WEBVTT - Nas In Conversation with Rick Rubin 0:00:15.436 --> 0:00:25.996 Pushkin, Naz dropped one of the most universally loved rap 0:00:25.996 --> 0:00:30.596 albums of all time with Illmatic. Since releasing that homage 0:00:30.636 --> 0:00:34.116 to the gritty streets of his childhood home, Queensbridge, Naz 0:00:34.196 --> 0:00:37.036 has remained one of the greatest mcs of all time. 0:00:37.756 --> 0:00:41.036 I made the fade, famous to change, Famous, Jubio man, 0:00:41.076 --> 0:00:45.036 chess mast, stainless, amazing, grace, imbraceably aged. With a few 0:00:45.116 --> 0:00:46.956 legends in hip hop have been able to maintain the 0:00:47.036 --> 0:00:51.076 relevance over several decades based on their skill alone, Naz 0:00:51.156 --> 0:00:54.596 has never chased headlines or crossover success. He's always seemed 0:00:54.636 --> 0:00:57.876 focused on elevating his craft in the culture, and that 0:00:57.956 --> 0:01:02.356 dedications paid off King's Disease as Naza's twelfth album and 0:01:02.436 --> 0:01:05.676 earned him his fourteenth Grammy nomination. It's up for Best 0:01:05.796 --> 0:01:09.116 Rap Album at this year's awards. Rick Rubin connected with 0:01:09.236 --> 0:01:12.556 NOAs over Zoom recently to talk about his earliest experiences 0:01:12.556 --> 0:01:15.876 with rapping queens how recording his last album with Kanye 0:01:15.956 --> 0:01:18.316 West and Wayoming almost took him out of his own 0:01:18.676 --> 0:01:21.196 and how early beef of jay Z made them both 0:01:21.396 --> 0:01:28.476 stronger rappers. This is broken record liner notes for the 0:01:28.516 --> 0:01:37.716 digital age I'm justin Richmond. Here's Rick Rubin with Nasty Nos. 0:01:38.716 --> 0:01:43.156 What's going on? Legend? Everything's well? How are you, sir? Yo? 0:01:43.356 --> 0:01:45.556 This is It's an honor to talk to you. Man 0:01:46.276 --> 0:01:49.436 the same. It's my pleasure always anytime I get to 0:01:49.476 --> 0:01:52.516 see you, it's a good day. Love man. Tell me 0:01:52.556 --> 0:01:56.116 about the music in your house when you were growing up. Huh, 0:01:56.636 --> 0:02:00.196 My mom was playing What's you Gonna Do with My 0:02:00.276 --> 0:02:06.316 Loving that? Stephanie Mills, Patty, you know all the records 0:02:06.316 --> 0:02:09.116 that was out, Like I remember the early eighties records, 0:02:09.756 --> 0:02:15.396 and then my pops was playing a wide range of 0:02:15.396 --> 0:02:18.276 of things. He had everything from the radio station with 0:02:18.396 --> 0:02:22.956 Wolfman Jack. He had fail and things like that, you know, 0:02:23.356 --> 0:02:31.196 Jazz whatever, Lionel, Richie whatever, all those early eighties records, 0:02:31.236 --> 0:02:36.796 early seventy nine. I grew up at right around that 0:02:36.916 --> 0:02:40.916 time when like the these are the breaks and rappers delight. 0:02:40.996 --> 0:02:44.236 I was young, but I was absorbing that stuff. Would 0:02:44.276 --> 0:02:48.836 you say that the music in that your parents played 0:02:48.876 --> 0:02:50.956 was reflective of the other music that the kids in 0:02:50.956 --> 0:02:55.196 the neighborhood would be hearing. Are not necessarily not necessarily 0:02:56.396 --> 0:03:00.676 you think because of your dad's jazz background, Because the 0:03:01.036 --> 0:03:04.196 kids a lot of the kids parents, I think were 0:03:04.276 --> 0:03:07.876 younger than my parents. A lot of my friends parents 0:03:07.956 --> 0:03:11.796 most of them were younger than my parents, and they 0:03:11.836 --> 0:03:16.996 were playing the music of their time. I think my pops, 0:03:17.356 --> 0:03:23.516 my pops, he's from Mississippi, you know, and he get 0:03:23.596 --> 0:03:25.916 he got everything that was going on out there and 0:03:26.356 --> 0:03:29.316 what they were playing with the other people parents that 0:03:29.796 --> 0:03:33.796 uh and the radios was playing. But we didn't play 0:03:33.836 --> 0:03:36.476 that in the house all the time. Now, It