'm saying?
But powerful with music and powerful with his success.
So I don't know, maybe it's the visual
that's throwing me off with that one.
Maybe I got to sit down and see both songs,
but 50, that guy asking what we need to do.
Yeah, I seen him the other night,
he was like, I don't think, Swiss think I like him.
I was like, nah, I don't think that,
and then Scarlett was there.
Scarlett was like, no, Swiss actually said hi to you when I spoke to him earlier. That's a fact. I was like, nah, I don't think Swiss think I like him I was like nah I don't think that and then Scarlett was there Scarlett was like no Swiss actually said hi to you
when I spoke to him earlier
that's a fact
I was like nah
I don't think there's no problem
what about
you know one time
we were all talking
and I heard behind the scenes
that I was gonna get done
I don't know if
the conversation stopped
Nicki Minaj and Lil' Kim
we kept hearing that
I think that
is that bold of past
or is it a possibility
I can't say it
I can't say it so it's still a
possibility yeah yeah yeah i can't say it yeah but just know that if you're gonna wait this long for
for verses if we're gonna have you wait this long it's gonna definitely be worth it worth the time
all right like if anything people know about me is like if i'm being quiet like things are happening
right and so i just felt that once again that it was important for us to take
a break and actually organize what we have and actually understand what we have you know because
things be moving so fast and you you just so caught up in the matrix and it's
all of the hype and and you missing you leaving so much on the table you missing so many amazing
opportunities to really monetize with what you've built and put your time into like um and i think it's healthy it's the same thing i did
with no commissions took a time out it's about to come back in 24 i actually know what i have i
actually you know know the flaws that was in there and then give people a better product you know and
not just something that was like for covid. You know what I'm saying?
Because it happened way long after COVID versus as well,
but like a lot of people connected with COVID.
And then we got the documentary that we've been shooting
with Lena Waithe since the first.
The first of the doc, yeah.
Yeah.
So that's, you know, gifted and black.
When people see that, that one's going to,
it's going to make people really think different about us, you know what I'm saying?
Because like, wow, this is all happening,
there's cameras on, so you getting to see the real artists,
you getting to see the real fans,
you getting to see people in they house getting dressed up.
Like, people's getting dressed up in they house
to go for a party in they house.
That's right.
That's like, wow, like fully dressed,
like going shopping, like pulling out white suits.
Nah, he was making nights of it.
That Jill Scott, Erykah Badu one,
because those are my wife's two favorite artists.
You made a night of that.
Like, you know, this is a thing.
I want to see part two of that.
I want to see part two of a lot of them
that didn't really have like that, the big stage, you know, the people that wasn't in front of each other.
I want to bring those back for sure.
Oh, now would be the time to do that because Jill and Erica
are on tour this summer.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know, I wanted to ask you too, man, you know, rest in peace, X.
You know, you've had time to grieve, but also I wonder, like,
when you go away on vacation and it's been a little while now,
what are your thoughts about the Good Brother Act?
What do you reminisce on?
I just don't, you know, honestly
it don't even feel like he's
gone. You know what I'm saying?
It just feel like he's just away on his
just
somewhere chilling.
And then, you know, like
the anniversary of coming around i'm just like whoa
i speak to his fiance i'm like whoa i speak to his son like whoa or i see a video or i scroll
through my phone and see pictures and it just it hit me you know um but the thing the thing that
make me feel easy about it is because he came to me. You know, like I seen him in my dream.
He came to me and this was like super quick too.
And he let me know he was good.
And I'm not big into like, I'm the person I'd be like, he ain't come to see you.
Like, what are you talking about?
He's Santa. I seen him.
I can, I felt him.
I can smell it.
Like, you know, I just couldn't hear him talk.
He looked young. He looked young.
He didn't look, he didn't look just couldn't hear him talk he looked he looked young he didn't
look he didn't look young he looked he looked like how he looked yeah he looked like from when i last
seen him and that's what was making it feel super real i was like yo he was watching south park in
the dream he was sitting in front of the tv watching south park i came and i grabbed him
and we used to always wrestle and just play around like little brothers.
