Ep. 267: YG Opens Up. Bad Deals, Hit Records, and a Midlife Crisis

welcome to and the writer is i am your host ross golan today's rap superstar is the voice of this city he's a politician a poet who paints pictures with words he straight up writes movies all the way from compton this writer is overdue for a grammy or 10 and the writer is yg what up congrats on gentleman's club thank you thank you thank you hitman like it blew my mind because it's well obviously ready to die the response is cool too but what i love about it when i was listening to it um i don't really go and read a lot of lyrics but when i heard it i was like wait that's how this like it was it's an act one and act two it's a movie it's fight club for those who don't realize how good that song is and how good that storytelling is did you have to was that editing did you go in a studio and just freestyle that where how do you write that song no i wrote that record i wrote that record it took me like um probably took me like two three hours to like fully write that song but i wrote that all like at one time um i mean so to get that record like when i was putting the album together you know i'm saying it came like in by pieces you know what i'm saying and but when i realized what story i was telling like me trying to kill my like my old self um to like really tell like a full in-depth story you know what i'm saying it was like like the last record midlife crisis was like the first record that i wrote that i wrote that first real concept song i had recorded when i was like making an album and then when i recorded that song that is what gave me the concept the storyline how the album was gonna end i'm like oh okay i killed myself how did i get here or let me reverse engineer this whole shit and it's like how did i get here you know i'm saying because midlife crisis is like i'm talking about that shit is real like my everything you know i'm saying i've been going through dealing with and all that that's real and it's like all right cool i'm gonna end the album like that now it's like i'm finna tell a story on me trying to kill my old self and it's like how did you get here and what's all the things you gotta go through you know i'm saying that i have somebody feeling like that so um hitman was like one of the songs that came after that i'm like all right how do i get to telling this story on an album and keeping it like respectable from like my fans of my list like the streets you know i'm saying it's like how did we get here you know i'm saying so i was just like really like taking my time was like all right i'm really going through like what i'm talking about um about how do i like really talk about it you know i'm saying through the music in a dope way and you know i watch a lot of tv shows and film and like i love like everything i watch is twisted as fuck you know i'm saying it's twisted and i'm like man like these stories they gotta be twisted they gotta be twisted and i'm like it took me like to come with the hitman concept like i'm finna tell a story about talking to a hitman to kill somebody and that somebody at the end of the song is gonna be me that took me like three weeks to like get that concept like you know i'm saying because i had that concept and i'm like man i'm like man i'm like i had songs and i had things in place and i'm like how do i get from this song to that song and then how i get from that song to that song you know i'm saying so it was just like just time and just thinking and just thinking outside the box and just like you know i'm saying what was the response i was trying to figure out you know it's it's pretty clear what you're talking about what's the response been from your fans with the idea of you killing younger self like i don't know it felt it felt like it was it's it's when um when jay-z came out with 444 uh i i remember having this conversation with someone where it was so elegant the way that he talked about being he grew up and a lot of rappers like want to live in this time like they're they never they never change like they're they'll do another album pretending like they're 18 or 20 and this is so sophisticated but it's like a real conversation with the younger self yeah you know what did your fans think about this no like my fans like my fans um homies the community like everybody was everybody like they fucked with it you know i'm saying like everybody listen to the album you know i'm saying like everybody has mentioned my crazy life they're like oh yeah this is like 10 years later from my crazy life like you feel me this is best album real story since my crazy life so yeah i'm saying like everybody is enjoying the body of work for sure hey guys real quick over 90 percent of you are not subscribers to this channel and following the channel allows us to keep bringing you incredible guests each week and growing the channel to offer more of your favorite writers and producers and industry folk especially artists it gives us a platform to tell their stories to you if you can hit that subscribe button thank you now back to your episode not to keep on the story but i'm just so interested in this that the hitman story because i think this is a movie and somebody should make this into a movie to write the response from it was that something that came towards the end of the album or is this something that came the response was like the second to last song but did i record it like but a response came when we started mixing and mastering i'm at the end of the mixing match i'm like i'm missing my knowledge story i'm like i'm missing my story i'm like i'm missing story incomplete, I'm like, nah, like, like, nah, it's like, it ain't complete, like, what, like, what would happen after you find out that you was trying to put a hit on yourself, you know what I'm saying, it's like, like, what would, the part of you that you trying to kill, how would he feel, you know what I'm saying, finding out, you know what I'm saying, that you trying to kill him, like. Were you ever suicidal in real life? Man, I done had some thoughts, bro, and you know, that's weird, like, for me, I was like, when I was, like, like, having those thoughts, I'm like, man, what the fuck is going on, I'm like, nah, bro, this ain't, nah. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, and it was, like, it was crazy, because, like, as I, I made, I made the song, and I started playing it for, like, homies and people, and all that, and just a lot of my male friends and other motherfuckers who was listening was like, bro, bro, I didn't feel like that, too, bro, like, man, bro, like, damn, bro, you talking about shit that ain't no shit. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Nobody gonna say, and then, like, like, all the homies, bro, was like, Midlife Crisis is, like, like, one of they favorite songs, you know what I'm saying, because it starts, like, where we come from, you know what I'm saying, the streets, the inner cities, the ghettos, gang culture, you know what I'm saying, like, we, we, we, like, we taught, like, to be tough, like, that's just all we know, like, chin up, chest out, you know what I'm saying. Don't show no emotions, you know what I'm saying, all that, so we taught that, so these things, how, how we feel, things we go through, and the feeling of that, like, the real feeling, we don't ever talk about it, like, you will really never know, you know what I'm saying, and I found out, like, when I was making this album, and I'm talking about shit, that we don't ever talk about that's the whole concept of like the gentleman's club like on some grown shit it's like I'm finna do some shit that that like is not expected that you know what I'm saying from my community and that shit represents me being like grown you know what I'm saying but when I was playing the records for like people everybody was just like bro I've been feeling like this too bro I've been going through this too and all this shit like earlier a song was supposed to make the album but it didn't make the album I dropped a song called 2004 like March 2025 and um but the song start but the lyrics open up it's like boom boom but when I was young I got raped by a bitch twice my age you know what I'm saying so I'm talking about like like when you young and you come across an older female you know what I'm saying and y'all do whatever y'all do like as young kids we think like oh yeah I just I just hit me oh no but really it's like if that same thing happened to a girl you know what I'm saying it's gonna be a whole nother situation so when I rapped about that