wasn't 0:03:36.476 --> 0:03:38.516 like I didn't own all of those records. When I 0:03:38.516 --> 0:03:41.596 started buying records, it was it was like I was 0:03:41.596 --> 0:03:43.996 the record buying the house. He had jazz records, but 0:03:44.596 --> 0:03:48.116 in African records and stuff, but it wasn't a lot 0:03:48.116 --> 0:03:51.436 of music like you would think. Do you think that um, 0:03:52.196 --> 0:03:57.996 having those influences affected your both appreciation of music and 0:03:58.036 --> 0:04:01.156 the way that you wrote going forward. Yeah, because the 0:04:01.276 --> 0:04:08.036 sounds was like disco and R and B was was 0:04:08.036 --> 0:04:12.716 a thing. And the songs to me, they were like, um, 0:04:12.756 --> 0:04:15.276 they were rap songs before they were rap songs like 0:04:15.356 --> 0:04:19.956 over like a fat rat and um, you know Evelyn 0:04:20.036 --> 0:04:23.916 Champagne king. To me, they you know, we would move 0:04:23.956 --> 0:04:26.156 our head to it, like you know, that's the jam 0:04:26.156 --> 0:04:29.956 and that. So when I wanted to you know, when 0:04:29.996 --> 0:04:33.516 Sugarhill Gang had the the Good Times record and they 0:04:33.556 --> 0:04:37.436 flipped it, it was just rapping. I tried to rap 0:04:37.516 --> 0:04:40.236 like them. I tried to I tried to rap like 0:04:40.476 --> 0:04:47.316 Um Um Curtis Blow. So that's that's when I first 0:04:47.356 --> 0:04:53.236 started to feel rapped like Curtis and Um and those guys. 0:04:53.516 --> 0:04:59.156 Tela rocking them, your guys, was your first experience of 0:04:59.236 --> 0:05:01.316 hip hop music from those records? Or was it in 0:05:01.356 --> 0:05:05.276 the park first? It was a combination of both. It 0:05:05.396 --> 0:05:08.316 was a combination because when I was a kid, I 0:05:08.316 --> 0:05:11.396 would hear all the guys talking about, you know, who 0:05:11.476 --> 0:05:15.196 was at the center last night, and the community Center 0:05:15.396 --> 0:05:19.076 at night turned into I guess like a club or 0:05:19.196 --> 0:05:21.836 sometimes you know, and in the park a lot of 0:05:21.956 --> 0:05:24.036 guys would come out there. I would hear all of 0:05:24.076 --> 0:05:28.476 these rapped legends were in the park and and hear 0:05:28.516 --> 0:05:33.196 all these stories. So yeah, it was definitely in the park, 0:05:33.356 --> 0:05:36.156 but it was a combination as a park. And then 0:05:36.276 --> 0:05:41.116 somebody's radio describe more about like the the what was 0:05:41.156 --> 0:05:42.916 going on in the park and what was going on 0:05:43.076 --> 0:05:46.996 in the community center. Paint the picture and I just 0:05:47.076 --> 0:05:51.196 love to imagine what you saw, all right. So with 0:05:51.276 --> 0:05:56.076 the community center parties, I was definitely too young for that. 0:05:57.316 --> 0:06:02.156 I would see all the people going dressed up. If 0:06:02.156 --> 0:06:04.556 it was winter, they had the sheepskin coats on. They 0:06:04.556 --> 0:06:07.836 would excite it like I thought they were going to 0:06:07.956 --> 0:06:11.076 some big play. I don't know where. I didn't realize 0:06:11.516 --> 0:06:13.876 they were going right to the community center, right in 0:06:13.876 --> 0:06:17.836 the neighborhood, because you're talking, I'm talking eighty three eighty five, 0:06:18.556 --> 0:06:22.396 you know. And in the park they had, you know, 0:06:22.516 --> 0:06:25.476 people would come there and they have like set up 0:06:25.476 --> 0:06:28.276 a stage like I don't know, the city would have 0:06:28.436 --> 0:06:30.916 people come out there, set up a stage and do 0:06:31.476 --> 0:06:34.596 shows Like I'm looking at people in costumes and stuff 0:06:34.636 --> 0:06:37.756 like that. Just wild stuff I would see in the parks. 