And so I wrestle him to the floor and we wrestling
and he's laughing, but I can't hear him.
I just could see him like, ah, you crazy.
Then he got up and he grabbed both of my arms
and he just looked at me and was like, I'm good.
And once I seen that, my energy started changing.
I was like, okay.
Then I seen an X in the sky, like at my crib.
I was coming outside.
It was like an X in the sky.
I took a picture of it and posted it too.
And I was like, oh, this is crazy.
Was it somebody cliff diving?
Was it somebody cliff diving?
Because I know from Squizz's crib, there's cliff diving.
Like you can see people cliff diving off the side of the mountain.
Was it one of those people?
Nah, this was real.
This was like an X in the sky, like a plane did.
It was super high up in the sky.
But yeah, ever since then, I just felt good.
Because I couldn't hear Stop, Drop.
Every time they played Stop, Drop, it would break me down.
Why that record in particular?
I have no idea.
I could listen to any other song. But for some reason, Stop, Drop would take me down. Why that record in particular? I have no idea. I could listen to any other song,
but for some reason,
Stop Drop would like take me out.
And I was like, oh, this is crazy.
But then after I seen him in a dream,
that went away.
And that's how I gazed.
I was like, oh, okay.
Oh, I've had those.
I've had people pass away,
then you see them in a dream.
That's why I like to see that.
I feel the same way you feel.
You see that, you be like, okay, I know they good.
You know?
It was deep though.
Cause it never happened with my grandparents,
like people that I love.
I never seen that.
You know, that was like,
it was like we sitting right here.
Now I remember like very clear.
Do you feel like the X story has been told
like the way it needs to,
like is there a period on that or? Man, you know, I don't think that X story has been told the way it needs to? Is there a period on that?
Man, I don't think that the story's been...
I think the story's been chopped up.
X told me his story.
I know his real, real, real, real story.
And I just think that when the time is right,
it should be done properly.
You know, like how you would see um
the um nwa story how you would see a pox story oh you know saying like x story needs to be
delivered like that because it's for real for real you know like x been through like so much
and just seeing his story people gonna want to change their life and then people gonna want to
be inspired to do certain things and like it's educational you know x was like very book smart you know like like mike
tyson like i remember i went to mike tyson house and he just had like all these books and he was
just turning pages and just reciting pages i don't know if that's a jail thing but x and mike tyson
like they're like they were very smart and books
books that you would
have never even known
they was reading
I'm like what
how do you know
nobody's like nah
I read that whole book
three times
I'm like what
like X was like that
you know like
very prolific
and he just was
a good person
like he had like this
rough aura about him
but like
he was more like
he was like a teddy bear
you know what I'm saying
like the bark was
his musical energy but he'll sit there watch south park play remote control cars planes planes play
video games like he just he just wanted to be a kid what about musically you know i know you got
a i'm sure folders and folders of x music yeah i got, you know, I revisit a lot,
a lot of people want me to put out
X music,
but I just think that like,
I want to,
I want,
I think we should organize the music
that he already put out.
You know,
like organize that,
revisit that,
and put that out in a proper way,
package that right
for the people that they can have that experience
and then get into like
the other songs and different have that experience and then get into the other songs
and different things that he got laying around.
And yeah, just let it happen organically.
You know what I'm saying?
But yeah, it can get dark.
I'm sitting there thinking,
there's no way you could do a DMX biopic
because who's gonna play
dmx i've never met a human like dmx in my life that was a different type of spirit man like he
was a one of one my brother that michael was um the brother that played dmx um that passed away
michael michael williams yeah, he could have played DMX,
which is why we had him in the tribute.
And rest in peace to him too, that is crazy to me.
Because we was thinking about doing a play
and he was gonna play DMX
and this is why he was doing the tribute.