in the song and I'm playing it for the homies and people everybody was like bro the same shit happened to me bro I got the same story like bro it was crazy how many people just started talking about it like bro I relate to this like with every song you know what I'm saying and I was like damn I'm like bro that's crazy like making this album because I was like kinda like nervous cause I'm like man I gotta do something that I ain't done cause I've been doing the same shit for so long you know what I'm saying and yeah I'm like man I gotta switch it up because like I gotta show people that like I do this like you know what I'm saying so I'm like I gotta come different and like I was like kinda nervous cause I'm like like I'm like how's people gonna like react to this how they gonna digest this you know what I'm saying or the fans or the city but when I started talking about them things and I'm playing these songs to everybody it was crazy bro I mean you said you know it's like people are saying it's like my crazy life ten years later and you know in in like Really Be Smokin' where you're it's like super vulnerable yeah and it you just it's like you're saying it's not a lot of people are that vulnerable in this line of work yeah but you've had kind of a whole career of being vulnerable where do you get the confidence to be vulnerable um I mean I feel like I feel like it's for me it's like if I'm making like music I'm talking about like my life you know what I'm saying I'm talking about my life I'm talking about experiences I'm talking about right now past you know what I'm saying so and like me as a person for anybody that know me or that been around me like if I like if we start talking you know what I'm saying like we gonna start talking it's either I'm gonna talk or I'm not talking at all right you know what I'm saying so we start talking we gonna go deep I'm gonna start to like it's gonna get crazy you know what I'm saying so I feel like with the music or when I'm doing what I do with the music it's that but with the past like with my past music like I feel like like the things that I was talking about like you say I was vulnerable like my whole career and it's like it's like all the things that I was talking about early on in my career was just like like it wasn't nothing that the world ain't heard from nobody like me you know what I'm saying like it really wasn't like damn we ain't never heard this before or from me or from this group of people this type of person you know what I'm saying but yeah you know I was talking about all type of shit but with the Gentleman's Club album it's like somebody like me where I'm from talking about the things I'm talking about yeah that shit hit different well it it stopped me literally where I was like I gotta read it and see if I got that right so I was like it's just that's fire bro it's good storytelling man it's legit storytelling like you know whether you're talking about movies or TV or theater or whatever it is it's like beginning, middle, and end is a big thing and you know it's just easy to it's like there just aren't that many people who are who are telling stories in this era right now it seems like so much stuff is about is very surface and it's not that thought out that that shit was thought out I want to tell a little bit of your story like where you come come from a bit you were saying you're you know it was your dad's sports team so it was the Bulls and Rams and what now what kind of music did you listen to in the house rap rap and R&B and and oldies like you know what I'm saying my mom's she mom's rap and R&B and oldies my pop's rap and oldies hey guys have you ever wanted to get further in the world of And The Writer Is have you ever wanted to sit in that seat across from me well guess what you can now join the conversation that's right cause we just launched our Patreon you'll get access to our monthly Zoom hangs where we'll listen to demos give feedback you can hang with us directly and we can hang with you too look occasionally we'll bring on some guests that will chat with our community and maybe most importantly to me you are going to have access to our 200 archived audio episodes that's episodes with Charlie XCX and Sabrina Carp and Lin-Manuel Miranda and Shania Twain and Babyface so much so many great interviews that you can get amazing insight and knowledge from so come and check it out in the description below there's a link for you to join us on Patreon let me tell you about Splice's sounds plugin it brings millions of royalty free high quality samples right into your DAW making it easier to search preview and drag and drop sounds all over within your project in any DAW FL Studio Logic Pro you know how it works I've been testing out a new tool called Variations that lets producers create new versions of any Splice sample that adjusts structure key and BPM while preserving the sound's core characteristics that's because every sample in Splice's licensed catalog of more than 3 million is traceable to its original creator the original sample creator is compensated each time their sound is used as a source and each time the variation is downloaded this means that there are more opportunities to use the samples you already love and more ways for creators to get paid Variations is available to try now in Splice's sounds plugin check it out thank you for sponsoring and the writer is okay so we're in your house and there's a lot of rap R&B oldies rap at what point do you start? writing poetry what point do you start thinking i can were you memorizing other people's lyrics like how do you how do you discover that you have a skill like that um yeah i was definitely remembering lyrics and it was a point in time where me and my like one of my friends i grew up with and my little brother and his little brother i think we was watching uh like 106 and parker like we was watching one of the little rap shows from back in the day and it was like we'd see like bye bye you and all them and then we was like we gonna be rappers but then um nothing really happened and like like after that nothing happened but then um what got me rapping um like i was a part of this clique back in the day and you know i'm saying it was like high school like cliques and like we had like beefs you know i'm saying with other cliques and shit like that and like nothing serious you feel me it was like clique shit like high school clique shit and like one of the dudes made a diss song towards our clique And then he said my name in a diss song. And, you know what I'm saying? I was at Fudd Records, like, working at Fudd Records. No, I heard the diss, and then I went to work at Fudd Records. I'm, like, 15, something, like, 16. And I'm like, I got to diss this nigga back, dog. I'm like, bro, there's no way, right? You feel me? So my first song was me dissing him back. And then, like, I ended up just keep doing, I ended up kept recording, and I just fell in love with that shit. And then I just kept going, and then people was, like, messing with the music, like, at school, like, just regular, like, man, this shit hard. Play that shit. I'm like, man, what? Like, stop. Stop playing with me. They're like, no, this shit hard. I just kept going, kept going. And then, man, shit just started happening. Where were you getting the beats from? Like, LimeWire. Yeah, it was downloading off LimeWire. You know what I'm saying? It was all, like, it was all other people's beats. And were you burning CDs? Like, how did people, yeah. Yeah, burning CDs, yeah. Different era. Different, yeah. Man, I had the mic, like. Like, it used to be the mic that people go on, and they, uh, then what's that shit called? When they used to be talking to people, like, online. Like, what's that shit called? Yeah, I know what you're talking about. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, the little mic. Yeah, the little, tiny, skinny thing. Yeah, it was like a, it was like a desktop mic that looked like a pencil type shit. And it could curve at the end, maybe, or something. Yeah, like, it had, like, a speaker on the end of it. Like, my sister had her computer. Like, she had, like, a real computer. Like, so I did it on her computer. With the mic right there. And then after I kept recording, I started putting the mic in the closet. Like, you know what I'm saying? Oh, yeah. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, it was something like that. Yeah, um. And yeah, I was burning the CDs, bro. Burning the CDs. Were your parents supportive? So, my pops had, like, when this happened, my pops had went to jail. So, my pops was in jail when all this was happening. And my mama was supportive. Yeah. What about, do you have other siblings besides your sister? Yeah, uh, my little brother, he had started rapping with me and shit. That's cool. Yeah, yeah. Your, uh, your sister, was she pissy? You stole her computer to go and rap? Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, not at all. Nah, my sister was supportive, too. Oh, yeah, super. So, you go and you start, you know, spreading the CD, and then people start burning off that, and then it just kind of, it spreads. What's the first time somebody comes up to you and is like, hey, man, this is, like, this is legit, and I want to do something professional with you? Oh, so, like, the CDs was happening, and then, you know, at just the same time, MySpace was a thing. So, like, I started putting my music on MySpace, and that's what really started moving it. Like, that's what started really moving it. And then, um, I put my music on MySpace, and I was like, it just started, like, like, it started becoming a real thing. Like, people was wanting me to perform at little parties and shit like that. Um, you know what I'm saying? I had, like, dropped out of high school. Like, like, 10th grade. Like, I'm like, you know, I'm doing this. I was in the streets and rapping. Like, I, like, dropped out. Um, but, like, I got kicked out of school so many times. I was just like, yeah, this shit is over with. I'm just finna, let's just do the music. Right? So, boom, I'm doing that. And then I end up, I end up catching the case. Boom, so I go to jail. And then I back up. Fell out, like, a month later. And then I'm fighting the case. And then I got to turn myself in and do my time. And when I turn myself in, like, I made a song called Free YG. And I put it out, like, the day I turned myself in. And it was this Free YG movement, like, going on. You feel me? Like, high school, like, shit. And I'm like, I'm like, 17, 18 at this point. And Tutor and Booty was out, too. Like, I recorded Tutor and Booty with Ty 2008. And then I turned myself in, like, March 2009. I had to do my time. And I had the Free YG song going. I had the Tutor and Booty on MySpace. Free YG on MySpace. So when I turned myself in, I called my mama. And I was like, I'm not going to do this. And I'm talking to my mama. She's like, yeah, Nick Van Nexel, he just called. He trying to sign you. I'm like, huh, Nick Van Nexel? What? She's like, yeah, Nick Van. Yeah, bro, like, off the Lakers and shit. I'm like, what? I'm saying, as soon as I go to jail, like, you know what I'm saying? Man, so I'll be there, but I said, oh, I just fucked. I just triggered my life off, bro. But, um. How long were you in jail for? I mean, I only did some months. I did, like, four months. Could you keep track of how people were consuming your music while you're in prison? Like, do you have any. Because, like, this shit's going crazy. Because, you know, Tutankhamen is, like, on its rise. And you've got, you know, a Free YG record that people are talking about. Then how were you able to follow that while in jail? Well, it was just the phone calls. It was the phone calls. And then, like, I had this click call. Pushers. And you feel me? That click is with, like, Ty was from Pushers. Musta was from Pushers. Right? So. Crazy. This click was existing while I was in jail. The homies was having Free YG parties and doing all this shit. And that's what got, like, Nick Van Nexel and all these people was, like, hearing about, like, what's going on with this Free YG? Free YG shit, like, these kids is all campaigning this Free Y. Like, who the fuck is YG? Like, right. So, so, Nick Van Nexel called. And then, like, when I got out, I ended up getting out in, like, June. Like, end of June. And then I started, like, labels was shouting at me. Def Jam, Atlantic, all this type of shit. So, I started. I started doing my meetings, and I ended up signing with Def Jam. It was crazy, bro. Did you. You're walking into those meetings having put out records, but who's helping you navigate any of the business? Like, going to those meetings is kind of cool, but these companies are. Can be really predatory when it comes to this shit. No. And you feel me? That's what happened to me. Like, how I got signed. Like, how I signed my deal and all that shit. And shit, I really could have sued the fuck out of everybody type shit. But, you know, I was, like, young. I didn't really know too much. But, yeah, you know what I'm saying? I was a victim of that show. When the songs really start taking off, like, you know, and there's not a club or a party that didn't have Tudor and Budit playing. Yeah. That thing's massive. You know, when that starts taking off, do you change as a human at all? No, no, no. No. I was saying before, like, if it's a pro sport, you have these rookie orientations, whether you're drafted first or 780th or 86th, whatever the last guy is in football. And, you know, they all go to rookie orientation. They all learn how to deal with success. They all learn how to deal with failure. They all learn how to deal with, like, this is what it's like with, you know, women in different cities. This is what it's like with health care. Save your money. Do all this shit. And in music, it's like, good luck, kid. Yeah, you on your own. Yeah. Yeah, it's the streets. It's the trenches. So how do you deal with all of a sudden being one of the biggest stars in the business coming straight from, you know, a year before being in Hollywood? I mean, you were in high school or two, whatever, I guess, you know, a year before you recorded the song, but three or four years before, you know, after the song was kind of a hit. Like, everyone's got to be calling you asking for shit, right? I mean, not like, not yet. Like, you know, I was taking care of my family, like, off the rip, but not yet. It was like the first record. And I think like everybody knew, like I got signed and I got I saw it was fucked up and, like, the money was bullshit and all that. Like, everybody knew that shit. So, like, I don't think it was, none of that shit ain't really started till, like, later on, you know what I'm saying, like, later. But how I deal with it, man, I don't know, man. My family was solid and then, like, I was always level-headed. Like, in life, like, my homies from back then, you know what I'm saying, they always say, like, you was the perfect one for this to happen to because you, like, you, like, you. You know, and knew how to handle all this shit, like, you know what I'm saying? Like, I stayed grounded. Like, I stayed, like, you know what I'm saying? I didn't start acting crazy. Like, I, like, like, it never really happened, you know what I'm saying? I think that's unusual. Yeah, it is. They were right, though, you know, to say that, to say that, you know, because there are other people who can't deal with that. But not only that, the melody's so good in it that it ends up, you know, you know. It's young, wild, and free, and you end up having part of a number one, like, full number one record. You have a hit with Tutti & Buttti, and then you have, like, a radio hit. And that's a different kind of check and a different kind of game. Yeah. You know, the pop game is different than the rap game. Facts. Did you feel like you should write a certain way to match that success? Because that's, you can't get bigger than that. Yeah. You talking about Young, Wild, and Free? Yeah. I mean, that song ends up, you know, interpolates, and you end up on a huge record. Yeah. But then you realize, like, you have the ability to write anything. You're writing rap hits and now pop hits. Yeah. I mean, yeah. Like, with me, I always been like, man. Yeah. I'm from where I'm from. I represent what I represent. And, like, I always wanted to stay connected with my people and, like, my culture and have, like, the biggest records, you know what I'm saying, that was, like, rap, hip-hop records, you know what I'm saying? Like, as far as pop records, you know what I'm saying? I would love to have a pop record. I would love to have a pop record and have success of a pop record. But I'd be like, how the fuck do I make a pop record that'll connect in a pop world of the type of shit that I'm going to talk about? And I always, like, I recorded them. Like, I record them. I write them. Shit, like, I love them. But I'm like, like, how would this work? Like, I don't know. I ain't figure that shit out. Shit, still. Yeah, fair. Yeah, like, I definitely didn't wrote records that sounds like some other shit. But, um. Do you not let those come out? Oh, yeah, no, they ain't came out. They ain't came out. So I just worked on this other record, like, last week. It's, it's, it's, it's another genre. It's me trying, like, it's me trying to do some different shit. And I'm just like, this record could work. And shit, I just got to fix, tweak it up. Like, it's just the first verse I'm trying to figure out. The hook. It's right where it need to be. But the music is fire. I'll play you. It's joint after this. Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm excited. Just so you can, like, hear, like, oh, yeah, you on some other shit. Having Ty Dolla $ign and Mustard and part of your clique is wild. Like, you know, just, that's insane that you guys all happen to know each other, let alone Terrace and some of the other people that, you know, we talked about earlier. But going into these record deals and Def Jam and Atlantic, what kind of advice would you give an 18-year-old artist who wants a deal with Atlantic and Def Jam right now? How would you give, what advice would you have given yourself? My situation was different. Like, I got finessed. Like, I got, like, blindsided, finessed. Yeah, I don't think, like, my situation would happen in these times. But my advice, though, you know what I'm saying? Just, like, make sure you take your time. You don't really sign nothing fast because you got to understand if whoever reaching out trying to sign you is for a reason. You feel me? They didn't did the mathematics on whatever you got going on and they think it's a profitable business going on. So don't just jump too quick to sign a deal. But then I'm from the streets and I know how it is when you in the streets, you don't got nothing going on and somebody come with you offering you some money and you like, what? I'm finna take this right now. Like, I know, like, how that feels. And I know how important of that money be, you know what I'm saying, at the time, you know what I'm saying? But it's just, like, let's just make sure, like, the contract ain't no, like, it ain't brazy. Like, my shit was brazy. Like, I signed a singles deal. I signed a singles deal for 25K. 12.5 on Sunday. I'm signing in September 2009. Then 12.5 in January 2010. A single deal with five album options. Oh, wow. Yeah, bro. And, like, how it all happened is even crazier than that. Well, no, I don't know. No, no, no. Yeah, my shit different. Yeah, it was very different. I don't think that is, like, going on in these days. I think that there's a lot of information out there, but I think it's so close. It is too much information, bro. There's a lot of, you know, there's obviously, like, you can just put in chat, GBT, be like, is this a good deal? And it's too. And, like, somebody will give you some advice. It's too many people. It's, like, the industry is, like, it's accessible now. Like, people know too many people. Like, it's, like, like. I don't think that is happening. Yeah. I mean, there's pop equivalents of that, that, that happened a lot in that same era of, of, you know, you get signed by a super producer or something like that. And you're in that deal for life. Like, that's, that's definitely a pretty common tale that I, you know, as I always say, like, it's better to know how you're getting screwed than how not to get screwed in some ways. So you can at least deal with some of it, but that's. This has been a pretty egregious deal. That said, it's, like, here you are. How many of your peers that came out with a hit in 2010 are releasing a number one album in 2026? And, like, almost none of them. Like, your journey is, like, is, it sucks what kind of deal you ended up in, except for here you are releasing number one albums because of the journey you went on and because of your, like, your wisdom from going through that shit. Yeah. And, you know, for sure, like, of that, like, like, everything I've been through definitely helped shape, like, who I am and just all the things I'm into. It just fucked up because it's, like, like, you would go and you would have a crazy run. And, you know, people don't, most artists, you know what I'm saying, they had a run. And it lasts forever. And then after that, it's tough. And if your deal is, like, like, messed up, you know, on masters, all that type of shit, that's when it really, like, that's when it really, like, hit you. And it's, like, oh, what? Yeah. And you, like, find out, like, later, like, that's how people be really making they money when they got the, and they go sell they shit and they be, like, oh, yeah. I'm good. I can check. And then you find out, like, oh, yeah. Yeah. So how do I get the money? Oh, yeah. You got to check. cut it off yeah but you don't own a what huh huh yeah bro i mean it's crazy because now you're this entrepreneur as you know like shoot like you've like you've done so many different kinds of entrepreneurial things having been somebody who dropped out of high school at at 16 like the amount of shit you learn how to do the hard way but you've done it like there are a lot of people who have mbas that aren't aren't doing that you know that's what i'm saying like everything i've been through helps shape who i am today and it's like yeah i can go launch a business and sell this product and this product and this product and yeah it's it's not too many motherfuckers who could do that like you know i'm saying all right you're so you're so prolific as a writer we were just talking like you're you're in the studio you know this week and you just came out with an album that's like huge like you just keep writing you've been writing and doing mixtapes and albums you know since 2008 like non-stop in and i know what it's like to be in sessions all the time uh and i think there's some there are different types of sessions and different kinds of music and different etiquette in different sessions and all this stuff when you walk into a session walk us through what a session is with yg man a session with yg man it's all it's all different types you know what i'm saying um a session with yg but you got the i'm locked in like sessions and you got the vibe sessions you know i'm saying you got the playback sessions you got the you got like or bring some producers here i don't even know these motherfuckers just bring them through and i want to hear beats right you got all different type of sessions um but like the ones that i just been in the past two weeks um really like bro i'm just i get to the stew i walk in my chit chat for like 10 15 minutes you know i'm saying and then we get straight to it i'm like play some beats just start rapping you know i'm saying the phone is out the voice note record is on we got tequila on the table um what kind of tequila reposado blanco you know what i'm saying all types like all types um and this vibe's going is going like i might have some ideas already like some hooks already written on some ideas and i might tell a producer like y'all want to make a song like this concept you feel me i'm on this like i need it to be some street shit 100 bpm or i need some ratchet club ass shaking shit 104 bpm you know um um yeah and i'm i'm like i'm going and i'll record some shit and um like i'll record um and then if i hear it i'm like nah i'll be like all right never mind next beat it said i'll have do some shit and if i ain't feeling it if it ain't hit i might not get up out of here and then you know sit talk play other songs as references or like old school records like i'm trying to go here with this shit but on some like modern you know like man sessions be it'd be all over the place bro like i'm gonna do some shit and then if i hear it and i'm like nah i'm like nah i'm gonna do some shit like the studio is like we like mass sciences and laboratories when we in the fucking studio you know i'm saying just vibing trying shit talking um yeah man i love the studio bro i like how you know you you have an ability to interpolate albums some classics and like you're not afraid to do that and kind of like and you're not afraid to reference old you know great songs and great artists like even on this last album obviously like you know there's the m reference and there's a bunch of these things like in your head who who's on the mount rushmore of your who's on your rap mount rushmore who are the four best rappers in your life tupac biggie eminem and hove and wayne we gotta do top five yeah little wayne dude like he like like pock and wayne was my like you know i'm saying when i was young pock and wayne was like you can't tell me nothing and then as i got older you know i'm saying the whole shit i was like man this nigga ho