0:06:37.756 --> 0:06:39.876 And then the jams will happen. When when I got 0:06:40.076 --> 0:06:42.596 when they got to the park jams, you know, my 0:06:42.676 --> 0:06:44.676 moms didn't want me to go over there. So we 0:06:44.716 --> 0:06:47.596 could hear it from across the street. We could watch them, 0:06:47.836 --> 0:06:50.796 even help them carry records. You know, you know you're 0:06:50.836 --> 0:06:52.556 gonna throw a part, You're gonna throw a jam. We 0:06:52.596 --> 0:06:55.156 see them coming through the block with the equipment. Get 0:06:55.156 --> 0:06:56.996 out the way, look, get out the way kids and 0:06:57.036 --> 0:06:59.796 we want to We were excited seeing this happen. They 0:06:59.836 --> 0:07:03.996 were homemade speakers, all this um um the wires where 0:07:03.996 --> 0:07:08.396 they would uh take electricity from the street lamp and 0:07:08.396 --> 0:07:12.076 and and plug it up to the equipment outside and 0:07:12.436 --> 0:07:16.436 watch the cops ride around to make sure everything was okay, 0:07:16.636 --> 0:07:19.596 tell them to turn it down, and then they leave, 0:07:19.636 --> 0:07:21.636 and then they turn it back up, and the cops 0:07:21.716 --> 0:07:23.556 just got tired of messing with them. They just let it, 0:07:23.676 --> 0:07:26.596 let it play so um. And then I got a 0:07:26.636 --> 0:07:28.236 little older. I think it was like the end of 0:07:28.236 --> 0:07:32.836 the community center. I remember, Um, they're being MC battles 0:07:32.876 --> 0:07:38.796 in there is mcs from my block. Um, the illmatic mcs. 0:07:38.916 --> 0:07:41.836 They were from my block, you know, Sudan and these 0:07:41.876 --> 0:07:45.196 guys who I looked up to, who who were really 0:07:45.196 --> 0:07:47.636 good at what they did. I would I would listen 0:07:47.676 --> 0:07:50.916 to them wrapped here and there. But um, how much 0:07:50.916 --> 0:07:53.676 older were they than you? I want to say maybe 0:07:54.076 --> 0:07:58.636 five years maybe with five five note because then I 0:07:58.756 --> 0:08:02.476 was like maybe about six seven years. Some of them 0:08:02.516 --> 0:08:06.876 are little older. But Jeff Rod from my building was 0:08:06.956 --> 0:08:09.396 known for doing needle lifting. You know, he didn't even 0:08:09.436 --> 0:08:11.596 have to he just knew where to lift the needle. 0:08:11.676 --> 0:08:14.036 It wouldn't. I don't even think he had headphones on. 0:08:14.116 --> 0:08:17.436 He just knew and he was legendary for that. The 0:08:17.476 --> 0:08:20.276 Old Brothers were in my building. They made speakers that 0:08:20.436 --> 0:08:23.276 was so big they just would rattle the building, and 0:08:23.276 --> 0:08:25.356 they won the first floor and I was on the 0:08:25.396 --> 0:08:28.436 fifth floor, but we enjoyed it. It It would rattle the building. 0:08:28.836 --> 0:08:31.716 But because the speakers were so big, they couldn't even 0:08:31.716 --> 0:08:34.956 get him through the apartment door to take outside. But 0:08:35.076 --> 0:08:41.196 the sound on it was incredible. It's amazing the home 0:08:41.316 --> 0:08:45.436 grown aspects of the hip hop culture that most people 0:08:45.476 --> 0:08:49.036 don't know about. You know, most people experience if they 0:08:49.036 --> 0:08:51.236 come from somewhere else, if they weren't from New York 0:08:51.276 --> 0:08:54.476 at that period of time, they experienced it as you 0:08:54.516 --> 0:08:56.396 know songs that came on the radio. But there was 0:08:56.436 --> 0:09:01.636 a whole culture and life around hip hop music where 0:09:01.636 --> 0:09:03.876 it's the music was just part of it. There was 0:09:03.956 --> 0:09:08.196 so much to it right right, definitely, there was so 0:09:08.316 --> 0:09:11.676 much to it. And you know, the style of clothes 0:09:11.716 --> 0:09:16.076 everyone was wearing because at the time, you know, pumas 0:09:16.156 --> 0:09:20.356 and all these different sneakers was getting taken off your 0:09:20.356 --> 0:09:22.916 feet like if you had if you had a fresh 0:09:22.956 --> 0:09:25.756 prayer of sneakers on and you come to that park, jam, 0:09:25.836 --> 0:09:28.956 I'd see