I remember him saying like, yo, I'm doing this tribute
because me and DMX is more alike than you think and i was like now i
could feel your energy like it felt like i was looking at dog like i'm not gonna lie like that
was i don't think nobody can get closer than than he was energy-wise to what i've seen x
now what producers out there you feeling now you listening to what producers you think got it
i like what metro booming is doing a lot um i like what hit boy is doing i like that he's taking the risk you know not only
messing with his genre but like going and doing these volumes with nas um it's a lot of producers
i like you know what i'm saying but i do urge the producers to like work on their identity what you
mean meaning like you know without a tag on some of the songs you you won't know what produces is
which that's real see what i'm saying so like um that's just something that carried myself
tim pharrell dre like you can just play.
Like you can hear those beats with no tags on it
and no what it is, right?
And so like a lot of people,
like they get on me with like my snare.
I'm tired of the snare as well,
but it's just a part of the signature.
And those are certain things that you're doing
that people know like, oh, that's a Swiss beat.
Whether I'm doing an ad-lib on it or not right
and i just feel that you know your identity is going to carry you way longer than just having a
hot song for for the moment on that artist when that artist decided to move away or whatever like
it's just going to be harder for you to climb that hill if you don't have that signature sound
and the person that's sitting right over here can loop it up real quick
and just do you know and i don't know i just i just i just think that's why i said i like what
metro is doing i like i like what hit boy is doing um must have got a sound you know like there's
there are producers with sound but i just want more producers to come with their sound and step
in the front like and be the superstars
themselves because a lot of producers you don't you don't even know what they look like not at all
you know i'm saying i think that's dangerous really yeah why you think it's dangerous because
like um i just feel they leaving a lot on the table you know like like yeah as a producer as
artists as well right so like how metro can do what he
just did at coachella and be a headline like as a producer like why would you leave all of that on
the table like you should be the superstar as well and you don't even have to rap and i just feel
like they're leaving a lot of money on the table by just but you can't identify what they look like
you can identify they sound by a tag.
But I guess people just want to play their background.
That's cool too.
That's interesting though because when you look at people
who could be on the Mount Rushmore of producers,
it's definitely people who step to the forefront.
Of course.
On purpose, you know?
Facts.
It was one of the best things I ever did was move to the front.
Like a lot of producers that I came up with,
they feel like they don't get what they just do,
but they was also being quiet.
They wasn't really fighting for it.
You know what I'm saying?
So like once again,
like when the person didn't know what you look like,
they don't know what,
you don't got no tag,
you don't have no identity,
it's going to feel like you're not getting represented.
You're not representing yourself.
Right.
Like, you know. You think you being a dj
helped with that too for sure because i remember hearing jay say that one time i forgot what he
was talking about he was like jail get the i mean swiss will get the dancing on you and
scratching and turning around you know look i i used to stand on tables to sell my beats
you know what i'm saying you go in that that room, because people's ears are so numb.
When you go to the labels, they're so jaded.
Everybody's so numb.
Everybody's looking for the next.
They don't even know what they're looking for,
so you got to show them like they're missing out on something.
I even had to come up with a strategy to be like,
yo, I did this beat for such and such,
but I'm going to just let you hear it.
And then that person ended up wanting to take that beat.
They pay more of the whole thing.
So I had to use different strategies
because artists don't really know what they like
most of the times, you know what I'm saying?
Like as a producer, they wanna look to their front over here,
they wanna look around the room,
they wanna feel the energy.
So I was like, oh, I gotta bring the energy.
So I'm breaking down, I'm making the choruses for them i'm giving them the flow i'm telling them
what it could be and and making them visualize they think about being at the party thinking
about a chick that they got waiting outside or something like that so my job was to make it easy
for you to just plug and play right so like most of my music had no samples had the chorus in it
already so all i always had to do was fill in the blanks.
Like, that's how I really got so much work done,
because I was doing the work for the artists.
Now, you mentioned Jay.
Are you and Jay back in the lab working at all?
Because people have been saying that you've got a bonus track
that you haven't released yet.
And I don't know why, but people are assuming it's a Hov record.
They're always assuming it's Hov.
Hov is very, very rich and is enjoying his family
and is enjoying his time.
I'm not even going to bother Hov right now.
I'm not even going to.
You got to read the room.
Right, right, right.
You know what I'm saying?