this is crazy y'all sick his whole like how he rapped and like what he rap about like it's not for like young niggas like you know what i'm saying really like um but yeah when i got like a little older like in my early 20s like we'll re-listen to all the jay-z shit you know i'm saying we was hearing the hits of course but we start really listening to the albums like oh yeah this nigga crazy like but um yeah they're my top five bro your collaborators you know are kind of like a modern mount rushmore too like like what you mean my collaborators like you and nipsey obviously and you know kendrick and i mean i understand this without getting into the the beef of it all drake and i mean i understand this without getting into the the the beef of it all drake like you have some of these like incredible collaborators that you've been able to work with and you know i feel like there's you guys all must push each other in some ways because you guys all connect with each other and um you know what uh on what a new generation like all the guys you know to somebody who's who we're gonna interview in 20 years or in 15 years they're gonna be like i grew up grow up grow up those are the best rappers you know those are the best rappers you know those are the best rappers you know are you aware of where you are on the are you aware of where you are on the are you aware of where you are on the the pantheon of rappers the pantheon of rappers the pantheon of rappers um um um am i aware where i might am i aware where i might am i aware where i might like so this lot this last album the like so this lot this last album the like so this lot this last album the gentleman's club gentleman's club gentleman's club why i why i why i another reason why i wanted to make another reason why i wanted to make another reason why i wanted to make this album this album this album and really and really and really showcase my showcase my showcase my storytelling ability and storytelling ability and storytelling ability and rap rap rap ability was because i felt like ability was because i felt like ability was because i felt like was playing with me was playing with me was playing with me in my name as a rapper as an artist you in my name as a rapper as an artist you in my name as a rapper as an artist you know what i'm saying i felt like know what i'm saying i felt like know what i'm saying i felt like i felt like that was playing with my i felt like that was playing with my i felt like that was playing with my name name name and um and um and um while i went through the process while i went through the process while i went through the process and really talking about that to other and really talking about that to other and really talking about that to other people i found out that people i found out that people i found out that i was part of the reason why these people i was part of the reason why these people i was part of the reason why these people was playing with my name because was playing with my name because was playing with my name because yeah i'm saying i yeah i'm saying i yeah i'm saying i just started doing to get out my deal just started doing to get out my deal just started doing to get out my deal you know what i'm saying like after my you know what i'm saying like after my you know what i'm saying like after my first first first album too i just just was putting out album too i just just was putting out album too i just just was putting out trying to get on my deal you know so i trying to get on my deal you know so i found out like I'm part of the reason but this album was really me coming from my respect as an artist you know what I'm saying so to answer your question you just asked like no I don't you know what I'm saying straight like that but like I know like like I know what I feel like I should be and all that and I know my my capability and it's just like all right I just gotta re show these motherfuckers you know what I'm saying you have a really good sensibility in finding features that are not necessarily mainstream and not giving a shit like you're fine with putting somebody who's talented who might not be famous on your records you're fine with putting somebody who's talented who might not be famous on your records and there are a lot of people where it's like the only way to put someone on a record is if they lift up their like spot if you can connect to their spotify so the followers can help the algorithm do the thing and you're like nah it seems like you're finding people that are cool but are not at the same level that you're at or some of these other you know bigger names are at and you know for Hollywood that's an amazing sounding record the Shoreline Mafia is a bit you know it's it's awesome but it's it's not it's a it's like part of that kind of connection that you guys are creating is what makes that special how does that collab come about um so ty produced that record ty fully put that whole thing together you know what i'm saying he was like hey i'm calling i'm calling old jesus to the studio and we're gonna work on some shit for your album i'm like all right bet and then the night oh jesus pulled up to the studio you know i'm saying it was the homie birthday so i go to the birthday party and then ty there and he like bro you coming to the studio tonight i'm like yeah is you going because you have to party he like yeah no i came real quick i'm gonna go to the studio i'm like all right i'm gonna meet you there so then boom i left he left first and i left like an hour later and then i pull up and oh geez he was at the joint and hollywood was being made you know what i'm saying so that's how that record got made but of the whole like like me and shoreline mafia we gotta like those my you know i'm saying my young bros you know what i'm saying um and i think ty like was like he know my relationships and shit and he know like he know the yg brand and yg world and he know shoreline that whole thing you know i'm saying you feel me so he like yeah we finna do that it makes sense like the people you feel me the city i'm saying they're gonna go crazy and yeah he put that together yeah i love that throughout all these your whole discography it really feels like the story of la and you know i think everybody lives in the there's a lot of so many bubbles in la yeah but you know like go loco or these records where you're bringing in the hispanic community and it's like and hispanic rappers featuring on stuff too and having all that is like it's such a colorful way of looking at la and not uh i just don't know a lot of people who do that who are like who look at who cross uh not only do they do that but they're also like they're not just genres but these like ethnicities within la and that's what makes la great and i just feel like a lot of people are scared to do that and it's like that's a that's one of the things that makes the yg records cool because it seems like you're fine with doing that yeah um let's go back to the nipsey relationship no i hear from some people that are sitting over in the next room that you have the cool listen the craziest nipsey stories of all time so like i definitely want to hear some of those but fdt was a record i know i'm going all over the place but i wrote my notes about that song it's like there was an era when when you know bob dylan's political and and bob marley's political and all these people are political there aren't a lot of genres in the united states that are still political and a lot of the big stars they might post something political but they won't sing about it they won't rap about it they're like not they just won't go there and you kind of went straight for the jugular and he did it with nipsey who's like obviously you know he comes from a different gang a different part of compton how did that song come about how did how did buck donald trump come about yeah so nip from south central um he from south central it's like probably like i don't know like 15 20 miles away you know i'm saying from each other but um the song fuck donald trump so we we was working on an album called two of america's most wanted and um we was in the studio at muster studio i think yeah we was at muster studio you know what i'm saying and it was it was it was the concept was two of america's most wanted and uh this was like 2016 like march we're in the studio and um we rapping here i'm saying we doing like records is really like the concept was it's like samia and nick we both gang members you know what i'm saying um so you know it was really fun to talk about like just all gang shit and