somebody running. I see people want your sneakers, 0:09:29.036 --> 0:09:32.196 like just to you know, that's so funny. I was 0:09:32.236 --> 0:09:35.996 talking to somebody the other day, how everybody's iced out now. 0:09:36.116 --> 0:09:38.076 It's so much better now. You couldn't even wear a 0:09:38.116 --> 0:09:40.996 gold name plate back in those days, just a regular 0:09:41.076 --> 0:09:44.236 goal thin nameplate like Rais or blade thin on your 0:09:44.236 --> 0:09:45.876 on your net. You couldn't even wear you We'd have 0:09:45.916 --> 0:09:48.396 to watch where you go some places with that. So 0:09:48.556 --> 0:09:51.996 all of that added to it. It put it was 0:09:52.036 --> 0:09:55.836 in the energy of the music. I think when did 0:09:55.836 --> 0:10:00.796 you first start writing? I think um, early eighties. It 0:10:00.956 --> 0:10:04.276 was rest in peace to my man Andre Herrell. I 0:10:04.276 --> 0:10:06.996 would tell him this all the time, him and his 0:10:07.156 --> 0:10:10.516 guy in the group, doctor jackoman Us to hide. They 0:10:10.756 --> 0:10:14.556 they had a story mister shark in the ocean, can 0:10:14.676 --> 0:10:18.156 you find my magic potion? And I was like, wait, 0:10:18.236 --> 0:10:23.836 how did the story start here? And then help me 0:10:24.396 --> 0:10:31.836 that well, I don't know, but you know Slick Rick 0:10:31.876 --> 0:10:36.716 with Lottie Dotty, So those those those people made me like, 0:10:36.916 --> 0:10:40.596 you know, even uh my man Mellie mel and Raheemu 0:10:40.916 --> 0:10:44.796 Raheem's verse on Um the Message and Mellie mel the 0:10:44.796 --> 0:10:48.676 way closes it out. Um those though, they would like 0:10:48.716 --> 0:10:50.876 put pictures in my mind, and I was like, all right, 0:10:51.236 --> 0:10:54.636 I can write from that perspective. You know, all these guys, 0:10:55.676 --> 0:10:57.636 did you did you know that it was something that 0:10:57.676 --> 0:11:00.196 you wanted to do, like that you were going to 0:11:00.276 --> 0:11:04.836 dedicate your life to it. You know, I didn't know 0:11:05.116 --> 0:11:08.956 it was really possible to really get into the rap game. 0:11:09.916 --> 0:11:12.436 I know I wanted to. I know I could picture 0:11:12.476 --> 0:11:17.836 myself in it since I mean since I first started 0:11:17.876 --> 0:11:21.916 hearing rap. You know, I know I could picture myself 0:11:21.956 --> 0:11:25.716 in it. I would hear like tapes by the Cold 0:11:25.716 --> 0:11:29.796 Crush Brothers, but not really paying attention because even though 0:11:29.796 --> 0:11:33.156 it was the most popping tape out to me, I 0:11:33.196 --> 0:11:36.716 can hear the time in their voice. I can hear 0:11:36.716 --> 0:11:39.436 the time and the beat, the sound. I knew that 0:11:40.076 --> 0:11:42.556 it wasn't for me at that time. I said, end 0:11:42.636 --> 0:11:46.716 time will be my time. But I didn't pay too 0:11:46.756 --> 0:11:49.556 much attention to those tastes because I felt like it's 0:11:49.556 --> 0:11:51.596 like trying to play a kid. Frank Sinatra, who I 0:11:51.636 --> 0:11:54.156 love now, but it's like I don't get it, but 0:11:54.276 --> 0:11:57.316 you get older, you get what they meant at the time. 0:11:57.876 --> 0:11:59.876 But those were the times I would hear a little 0:11:59.876 --> 0:12:03.076 bit of bits and pieces and still, you know, try 0:12:03.116 --> 0:12:06.636 to emulate that. What was the first the first record 0:12:06.636 --> 0:12:09.676 that you heard where it's like, oh, this is this 0:12:09.716 --> 0:12:12.436 is not the older kids music anymore, this is my music. 0:12:12.956 --> 0:12:14.836 I mean I knew it when I heard the breaks. 