The man is the richest he ever been in his life today.
Let him enjoy the vibe that he's on right now.
He's going to get hungry, and I'm going to be available.
And everything is just timing with Jayay you know what i'm saying he's just a mastermind like he wanted every day
like he'll call me and just give me 50 bars i'm like what we doing with that nah i just finished
working out i'm like okay but what we doing with that right and it's like i don't know yet like
his roller decks of music he's very very. He just called a rap for you?
Yeah, just like, yo, check it out.
Boom, boom, boom, boom. I'm just sitting there like, man, we dropping this tomorrow?
What are we doing?
He's like, nah, I just finished working.
I just got something off my chest.
I was like, okay, that sounds like more off your chest.
That sounds like what the people need.
How'd y'all get so close?
I don't think people talk about that enough.
I know Jay since I was 17.
I met him through my uncle D in his office.
And that same night we went and did
about four or five songs,
If I Should Die, Coming of Age 2, Jigga,
and a couple other songs that never came out.
Y'all did all those in the same night?
Same night.
Wow.
Yeah, I had a cassette with like 50 beats on it,
and he played it, and then D was like,
yo, Jay said he wanted to go into the studio tonight.
I'm like, what, tonight?
He's like, yeah, he vibin' with a couple of songs
off the cassette.
And we never stopped since then.
It's just been since then.
Those are classics.
That's when he must've been working on volume two then.
Yeah.
Yeah, he was working on volume two.
Wow.
Another record that people don't talk about is the,
it's one of my favorite hip hop records ever,
the Why We Die with XJ and Busta.
Oh yeah, yeah, that joint's crazy too.
That shit is nuts.
Like people don't talk about that record enough.
He got a lot of gems people don't talk about.
He got a lot of gems.
Him and Nas too.
Nas got gems that people don't, like you gotta dig in the crates and be like, yo, you don't
remember he did that?
Like, nah. You remember the Why We Die session or like, yo. Like, you don't remember he did that? Like, nah.
You remember the Why We Die session?
Or was it, y'all didn't do that together?
No, I don't think we did that one together.
Because Jay was moving quick.
Like, you know, he was, like, officially the first person I seen not write music.
Because I was, like, it was bugging me out at first because I was just like,
how is he doing this so fast?
Like, he just, how is he doing this so fast like he just how is he writing
like this then when i seen him in the studio like he didn't have no pager out he didn't have nothing
he just was pull that back i'm like he's writing right now he's like yeah he don't use paper i'm
like that's wild you know i heard big didn't write, and then I started seeing Kiss not use paper.
And I just was bugging, like, how do you write without using paper?
You know what I'm saying?
Like, Jay's in the Hall of Fame for writing and never wrote lyrics.
That's crazy.
So Kiss don't write now?
Nah.
He used to?
Kiss stopped writing on paper a long time ago.
Like, years. During the Rough Rider, man, every Kiss wasn't on paper a long time ago Like years
During the Rough Rider
May every kiss wasn't using paper
So Kiss just come in here
Same thing, just let me hear the beat and just go
He just walk around
You just see him, sweatsuit on, just walking around
Doing some, like this with his head, just walking around
Pull it back, pull it back
I'm ready
And then you just go in
He must have learned that from. All right, I'm ready. And then you just go in.
That's something he must have learned that from Big then.
Yeah, I think so.
I know Big was the first one that they was,
I never seen Big do it,
but they was always talking about,
I remember them coming from the studio and be like, yo, Big ain't use no paper.
He's an alien.
That's one person I wish I had to work with was was big i seen him
in atlanta we was at atlanta live and i remember he had the um land rover like a burgundy land rover
and then i spoke d introduced me to him and he was like man like one day we're gonna get up like you
know what i'm saying like i wanna do something with your beat shorty he kept saying shorty shorty
and i was like all right let all right, let's do it.
Let's do it.
And I never seen him again.
That's crazy.
Yeah.
I always want, you know, you talk about Hov, X, Kiss.
What do you do with all this unreleased music?
You just said you had two songs from Jay that y'all never put out.