really like giving people insight and like educating them on on the culture like updating them on the culture um and then as we doing this you know you feel me this is the time trump like announced like he was finna run for president you know i'm saying so all this shit was on the news and like you know i'm saying there was a whole lot of shit happening and coming out trump races you know it was a thing that happened at a school in georgia it was a black college and it was a something that happened with a girl about a rally and you know i'm saying it was i forgot it exactly what happened and like what was said but that thing had happened and like we was all just talking like we like yeah nah we ain't really we ain't really fucking with the trump shit and like everybody was talking like that you know i'm saying so all this was on the news so like one day i'm like hey bro like if we doing an album called two of america's most wanted we gotta have a song called fuck donald trump period point blank and he's like oh he's like i'm with that i'm like yeah he's like yeah hell yeah like you know i'm saying because like everybody was talking about this whole donald trump thing at the time so boom we end up leaving the studio and then i go back to the spot and then i had this beat like in my computer that was slapped and i just had it and i'm like i'm like oh i think this beat will fit this shit and then i start doing this uh fuck donald trump shit we go back to the studio the next day i'm like nip i think i got it i play him the beat and i'm like fuck donald trump right and then i'm like yeah but you should say it though and then he like nah nigga you say it and i'm like nah bro like you should say it like and he like bro say like that shit sound hard i'm like already bad so boom that shit like i laid a hook niggas is just like oh yeah this shit finished this shit finna fuck some shit up and then we start doing a verse boom i do my shit he do his and then we like on the last verse we gotta go back and forth and we gotta we gotta you feel me at this time at this time y'all i'm saying trump was saying like a lot of racist stuff towards like mexicans and all that and at this time it was nobody who had a platform from the mexican community really speaking up for the message like in a real way you know i'm saying um you know i'm saying it was no like nobody really at the time you know i'm saying me and we gonna speak up for the mexicans like we got them like pure point blank we we finna speak up um and yeah so we did the verses started them off like that and then boom we playing a song song done we playing it and then i i stopped the music i'm like hey bro you really want to put this song out he like yeah cuz i said hey i said hey listen bro we probably gonna get in some trouble we put this song out he like hell fucking can we get in trouble let's put the song out i'm like all right fuck it like and then we put it out so like i was trying to put it out through dev gym you know i'm saying because i was signing us at them and you know i'm saying they heard it and was like yeah nah we can't put this out yeah we can't put this out i'm like huh so we ended up putting it out ourself we put it out ourself bro man that shit started going crazy that's just all going crazy bro we fucking shot the video it was crazy video shoot was crazy put the song out start moving dev gym ended up hey uh yeah so um yeah we figured out a way we could put this out like you know we could put this out and we could put this out and we could we could put this out and we could put this out and we could shit was crazy but yeah that's how that record got made that's awesome how did you meet nipsey i met nip uh at 1500 and under studio like 2019 how does that work being in two different gangs yeah so me and the nipsey thing was was never supposed to work like like it was never like supposed to work you know what i'm saying and and i think like so ranch from 1500 is is is how me and that met because i'm recording with them at their studio and then ranch told us this later though but ranch was like i gotta put nip and yg together like they gotta you know i'm saying link so nick so ranch told nip to pull up to the studio when i was up there and i ain't even know right so boom well that's how me and nip met he pulled up boom we met and i think like nip was nip was fresh like we both had just got out of jail type shit about like i think nip had got out after me or before me something right but i think nip was like fresh out um boom we met and when i was in jail you know i'm saying it was like some crip niggas up in there they they was all talking about nip like nip hard like like you feel me so that's how i heard like about nip like oh when i was in the county so when i met him i was like bro i'm like yeah and shit i know who you is like you know i'm saying you feel me i done heard about your shit and all that i'm like yeah bet you know i'm saying so that's how we met and then um like we started doing music together after that and um yeah bro we just we just like we just connected we connected and you know i'm like four years younger than bro so when we like link you know i'm saying we just started hollering and shit like we was on the same mission at the same time representing the same place just two different sides and then like nick like like he like whoever meet nip is gonna take a liking and just gravitate towards him because he's like he's not like are you gonna think you're gonna see the gang member all that but then when you meet him like he that and some you know i'm saying on some other shit um so i just think like yeah bro it just was like we just connected and we started doing music and then you know i'm saying we started niggas start being at the same time and then we started doing music and then we started studio doing all that with each other we start going out we start we start like it just y'all i'm saying it just kept growing bro and um what's the craziest story you guys have of going out going out crazy story all my story like all my crazy stories is like street shit you know i'm saying that i can't really talk about uh but let me see uh one of the stories nip got a show he got a show like downtown i pull up with a couple of my homies and this this is back when me and nip first started hanging and people didn't like it you know i'm saying like i'm saying it was dangerous you know i'm saying people ain't really like it so nip told me come to his show and i'm like oh shit it's gonna be a whole bunch of crips so i'm like damn i'm like fuck it i'm pulling up with a couple of my homies and i'm like oh shit it's gonna be a whole bunch of so we pull up oh my god bro it's like a hundred crips and i'm like it's probably like me and like i don't know five to eight homies and you know like we went red and shit and it's just like we walk in and it's just oh and it's just like it's just get cracked like it's just like you feel the like you feel the energy shit shift and then you feel me nip like no cuz with us cuz on six i'll eat with us i was like what the fuck you feel i was about first time seeing nip like like on that type of shit like pressing the alarm and then it's a lot of other crazy stories like we used to pull up like me and nip would get banned from like clubs and venues like the same if nip was banned i was banned and we was banned for the same fucking reasons because like the entourage and just everything that came with us pulling up so like we'll be at a spot oh no y'all can't get in oh man it just go left you can't tell us we can't get in bro do not do that do not do that bro it's gonna go left so we used to be outside club tripping on motherfuckers like bro just let us in and it's gonna be like this ain't gonna happen like we had a lot of those stories um i'm trying to see it's a lot of stories bro it's a lot of stuff that i don't want to speak on because you know what i'm saying you you know when you're talking about how dangerous it was like obviously what happened to what happened in it what happened to slim what happened to you know i'm i'm sure you have a a long list of people that you've been around that have been killed for things that just shouldn't just shouldn't happen like how from us in a way from like a songwriting perspective like how do you how do you stay vulnerable and feel like it's okay to be how do you how in a way how are you brave enough to continue to tell your story when you see other people that you've worked with get killed for being who they are like how do you stay brave oh just knowing like this is basically