0:12:15.356 --> 0:12:18.716 Cut your hands, everybody, if you got what it takes 0:12:18.796 --> 0:12:21.196 by Curtis Blow, Curtis Blow, and I want you to 0:12:21.276 --> 0:12:26.156 know that there it was grown folks music. It had 0:12:26.156 --> 0:12:30.596 a disco sound, but the way he commanded your attention 0:12:30.676 --> 0:12:34.556 on the song, I knew and like he didn't have 0:12:34.596 --> 0:12:37.636 to be a singer to demand that type of respect 0:12:37.796 --> 0:12:40.676 that a singer would demand on a record. The way 0:12:40.716 --> 0:12:45.556 he spoke, his pronunciation, in what he would do with 0:12:45.636 --> 0:12:49.116 his voice, and the breakdowns of the song would make 0:12:49.156 --> 0:12:51.236 me go, Okay, this is this could this is a 0:12:51.276 --> 0:12:54.676 big record. It's not an underground record, it's not a mixtape, 0:12:55.036 --> 0:12:58.596 it's a it's a record record on a label that's known. 0:12:59.636 --> 0:13:04.876 What was the record label, um Mercury, I think Mercury exactly. 0:13:04.956 --> 0:13:07.316 That was a known label. So that's what I knew, 0:13:07.436 --> 0:13:10.916 Like Okay, this thing is a real record. How did 0:13:10.916 --> 0:13:14.916 your parents react to hip hop? My pops was was 0:13:14.996 --> 0:13:17.076 cool with it. My mom was cool with it too, 0:13:17.836 --> 0:13:20.756 but I guess she didn't want me and my brother 0:13:20.836 --> 0:13:24.396 to grow up to be like, like, you know, too 0:13:24.436 --> 0:13:29.076 hard whatever or two hoodlums or you know whatever they 0:13:29.116 --> 0:13:33.436 called it back then, and show I would repeat. You know, 0:13:33.716 --> 0:13:35.556 a son said, Daddy, I don't want to go to 0:13:35.596 --> 0:13:37.756 school because my teacher's a jerk. She might think I'm 0:13:37.756 --> 0:13:39.956 a fool, and all the kids smoke griefa. I think 0:13:39.956 --> 0:13:43.036 it'd be cheaper if, you know. She's like, what you 0:13:43.076 --> 0:13:45.356 know what I'm saying, and she's like, Nah, that ain't 0:13:45.396 --> 0:13:47.676 that ain't for you. But I'm like laughing. I'm like, 0:13:47.836 --> 0:13:50.516 it is because we're all we're all little kids, not 0:13:50.596 --> 0:13:53.596 supposed to be singing these songs, but they're so dope 0:13:54.196 --> 0:13:57.316 around each other. We say we're singing, we're singing the message. 0:13:58.116 --> 0:14:00.396 You asked your dad to play on your first record. 0:14:00.436 --> 0:14:02.916 He played trumpet on your first records? That correct, right? 0:14:03.156 --> 0:14:07.236 How did that come together? Like the idea of you'd 0:14:07.236 --> 0:14:09.996 never hear a solo on a hip hop record, How 0:14:10.036 --> 0:14:15.036 did you know to do it well? Because it's pops, 0:14:16.396 --> 0:14:25.756 you know, mister Olu Dara. He is before my time musically, 0:14:25.836 --> 0:14:28.876 of course, but now here it is. I am with 0:14:28.956 --> 0:14:33.236 a record deal with Columbia Records. I'm like, yo, yo, 0:14:33.316 --> 0:14:39.276 this is so cool. Your son's on Columbia Records, rough House, Columbia, 0:14:39.676 --> 0:14:43.636 I have an album. This is a dream that we 0:14:43.716 --> 0:14:47.636 could do something together. So I called him, you know, 0:14:47.876 --> 0:14:49.756 and I told him when he got to the studio, 0:14:49.796 --> 0:14:52.556 I said, play what reminds you of me and my 0:14:52.636 --> 0:14:57.556 brother and our family when we were kids. Just play 0:14:57.596 --> 0:15:11.436 whatever that feels like to you. Beautiful and uh, he 0:15:11.556 --> 0:15:29.076 played that beautiful. We'll be right back with more from 0:15:29.116 --> 0:15:38.276 Rick Rubin and Nas after the break, We're back with 0:15:38.316 --> 0:15:42.316 more of Rick Rubin's conversation with Nas. Tell me about 0:15:42.316 --> 0:15:45.036 getting signed. Tell me about the feeling of what was 0:15:45.076 --> 0:15:47.756 going on, what you had done at that point, and 0:15:47.836 --> 0:15:53.036 then the excitement of that moment. Man, it was. It 0:15:53.156 --> 0:15:56.476 was a moment that I felt like it was coming. 