Like, what do you do?
You just got it sitting somewhere?
Well, he got those early songs.
He has those early songs.
I don't really have too much Hov laying around like that.
He's pretty purposeful.
If he's doing something, it's actually...
It's going out.
Yeah, it's going out for something.
It's not like...
Guru probably got the stats for Hov.
I don't have the stats for Hov.
But I do have a lot, a lot of unreleased music.
And it comes in handy sometimes
because sometimes you need that artist
and be like, you know what?
I got this right here.
And you're like, all right, let me change this.
Let me change that.
So 90% of the work is done, right?
So you definitely need to have that archive.
And when you're in verses conversations,
what's your thoughts?
Like I know we had Jim up here a couple of days ago
and he was talking about different verses, right?
So he was talking about Drake and Jay.
And, you know, I think he was saying that...
He said Drake is the greatest rapper of all time.
Right.
Now you being a guy that's been through so many sessions,
so many decades, what are your thoughts on that?
On which part?
Greatest all time.
I don't know i think i think like um everybody's the greatest and at a particular point you know i'm saying like i think
drake fulfilled a level for for this generation that was is great you know i'm saying like
changed the game um strategically did it in a way that was financially
amazing for himself you know you know it's good when other people everybody's trying to sound like
you like that's you know what I'm saying like that's that's pretty hard like just like how
everybody trying to sound like Jay at one point you know what I'm saying that's a great moment
for a whole um and I think like when you mentioned greatest of all time it's like
a lot of things that you gotta factor in you know what i'm saying because like if i'm thinking like
the greatest of all times it's like how do how do you judge that like do you judge that from
the business moves do you judge that from how many records sold do you judge that from
the consistency do you judge that from the longevity
um because like if we're going to talk about that i definitely got to go to ll
you know i'm saying like ll like like that man is i've never seen a run like that i mean he
coined the term go yeah that's what i'm Like, LL has been doing it since Rock the Bells.
Correct.
And still getting new money today.
See what I'm saying?
And still look great today as well.
You know, and lyrically, when he was competing,
he was coming with smoke, for sure.
Made songs for the women, made songs for the streets,
made anthems for the stadiums, you know what I'm saying?
Like, mama gonna knock you out.
And not to go too nostalgic on different things,
but it's just like, when I'm thinking of like,
greatest I'm thinking of a lot of things,
I'm not thinking about who's hot at the particular moment,
because I don't think that that's fair,
because we saying all time,. You know saying and so like um
Jim Mike Jim could feel like that because of how he's basing it
you know saying and um, I
Think there's a couple of people I don't think it's one person that's out five day
my top five
Take big and Pac out. And X. Damn.
Nah, it's your top five.
You can't do that.
You got to be top five dead or alive.
You can't do that. Because everybody always do Big and Pac.
That's why they say dead or alive on purpose.
I'm not going to lie.
I'm bad with the top fives.
You know what I'm saying?
I'm bad with the top fives because I say the top five and get in the car and be like, damn,
I need to go do this back.
And people take that top of vibe talk serious.
You know what I'm saying?
But sometimes these lists are bullshit
because you never know who's giving a list.
You never know what their top list is on.
But somebody like yourself who's produced
for a majority of these artists.
And you produced half of the time
that hip hop has been around.
Correct.
The other half, you was a fan.
That's why something you said just now hit me
because it's like, that is true about somebody like a LL.
When we say greatest of all time, the key word is time.
Time, yeah.
So we got 50 years of hip hop.
That's why I love Kendrick.
You know, salute to Drake.
I can't put them in that yet
because I feel like it hasn't been enough time.
So it'd be like, what, 11 years, 12 years?
Yeah, but we said with Drake, right?
Drake, when did he drop that album?
Somebody said the other day.
Those are the mix we went.
2008 or so.
So far gone?
I don't know.
That's a good run, man.
That's a great run.
That's a good run.
Because, like, for me, if you ain't did 10 summers,
you ain't even in the conversation.
Like, that's how I, like, out the gate.
Like, just to enter the gates, you need 10 summers.
