The Breakfast Club - Swizz Beatz Talks New Music, Jay-Z, DMX Spirit, Verzuz, GOAT Talk + More

Episode Date: April 26, 2023

Swizz Beatz Talks New Music, Jay-Z, DMX Spirit, Verzuz, GOAT Talk + MoreSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

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Starting point is 00:00:00 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.
Starting point is 00:00:16 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.
Starting point is 00:00:30 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.
Starting point is 00:00:48 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
Starting point is 00:01:06 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?
Starting point is 00:01:34 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
Starting point is 00:01:55 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.
Starting point is 00:02:14 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.
Starting point is 00:02:23 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,
Starting point is 00:02:32 six songs though? It was pretty, it was pretty easy. I actually like that amount of length for music. It's easy to digest
Starting point is 00:02:41 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
Starting point is 00:02:56 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
Starting point is 00:03:35 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?
Starting point is 00:04:08 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.
Starting point is 00:04:23 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.
Starting point is 00:04:42 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.
Starting point is 00:04:57 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.
Starting point is 00:05:31 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.
Starting point is 00:05:49 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
Starting point is 00:06:05 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?
Starting point is 00:06:25 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.
Starting point is 00:06:40 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?
Starting point is 00:07:07 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.
Starting point is 00:07:22 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
Starting point is 00:08:00 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.
Starting point is 00:08:24 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?
Starting point is 00:08:39 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%.
Starting point is 00:08:54 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
Starting point is 00:09:15 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
Starting point is 00:09:35 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.
Starting point is 00:09:52 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
Starting point is 00:10:14 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.
Starting point is 00:10:36 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.
Starting point is 00:10:50 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
Starting point is 00:11:10 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
Starting point is 00:11:25 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
Starting point is 00:11:32 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
Starting point is 00:11:43 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
Starting point is 00:12:17 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
Starting point is 00:12:52 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,
Starting point is 00:13:13 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.
Starting point is 00:13:33 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.
Starting point is 00:13:51 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?
Starting point is 00:14:08 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
Starting point is 00:14:23 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?
Starting point is 00:14:57 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
Starting point is 00:15:16 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.
Starting point is 00:15:43 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?
Starting point is 00:15:56 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.
Starting point is 00:16:17 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,
Starting point is 00:16:33 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.
Starting point is 00:16:43 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.
Starting point is 00:16:58 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.
Starting point is 00:17:18 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
Starting point is 00:17:55 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
Starting point is 00:18:08 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
Starting point is 00:18:16 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
Starting point is 00:18:33 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
Starting point is 00:18:52 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
Starting point is 00:19:04 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
Starting point is 00:19:25 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.
Starting point is 00:19:59 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
Starting point is 00:20:47 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,
Starting point is 00:21:15 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
Starting point is 00:21:45 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
Starting point is 00:22:26 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,
Starting point is 00:22:55 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.
Starting point is 00:23:10 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.
Starting point is 00:23:21 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.
Starting point is 00:23:48 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.
Starting point is 00:24:05 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.
Starting point is 00:24:23 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.
Starting point is 00:24:53 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.
Starting point is 00:25:12 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
Starting point is 00:25:30 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.
Starting point is 00:25:59 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,
Starting point is 00:26:21 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.
Starting point is 00:26:42 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.
Starting point is 00:26:57 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.
Starting point is 00:27:13 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?
Starting point is 00:27:29 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
Starting point is 00:27:59 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?
Starting point is 00:28:21 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
Starting point is 00:28:37 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,
Starting point is 00:28:52 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
Starting point is 00:29:24 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.
Starting point is 00:29:38 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.
Starting point is 00:29:52 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?
Starting point is 00:30:09 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
Starting point is 00:30:24 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?
Starting point is 00:30:44 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
Starting point is 00:31:26 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.
Starting point is 00:32:08 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.
Starting point is 00:32:30 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
Starting point is 00:32:55 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.
Starting point is 00:33:12 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
Starting point is 00:33:30 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.
Starting point is 00:33:44 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
Starting point is 00:33:57 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?
Starting point is 00:34:09 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.
Starting point is 00:34:25 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.
Starting point is 00:35:06 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
Starting point is 00:35:26 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?
Starting point is 00:36:09 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.
Starting point is 00:36:32 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.
Starting point is 00:37:11 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.
Starting point is 00:37:47 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?
Starting point is 00:38:01 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.
Starting point is 00:38:24 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.
Starting point is 00:38:55 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.
Starting point is 00:39:11 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
Starting point is 00:39:48 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,
Starting point is 00:39:59 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.
Starting point is 00:40:11 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,
Starting point is 00:40:27 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,
Starting point is 00:40:41 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
Starting point is 00:40:53 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
Starting point is 00:41:03 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,
Starting point is 00:41:27 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?
Starting point is 00:41:39 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,
Starting point is 00:42:08 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?
Starting point is 00:42:20 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?
Starting point is 00:42:30 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
Starting point is 00:42:46 at this point really yes cause he play everyday and so like he practice probably about 6 o'clock
Starting point is 00:42:53 and I just everything just gets quiet and then you hear like opera you hear like you hear like some everyday
Starting point is 00:43:01 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
Starting point is 00:43:22 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.
Starting point is 00:43:37 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.
Starting point is 00:43:56 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?
Starting point is 00:44:15 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.
Starting point is 00:44:24 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
Starting point is 00:45:05 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?
Starting point is 00:45:42 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?
Starting point is 00:46:00 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
Starting point is 00:46:15 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.
Starting point is 00:46:30 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.
Starting point is 00:46:44 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.
Starting point is 00:46:57 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,
Starting point is 00:47:15 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
Starting point is 00:47:50 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.
Starting point is 00:48:13 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.
Starting point is 00:48:28 Good morning. Zone. Hold on one second. All right, we got more with Swiss Beats when we come back. Don't move. It's the Breakfast Club on BET. All right, we got more with Swiss Beats. It's the Breakfast Club on BET.
Starting point is 00:48:41 Welcome back. We are the Breakfast Club. We got more with Swiss Beats. Keep it locked. We got more with Swiss Beats when we come back. It's the Breakfast Club on BET. Welcome back. We are The Breakfast Club. We got more with Swiss Beats. Keep it locked. We got more with Swiss Beats when we come back. It's The Breakfast Club on BET. That was The Breakfast... That was Swiss Beats on The Breakfast Club. We got Donkey the Day Up Next.
Starting point is 00:48:55 Don't move. It's The Breakfast Club on BET.

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