0:15:56.556 --> 0:16:00.076 I felt like it was it was possible, um and 0:16:00.196 --> 0:16:06.476 when it came, I felt of course, of course, I'm like, 0:16:06.596 --> 0:16:12.356 I'm happy, you know, beyond happy, because I'm I'm with 0:16:12.516 --> 0:16:15.476 Columbia Records. Now, I mean shout out to Chris Schwartz 0:16:15.476 --> 0:16:19.116 and Roughhouse, shout out to Faith Newman who signed me. 0:16:19.796 --> 0:16:24.316 Shout out to MC search who helped put that deal together. 0:16:25.076 --> 0:16:28.916 And I was happy to be involved with so many 0:16:28.956 --> 0:16:32.236 creative people like those people I named, people who are 0:16:32.716 --> 0:16:35.276 to me vets in the music business. So I felt 0:16:35.316 --> 0:16:38.316 like I was gonna be kind of protected with you know, 0:16:38.436 --> 0:16:41.716 just with the tutelage and from these guys. I felt 0:16:41.716 --> 0:16:45.316 like I was in a safe situation. So it was 0:16:45.396 --> 0:16:49.276 it was like a super dream come true. It was 0:16:49.356 --> 0:16:54.356 it was like, this is what we all looking for 0:16:54.676 --> 0:16:57.276 right here, and it's happening great. And tell me about 0:16:57.276 --> 0:16:59.756 the making of the first album, the process of it. 0:17:00.756 --> 0:17:06.196 The making of the first album was like now things 0:17:06.196 --> 0:17:09.876 are real. Now the studios are real. Now Out had 0:17:09.956 --> 0:17:15.356 worked in power Play studios with Lars Professor years ago before, 0:17:15.436 --> 0:17:17.796 well like two years before I actually got a deal. 0:17:17.836 --> 0:17:20.756 I've been in power playing. That's a serious place. But 0:17:20.956 --> 0:17:26.236 now it's here, my budget, my album for me, not 0:17:26.356 --> 0:17:29.756 just hanging out with Lars Professor. So now I'm here 0:17:29.756 --> 0:17:33.156 in the house of Metal chun King. Now I'm I'm 0:17:33.196 --> 0:17:36.596 looking at these plaques on the wall and all these 0:17:36.636 --> 0:17:41.076 great artists and the studio is real. The engineer, I 0:17:41.196 --> 0:17:43.196 never met him before, but he's about to be in 0:17:43.236 --> 0:17:46.076 my life now and I'm learning from him and he's 0:17:46.156 --> 0:17:49.916 learning about me at the same time. So I kind 0:17:49.956 --> 0:17:53.116 of like a fish to water because of the previous 0:17:55.196 --> 0:17:57.796 experience with Las Professor, and he's telling me not to 0:17:58.156 --> 0:18:00.796 pop your ps so loud in the microphone. He's telling 0:18:00.836 --> 0:18:04.556 me how to even stand at the microphone. So I 0:18:04.596 --> 0:18:07.036 had some experience, and then I was working with him also, 0:18:07.276 --> 0:18:11.036 so it was like we were both happy because he 0:18:11.196 --> 0:18:14.156 was a wild pitch cool label, but now here I 0:18:14.196 --> 0:18:18.476 am on this major label. So we would kind of smiling, laughing, 0:18:18.596 --> 0:18:21.476 like Okay, this is the way it's supposed to be. 0:18:21.636 --> 0:18:24.756 So we went to it like like we was waiting 0:18:25.076 --> 0:18:28.396 from two years ago to now I'm eighteen. I got 0:18:28.396 --> 0:18:31.556 this deal, It's go time. It was like we just 0:18:31.596 --> 0:18:35.356 went and the were the songs written before you went 0:18:35.356 --> 0:18:38.156 into the studio. Tell me about the process of getting 0:18:38.196 --> 0:18:41.276 the material together. Yeah, half of the half of the 0:18:41.316 --> 0:18:46.076 material was already done. And when I got to the studio, 0:18:46.156 --> 0:18:49.396 when I when we started to record, I came up 0:18:49.436 --> 0:18:51.196 with a lot of things right there on the spot 0:18:51.236 --> 0:18:54.116 as well, but I would say about fifty percent was wrote. 