Right? Like, that's how I, like, out the gate. Like, just to enter the gates, you need 10 summers, right?
But for me, I feel that, like, to really, really, really be that person,
you got to be hot and cold at least five times.
Meaning, you have to come off your run and reinvent yourself again.
Come off that run, reinvent yourself again.
Come off that run, reinvent yourself again come off that run reinvent yourself again now you're in deep waters as far as like those great words and all times things are concerned because you
know everybody can move when it's when it's pretty outside but when that snowstorm comes
you got the right coat on can you survive that did you bring your gloves? And I watched Jay do that.
I watched Dog do that.
I watched so many artists, and you guys watched so many artists,
come back and be like, oh.
And then we watched artists that can't come back.
You couldn't even walk next to them.
And now you don't even care to talk about them.
You understand?
So coming up from that that's
impressive to me like when you can be the biggest and then go through a little bit and then come
back out bigger go through a little bit come back out bigger like that means that you really really
here like you really who you say you are and the people feel that and the people going to judge that but it's going it's going to take you being creative to how to to do that you understand
it and that's why like i do so many different things like the conversation in 2023 about me
is not the same as 98. that that that would be a failure you're talking camel racing when it comes
to swiss swiss on that camel race let's talk about that how the hell did you get talking camel racing when it comes to Swiss. Swiss only got camel racing teams. Let's talk about that.
How the hell did you get into camel racing?
Like, where did that come up?
Like, I'm going to get into camel racing.
This is my camel racing.
This is a little prototype of the jacket right here, too.
Nah, just for me, like, traveling to the Middle East,
particularly Saudi, I would always see the races,
and I was bugging because I never knew camels ran.
I didn't know that either.
When you look at a camel, you're thinking the camel's slow.
And so we was up late just watching the camel races.
I'm like, yo.
And everybody that I was around, they had a team.
And I was just like, damn wanna i wanna i wanna actually do this
and then it was like you know if you did this you'd be the first american to ever own the
camel racing team and once i heard that i was like oh i'm in but it wasn't like that easy it
took me like a year and a half to get certified with the federation and go through the process. I started off with eight camels, I got about 48 now.
We got about 22 trophies, which is huge.
We won in Kuwait, we won in Abu Dhabi,
we won in Oman, we won in Bahrain,
we won a lot even in Saudi.
And it's a traveling team, and a lot of people
laughed at me a little bit, because like, yo, what is Swiss doing with camels? I'm not gonna lie, it's a traveling team and a lot of people like laughed at me a little bit because like yo
what is swiss doing with camels i'm not gonna lie like it's probably gonna be like the biggest thing
i ever did is is get involved with that and make the federation global is that lucrative it's
serious wow it's serious serious like like the prize that um the last the last race was like, the prize was like $90 million.
What?
Yeah, it's like not dollars.
So it was probably about almost $30 million.
U.S.?
Yeah.
Did y'all win?
We came fifth place.
We got a little check, you know what I'm saying?
Like we got a little check, but just being in that particular,
the first Alula race, just being in that race,
that's, like, that's serious for the brand because it's just, it's the hardest race to get in.
This is all of the top, top, top dogs.
You know what I'm saying?
And, like, and the people that own the team, like, they're mega bees.
Like, you know what I'm saying?
This is not no joke.
Like, they got thousands of camels. Like like i don't got thousands of camels and um so to be in that race
was like it was super special and um yeah saudi bronx i gotta get you out of mercury
you know uh swiss you always seem content like you don't not content of content at the right
word but you don't seem like pressed. You seem very comfortable with who you are
and what you've done.
You don't see that in a lot of people.
Yeah, I think that like, I don't know.
People do be seeing heavy.
But I think that's because of the people's surroundings as well.
Like the way I live now is I live on vacation
and I go to work.
Dope.
Right?
Like I changed my whole mindset of just living at work every day.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, no escape.
Like, they train us to work, work, work, and then we got to kind of find a vacation.
And then I seen, like, a lot of my older peers want to start living at 70.