all you got like this is all i got like like like if i don't do this and tell my stories like what i'm finna go pop like yeah like what like like like what are you gonna like what you're gonna do like you know i'm saying it's tough like it's tough bro you know i'm saying but it's it's it's yeah like what else you're gonna do you know i'm saying like you're gonna go i mean you can do other things but it's like as an artist like that's proud of who they is what they represent and where they from it's like it's like bro like what you gonna what you gonna do i just think like what it did for me is is is is uh just watch like who like i'm around more you know what i'm saying and and and things that i'm doing like places i'm i'm like i'm at and all that you know what i'm saying but as far as making the music keeping it true you know what i'm saying to the culture you know what i'm saying what it's representing it's like he like you know what i'm saying you really can't change that i mean this is 12 years ago but the video for like picking back being bull like that that's the craziest video because it feels like it's like you're there yeah have things improved since that things like what what do you mean i just like the culture or me yeah the culture and i mean both i mean like you look at that video and for those who haven't seen that video it's i mean it's it's it's really just people should see it it's telling like a real story it feels like you're there it feels like you're you're in this you're in compton is it is that culture a safer place in to be to be a kid to be to be at that time 24 years old is it safer to be 24 now than it was 12 years ago in that culture i mean crime has dropped you know i'm saying like has dropped for sure but it's like those situations still happen like it's like it's like normal you know i'm saying you're hanging out outside large group of people chilling you got gang wars going on whoever you beefing with find out y'all outside hanging out they gonna try to come through it's normal and then when that happened you gotta go back you know i'm saying that's just That's the culture, bro. Yeah. That's the culture. But, like, shit has definitely, like, changed and, like, crime has dropped, like, a little bit for sure. When you have songs that are, you know, right now there's, like, there's sort of, like, the cultural hits and the stuff that's on, like, rap radio or rap playlists, and then there's stuff that's crossing over. And this is a lot of your career. Some of the stuff, like, Featuring Jeremiah or whether it's the, you know, My Hitta or whatever it is where you're experiencing that. Does it feel different when it's something that crosses over? Or can you see the difference? Can you see the difference in your crowds when you're performing? Can you see anything different? Oh, yeah. No, it feel different. It feel different. It look different. It's different for sure. Tell me about the day you wrote My Hitta. Yep. So, My Hitta so must have made the beat out here. It was, like, 2013. And, like, we vibing to the beat. And then I had to. And the concept, I'm like, my niggas, like, my niggas, my niggas. No, you know, I ride for my motherfucking niggas, like. And so I had that concept in my head. But I didn't do nothing with it. And then we had went to Atlanta to really lock in on the album. And then Musta playing the beat. And Jeezy was at the studio at this time. And, like, you know what I'm saying? We starting up the album. And Musta playing beats. He played that shit. And then we vibing out. And I'm like, yeah, I got an idea. To this song. And then Jeezy, like, you got to get Rich Homie Quan up over here right now. I'm like, shit, call him. Like, you for that? So, Jeezy had Rich Homie Quan pull up. And then we went up in the other little side room. And I gave Rich Homie Quan the concept of the "My Nigga" shit. And then he just went crazy with that shit. He went crazy. Did verse. Like, I did my shit. And then Jeezy, like, yeah, you feel me? This the one I'm going to hop on. I'm like, all right, bet. And, yeah, that's how that shit happened, bro. It's a big record. Yeah. Big Bank's huge, too, man. Yeah. I mean. And to have those four people on a record is legendary. Yeah. That also seems like a headache trying to get all those people together on a record. It seems like a lot of teams. And how does a song with you, 2 Chainz, Big Sean, and Nicki Minaj actually come out? Um, it really wasn't really a headache like that. You know, I've been knowing 2 Chainz for, but when they, when his name was Titty Boy, you know what I'm saying? Um, yeah. What? Yeah. I didn't know that. Yeah. This is news to me, and this is fantastic. And I appreciate this news. Keep going. Yeah. So, yeah, I was knowing 2 Chainz for a long time. And then Big Sean, been knowing Big Sean since. Yeah. Long time, too. And, um, so, and shit, when I sent it to them, you feel me, that was, like, fast. And then, um, you know, like, we sent it to Nicki, and we was waiting on Nicki for, like, a little, like, some little time. And, like, we was finna put the song out with, with, with me and 2 Chainz. Yeah. And Big Sean, I think. And then Nicki finally tapped in and was like, "No, don't put this shit out without me on that motherfucker. Hold, hold the fuck on." And I'm like, "Oh, shit." I'm like, "All right, bet. We waiting." And then, um, yeah, it came through. And yeah, that motherfucker came out, like, immediately. No video put that thing out. I think I. Big Sean featured on one record of mine, and I had one song with Nicki, and they're like, I don't know, they're just legends, man. Yeah, for sure. When you're writing, are you writing on, on your phone, on a pad, in your head? Phone, phone, laptop, shit, I, like, have, like, shit in my head, but I gotta, like, if it's in my head, I gotta, I gotta get it on a voice note, because if not, yeah, that shit gonna be gone. Can you recite, like, once a song comes out, 'cause obviously you just have so many records that have come out, like, do you have a great memory? Can I, if you're saying, you know, this stuff off of "My Crazy Life," can you recite those lyrics, or do you have to refresh that stuff? Nah, most of the "My Crazy Life" joints, I can recite, but I. Like, the hits is, you know what I'm saying, the hits, so it's like, yeah, I recite that shit, 'cause I perform it all the time. But, um, like, the album joints, like, I'll probably have to refresh a little bit. Do you get stage fright? All the time. Really? Before every time I walk on that motherfucker. I think every artist do, bro, right? Like, uh, like, like. Where does it come from? What are you scared of? It's just, when you finna walk on stage, all eyes on you. It's like, ooh, it's regular, but it's, like, it's a part of, like, you get stage fright, but it's normal, like, it's, like, that's a part of it, it's, like, yep, I'm finna get ready to go out, I'm finna, I'm finna be nervous for, like, that time I'm walking to the side of the stage, on the side of the stage, but as soon as you hit that stage top and you out there, it's like, yeah, nigga, I'm here, what's up? Like, it's go time now. It's something about, uh, I always say, like, I like having performed, I feel that way about, like, writing songs, like, I like having written a song, like, that some of it's, some of it's hard, it's just hard to do, but once you're on stage, like, it's easy to turn it on, for some reason, it's like, you go extra hard, because you're like, well, it's the only way you deal with it. Yeah, I'm here now. You're either gonna be the kind of person you're like, who goes on stage and they're so nervous, they clam up and they're like, coward, you're the guys, like, this is my stage. When did you realize you could perform? Man, performing, like, like, people always tell me I could perform since I started doing, like, since I started performing, you know what I'm saying, so. Because you were in the studio first, if the first thing you did was a diss track. But I was in the parties, though, and so I come from, like, and so I was one of the kids that was at all the parties, all the, all the parties, all the ghetto hood shit, high school shit, whatever. I was at the parties, you know what I'm saying, so having a good time and, and turning up and, like, dancing and shit, like, yeah, I was one of them kids, you know what I'm saying, so I think that shit translates to, like, me being able to, like, perform. What does YG at 36 understand about LA that YG at 20 didn't? LA, uh, LA, like, you're talking about LA, Los Angeles, we're talking about, like, Los