0:18:55.156 --> 0:18:58.596 And might you write without hearing a beat? Or we're 0:18:59.116 --> 0:19:02.716 do you always write based on a beat? Back? Then 0:19:02.756 --> 0:19:05.396 I wrote to different beats, Like whatever I thought was 0:19:05.956 --> 0:19:08.796 a dope record out, I would get the instrumental and 0:19:08.916 --> 0:19:12.556 just sloop that and right to that, like whoever's record 0:19:12.596 --> 0:19:14.556 that I thought was hot. And then when I went 0:19:14.596 --> 0:19:17.556 to the studio, I would find the timing of the 0:19:17.676 --> 0:19:21.356 rhyme to that beat, to the new beat, my actual beat. 0:19:21.396 --> 0:19:23.996 I would find which rap had the timing that would 0:19:24.476 --> 0:19:28.756 blend in that beat, right understood. So you typically write 0:19:28.796 --> 0:19:30.316 to a beat that would be not the beat that 0:19:30.356 --> 0:19:32.396 we hear on the record, But then you would find 0:19:32.396 --> 0:19:34.516 a beat that would work, a new beat that would 0:19:34.556 --> 0:19:38.636 work for something you already wrote something else exactly cool, 0:19:38.676 --> 0:19:40.796 And some of it I did get the tracks and 0:19:40.836 --> 0:19:43.796 write to it, Like um when Q Tip produced One Love, 0:19:44.516 --> 0:19:46.796 I did get that on cassette tape and took it 0:19:46.876 --> 0:19:50.156 home to write to it. I did get some of 0:19:50.156 --> 0:19:52.836 the tracks and right there in the studio, like with Premiere, 0:19:53.236 --> 0:19:57.956 I wrote some of it right there in the studio. Yeah, 0:19:58.036 --> 0:20:01.396 with lis my Man. Dj elis from my neighborhood. Who 0:20:01.436 --> 0:20:03.836 produced the song that my Pops is on Life's a Bitch. 0:20:04.676 --> 0:20:07.836 I wrote that right there on the spot. So some 0:20:07.916 --> 0:20:12.116 of it was just spontaneous. Others was like pieces of 0:20:12.116 --> 0:20:14.876 papers that I had just had a beginning, like maybe 0:20:14.916 --> 0:20:18.196 like six bars, and I like this six bars, and 0:20:18.236 --> 0:20:21.476 I match it up with another song. Another rhyme I 0:20:21.516 --> 0:20:24.516 had was probably had like twelve bars, and and then 0:20:24.756 --> 0:20:27.596 and then I would write the last you know, four 0:20:27.716 --> 0:20:31.236 or five bars or whatever. Would you always be writing? 0:20:31.276 --> 0:20:35.236 Would you always be taking notes in general? Yeah? Years 0:20:35.236 --> 0:20:39.116 ago when I was coming out of a teenager into 0:20:39.236 --> 0:20:45.196 like my early twenties. Yeah, then I then just everything 0:20:45.316 --> 0:20:53.516 just roller coast. So tell me about the experience of 0:20:53.556 --> 0:21:00.276 going from really starting from essentially nothing. Not really you 0:21:00.716 --> 0:21:03.796 came from the very beginning, and you built yourself up 0:21:03.836 --> 0:21:06.516 to be the number one MC in New York No, 0:21:06.756 --> 0:21:12.676 like without question, and in your fantasy of what it 0:21:12.756 --> 0:21:15.076 was going to be like what your life would be 0:21:15.156 --> 0:21:20.596 like in success? How different is the reality of success 0:21:20.796 --> 0:21:26.716 versus the fantasy of success. It's strange. Um, you know, 0:21:27.116 --> 0:21:34.196 everyone has their own journey. Um. At times it was 0:21:34.236 --> 0:21:39.036 better than I imagine. At other times it was like 0:21:40.316 --> 0:21:45.996 what's going on? Like you know. Um, so it would 0:21:46.076 --> 0:21:49.756 it would change, it would change. Sometimes it would really 0:21:49.796 --> 0:21:55.316 feel like this must be like what you know. Stevie 0:21:55.356 --> 0:21:58.316 Wonder was feeling like, this must be like what what what? 0:21:58.516 --> 0:22:01.196 Michael was feeling like. You had those moments, whether it 0:22:01.316 --> 0:22:05.076 was like, uh, first time at an award show or 0:22:05.476 --> 0:22:08.516 meeting somebody you never thought you'd meet and they like you, 0:22:09.196 --> 0:22:13.316 those are those are really good moments there. So it changed. 