And I just like, yo, like, he's dressing like my kids at 70. He got a 20-year-old girlfriend at 70 and I just like yo like he's dressing like my kids at 70 he got a 20 year old girlfriend at
70 he just bought a brand new house at 70 like you trying to live at 70 no I want to live now
right you know I'm saying like we go so hard and I've been doing this successfully since since I
was 17 I'm 44 now you know I'm saying so it's like when we gonna start living like. I'm 44 now. You know what I'm saying? So it's like, when are we going to start living? When I'm 60?
You know,
life is too short
and I just choose
to just do different things.
I used to have
a lot of people's weight
on my back
out of love.
You know what I'm saying?
But it's just like,
you got to let people
do their thing as well
because what would happen is
it'd just nobody would grow.
If they could just call you every day, yo, it's only 5,000.
It's only this.
It's only that.
Okay, it's only that.
Then why you asking for it?
Right.
See what I'm saying?
So I had to, like, start saying no to people.
I had to just move the chessboard around because, like, I was living for everybody else.
Like, I wasn't living for myself.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, I was giving people in the street more time than my kids,
and that's retarded.
We can't do that.
You know what I'm saying?
So now my time is balanced more with my family,
and then when I see my friends, I love them all.
It's cool.
But before, it was the opposite way,
and we're trained to be with the homies,
and we're missing all the games and all this stuff.
Because, like like you know
even when Nas said
in Runaway
how he was explaining that
he wasn't the best
with Destiny
I feel like that
with my oldest son
I'm making up that time
today as we speak
see what I'm saying
because like
I thought because I was paying
he got all the fresh discs
the birthday party
is out of control
and then you sit down and you'll know that none of that mattered.
It's like, yeah, but you know the time when I studied for my play.
Yeah, you sent me a gift to congratulate,
but I would rather you sit in that seat.
That hit different.
You know what I'm saying?
So all the materialistic things the kids don't care about,
especially like they live with you.
They're not in the Bronx.
They're not growing up in the hood like we did.
You know what I'm saying?
They on them planes with us.
They on them trips and boats and all that stuff.
It's normal to them.
It's normal to them, right?
So you can't pay your kids off.
What you can do is pay them with quality time.
You know what i'm saying
playing a video game see my hands is hurting with egypt you know going to kj taking them to his
track meets and early in the morning just making the time yeah no that's the most difficult i mean
it was funny earlier my wife was hosting so my daughter facetimed me and it's something about
dad's love, right?
So my wife didn't make the game yesterday,
and I didn't make the game yesterday.
She gave my wife, like, okay, mom, it's okay.
But dad, how come you didn't make the game?
Like, she was really into it.
You heard her today, right?
And she pitched.
This was the first time she pitched.
And she was like, and you didn't make the game?
So, you know, it gives you a funny feeling.
You know what I mean?
But today, they got games.
You know where I'ma be?
Right at that game.
Right at that game.
Won't miss it for the world.
Is Egypt still producing?
Yeah, Egypt is turning into something different.
Okay.
He's turning into something different.
His mother put a lot of time and time,
like I've really seen her passing her gift,
like specifically.
I think he might be giving her
a run for her money
at this point
really
yes
cause
he play everyday
and so like
he practice probably
about 6 o'clock
and I just
everything just
gets quiet
and then you hear
like opera
you hear like
you hear like
some everyday
like
when he's playing
on the piano
it's just blowing my mind
sometimes I go upstairs
and look I'm like is that him or is that her and it's like him wow so now he's taking songs
that um that he made that he learned and now he's flipping them because he's like i'm tired of
playing like all these songs the same way so he'll make up he'll make it harder for himself to do it
and uh i think he only he he came out he only did jenn it. And I think he came out, he did Jennifer Hudson's show.
He comes out today actually.
How old is he?
He was 12.
12, wow.
It's happening too fast.
It's happening too fast.
That's how I feel.
I don't know how to think about it for a second.
You seen my partner, 12.
It's going fast.
I was gonna ask, how was the marriage life?
Because you on the road, wife's on the road, kids have activities.
How was that?
It's great.