Angeles County, the city, the, the, boom, we're talking about the, like, the hood, the streets. Let's do both. Both. We'll, we'll start with the hood. The hood, the hood, the hood, it's nobody's bigger than the program, you know what I'm saying, nobody's bigger than the program. Um, or the streets don't love nobody, you know what I'm saying, like, you being in love with the streets, like, in love with the streets, and the culture, and, and, and, yeah, that shit don't love you back. And, you know, you get told that as a youngin', like, you get told that your parents tell you that, family tell you that, certain homies, older homies tell you that. And, you always, like, always brush it off and think, like, oh, you just old, you just saying some old motherfucking shit. And then, life happens, and it's like, damn, everything that he was telling me was right. Like, you know what I'm saying, um, being 20, and being, now I'm being 36. I know now of what I didn't know back then, being from L.A., You can live eight different lives or eight different cultures. You can live the beach life, Malibu, like all that, Santa Monica. You can do like all that and be in that world. You can be in the valley. You can be the valley. Shit, you can do the valley shit. You can do the Hollywood nightlife shit. You can play the streets. You can do the skateboard scene. You can do the Hollywood, the lights, camera, action. Like I want to be an actress, actor. And it really happened. You can go 45 minutes south and be in Newport Beach living that life. Like it's so many different like lives you can live in L.A. And it's all like in the same way. If I want to leave here and go. If I want to leave here and go do play Malibu, it's going to take me like 45 minutes. If I want to leave here and go do Newport Beach, it's going to take me 45 minutes to an hour. If I want to go and do some like, it's all like close. But you can live like a whole, like all these different like lives and shit being out here. But when you're young and you grow up where you grew up. You think, you feel me? That's all it is. And you stuck in that world. And then what I learned when I got older is like, you know what I'm saying? People be like, you ain't never lived nowhere else. You ain't never. I said, nah, bro. I've been in L.A. my whole time. Like I didn't went and I didn't went to record music like in other places. But like moving, like really moving. Nah, I never really did that. And like, you know what I'm saying? They be like, how? Like, how do you like, like, how do you do that? And I'm like, I can live a different lives in this one city. Like, I don't need I got the beach. I got the mountains, like Big Bear. Like, like, like, like, what are you talking about? Like, I saw the Newport Laguna and it felt like you in Cabo or some shit. Like, so what are we talking about? Like, I grew up, obviously, in Chicago. And I remember somebody saying to my parents, like, if he moves west, like he's not coming back. And it was this like thing. There's just like ego. There's this thing about California that people outside of California hate. And then he moved to L.A. and like, you can see mountains from that from where we're sitting right now. And if you go up on that street right there, you can see the ocean. Exactly. Like, like, literally right here, we can see mountains and ocean and wineries and skiing and like music and sports and like whatever you want. It's like there's a reason why there's an ego here. And it's just it's it's tough. Once you're here, it's hard to argue. Yeah, bro. That sunshine taxes may be worth it. The new album. I know we keep talking about it, but that's because it's really good. One of my favorite phases when when Tyler, the creator does, you know, it's like whisper track. And he's like, I can't whisper. Just made me so happy because you're like, you just know what it's like to be in a studio when you're like, how do I do this? How do I see myself in this song? And here's this like one. I don't know how you do it because nobody can whisper that long, not like pass out. No, for sure. For sure. Oh, God. When I heard that shit, I was like, oh, bro, it's crazy. But he did some Tyler Crater shit like he just came whole opposite. It's really fun to have conversations with people who are. They themselves. And I appreciate the fact that from the beginning, you've been a storyteller, even in the songs that are like meant to be. You know. Like these positive, like we're just having fun, like Tutankhamun is not supposed to be something that it's nowhere near what we're talking about. We're talking about Hitman as far as like the the the meaning behind it. And like, what does that mean? And you know, the collaborations you've had in the. Along the path of just being iconic, it's it's really been fun to watch, man. And it's like it's exciting to have you on the podcast. So thanks for being here. Thank you, man. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. What song did we not talk about that we should talk about? Off the album? Sure. I'm glad you talked about Hitman. That's like my favorite. Rap record off the album, like album, hip hop. Rap Storytelling is definitely hit, man. A lot of our viewers love hearing stories about songs, of course, because that's the coolest shit in the world, how these songs are made. So I'm going to just go through a couple of songs. I just want to hear some stories around them. Don't Tell 'Em with Jeremiah, how does that song come about and how like that's a huge record? Don't Tell 'Em came about. I think it's a huge record. Uh, what's your relationship with muster like right now oh that's my bro you guys have really gone through the whole journey together it's wild yeah yeah yeah no that's that's my bro what makes his beats hit so hard because it's like that thing where i think you know when people see actors and they're like oh i can do that you know like i could i could do this movie i could do that scene it's like now that took years of of like of going to acting class and doing that mustard beats are like that i can make these beats and no one can make these beats why is it that he made like what is it about mustard beats that are so good um it's a lot of things they're going to i feel like i feel like well what i know shit that i know is one of the things is for one and well this is not all djs so that's how you know mustard special but uh for one he a dj you know what i'm saying and he grew up djing local parties and his uncle is is is is dj t and he grew up djing doing all that shit like snoop and all of them like everybody from the west you know i'm saying so like uncle t used to have mustard like at these parties must have got pictures of him at snooping them parties when his uncle was djing he got pictures him as a baby like at the parties you know what i'm saying like so it's like like mustard dna like is is different right and he a dj so like what i learned while like mustard shit so special but every dj don't got this you know i'm saying by the way because it's like a nigga didn't work with djs who make beats right but like mustard know what people want to hear or like in the la party you know i'm saying he know what they want to hear the tempo you know i'm saying the sounds you know i'm saying and it got i feel like it got a lot to do with him being a dj but also him growing up like in that world seeing that shit and then you know like we spent time on doing my shit like simplicity was always like my shit like you know what i'm saying and then like ty ty also taught mustard like a lot of shit about producing you know what i'm saying and mustard took his his what he learned from ty and put his own twist on it and then you know must have been doing this shit for 15 plus years at this point you know what i'm saying so mustard is also like a nerd with the music shit too like you know i'm saying like he be in the studio like like he be in the studio like he really be in the studio you know i'm saying so um that and i'm probably leaving out more shit but but yeah bro like like mustard shit is different he's just special you know i work with producers and motherfuckers send me beats that sound like mustard and i'll be like bro this shit is not it like this shit is not it dog a lot of producers like can make trap music and it's like like it sounds like good like but bro it ain't too many motherfuckers you know i'm saying that can make the west coast modern sound like in the sound authentic man i appreciate you doing the podcast appreciate you for having me dog there you go you you you Thank you. Thank you.