0:22:13.876 --> 0:22:15.836 And then give me an example of something that you 0:22:15.876 --> 0:22:17.716 thought was going to be really good that turned out 0:22:17.756 --> 0:22:22.596 not to live up to them. I don't know, man, 0:22:22.636 --> 0:22:27.556 it was, Um, I don't know. It's certain. There's certain 0:22:27.636 --> 0:22:34.316 aspects of of certain people I thought would be different, 0:22:34.996 --> 0:22:39.636 and um, they were not the nicest people. But I 0:22:39.716 --> 0:22:43.636 appreciate the experience. Even though I looked at these people 0:22:43.756 --> 0:22:47.556 like I had to realize their human beings like everyone else. 0:22:47.596 --> 0:22:50.596 They have their bad days and their good days. Um, 0:22:51.916 --> 0:22:55.516 you know, realizing people are not superheroes really all the time. 0:22:55.596 --> 0:22:59.516 You know these people that you look up to people. Um, 0:22:59.956 --> 0:23:02.756 certain places I went to a smaller than I thought, 0:23:02.796 --> 0:23:07.076 like TV sets, TV stages, sound stages, or certain television 0:23:07.076 --> 0:23:10.876 shows or you know, things like that. Have you ever 0:23:10.916 --> 0:23:15.916 eaten four gro in real life, I have I have Okay, 0:23:16.076 --> 0:23:18.916 I'm just asking because it's it's a funny. It's like 0:23:18.956 --> 0:23:23.516 we think about rap brags and that might not live 0:23:23.596 --> 0:23:26.556 up to their actual I'm not a fan of foire 0:23:26.596 --> 0:23:33.436 gross I had. I tried it before. I tried it before, 0:23:33.516 --> 0:23:37.316 but I'm not a fan. It just sounds good. Yeah, 0:23:37.356 --> 0:23:39.636 it also does sound good in a rhyme like just 0:23:39.676 --> 0:23:43.516 the nature the words sounds good. Yes, it sounds good. 0:23:44.636 --> 0:23:48.196 Tell me about spirituality. Have you do you have a 0:23:48.236 --> 0:23:51.556 spiritual practice or have you ever in your life? Um, 0:23:51.596 --> 0:23:57.076 there's no real practice. Um, I'm just aware, you know, 0:23:57.156 --> 0:24:02.236 you're just aware that where where we're having a spiritual 0:24:02.276 --> 0:24:07.556 beings having a human experience and we're just there has 0:24:07.556 --> 0:24:12.196 to be more than here, you know. Um, And that 0:24:12.956 --> 0:24:16.076 energy is real and you just want to keep the 0:24:16.356 --> 0:24:22.956 energy around you. Um. Good and and and you want 0:24:22.996 --> 0:24:26.636 to keep because energy lives forever. In my mind, you know, 0:24:27.116 --> 0:24:30.236 I feel like we go on to see the big 0:24:30.276 --> 0:24:34.436 Man upstairs from here. So do what you do here matters. 0:24:35.236 --> 0:24:38.836 On the other side, also, how you how how do 0:24:38.876 --> 0:24:41.236 you handle your business? You know, if you have to 0:24:41.236 --> 0:24:44.556 do something that's not so great to get somewhere great. 0:24:45.236 --> 0:24:49.076 You know, you just hope that most high forgives you 0:24:49.516 --> 0:24:53.436 because we're all just on our own journey. So you 0:24:53.516 --> 0:24:57.996 have to realize that there's a there's karma and everything 0:24:58.036 --> 0:25:01.196 you do, so you try to keep that when nobody's perfect. 0:25:01.276 --> 0:25:02.996 You know, I'm not perfect. I'm not going to be 0:25:03.756 --> 0:25:05.876 you know, on point all the time. But you just 0:25:05.956 --> 0:25:08.476 hope that I try to stay in the right the 0:25:08.556 --> 0:25:12.796 right calma, the right energy. Has having kids changed your 0:25:12.836 --> 0:25:16.996 life big time? Big time? Yeah? I think my daughter 0:25:17.076 --> 0:25:20.196 saved my life. She she she I was really young 0:25:20.236 --> 0:25:22.996 when I had I was twenty years old, so I 0:25:23.116 --> 0:25:27.116 was I was a kid. So um, I think she 0:25:27.116 --> 0:25:30.316 she made me pay attention and say, you gotta be here. 0:25:31.076 --> 0:25:33.636 You can't just throw it all in a wind. You 0:25:33.996 --> 0:25:36.716 have to, you know, be cautious. You gotta be here. 0:25:38.116 --> 0:25:40.116 My son too, my son as well. Do you get 0:25:40.156 --> 0:25:42.916 to spend a lot of time with them now, Yeah, 0:25:43.076 --> 0:25:46.956 especially my daughter. You know, that's that's like my bestie. 0:25:47.276 --> 0:25:51.356