I think that, you know, like, for me, like, having, like, a balance is key.
And having stability is key.
And, like, people don't understand, like, stability is really the key.
You understand?
Like, my wife organizes the program.
I'm able to be a good father because she's sitting with Mo,
and they coming up with the schedule, and I have nothing to do with it.
Same way.
You know what I'm saying?
She's like, yo.
Be here at 3.
This is this.
This, that, boom.
Oh, you know, this is the doctor's appointment.
Okay, boom.
This is this.
That's that.
Like, and my wife is on it
every like she gets a kick out of like i think that's the white side like you know
you know i mean like her white side is organized like she don't play and it made me be a better
parent you know i'm saying it made me be a better husband like we got rules that
we can't stay away for longer than two weeks like you you stay away after two weeks like you come back home it's like meeting a new person
and i don't we don't like that feeling you know what i'm saying so like if she's on tour from
anywhere two weeks is the max max max and you really want to come back like in a week and a half
you don't even want to stretch the whole two weeks and so you know the key thing is like
making time you know because i was explaining to somebody yesterday i was like look we can make the
time if i called y'all any one of y'all today was like and you got your daughter's game and i'm like
yo envy i got 50 million i need you to come here right now. I got 50 million for you.
You're going to find a way to get to that 50 million.
And you're going to explain to your daughter later how you, you know,
this helped everybody.
Our kids and our family is priceless.
You know what I'm saying?
So, like, I had to, like, I had to turn down a lot of money and still due to being in front of them. We don't get that
time back, you know, and it's like
it's priceless.
And I just want to say the black side can be organized too.
I can already see Twitter
thumbs getting crazy. You know what I mean?
The black side
is definitely organized. You know what I'm saying?
Monique is black. Mo is black.
Mo is black.
Shout to Mo.
18 years. I've been moving with me for
18 years. Last week,
18 years. Shout to Mo.
Unbelievable person.
The album is out right now. The EP is out
right now. Hip Hop 50 Volume 2.
We appreciate you for joining us, brother.
I wonder who they're going to get next. You know who they're going to get next to do it?
I didn't even realize this was going to be a series.
I remember the premiere one.
They had that fire Rhapsody and Remy record on there.
I think Hit-Boy might be next.
Hit-Boy next.
I think Hit-Boy next.
I think Tim might do one.
I think it's gonna be a decent little run.
Okay.
But I'm not stopping.
Like, this is like, for me, I was like,
if I'm gonna come outside,
I'm not gonna just do the Hip-Hop 50th and just go quiet.
I got like four more projects that's lined up.
You got Scarlet.
I wasn't even counting that.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
I wasn't even counting that.
Who is it?
It's just personal projects that I'm putting together.
Compilations, like?
Yeah.
But I want to keep them sweet and short just like this.
People are like, yo, this should have been 13 songs.
Y'all know y'all not listening to 13 songs.
I'm not listening to 13 of my damn songs.
So I know you're not listening to 13.
I think six, seven is a good number because the attention,
you're going to lose all those records.
It's just like, yeah, what's the focus?
On this right now, the focus is Say Less.
I think the video come out today uh with dirk and boogie and then um we
shoot the video with scarlett benny and kiss and then um we might do runaway or we might do do the
wayne record but by that time we already in the middle of the of the ocean right so 13 records
for what i'm not doing those no more is it still hard for you to
clear samples from jail it's like nah you know nah JJ actually loved the
record like I said to him he's like yo this is crazy Wayne is out of control
did they do a verse of it mmm I know where it came from I think I kind of
started that because I put featuring Wayne and Jay-Z. Everybody started saying,
Wayne and Jay-Z, Wayne and Jay-Z.
I'm like, Jay-Z's on the chorus,
but I sampled him on the chorus.
You understand?
Like, let's be clear.
Do I want Jay to do a verse on it?
If he's up to it.
But like I said,
you know that that man is enjoying his life.
I'm not calling him about no record right now.
Maybe next week.
Maybe next week.
Well, the Swiss beats. it's the Breakfast Club.
Good morning.
Zone.
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