I consider myself lucky that Sonu Nigam, Bikram Ghosh and Taufiq Quereshi came forward to create an original soundtrack to promote my book, something that hasn't been tried here before!
The main thing is we never dissolved our Gang Starr contract. We are still signed to each other. We never disbanded the group. If Guru really wanted to super-dead it he would have said, 'Yo, I want out.' And I still would have tried to convince him to stay. We are still Gang Starr.
For 'Dynamite,' Max and Luke went to dinner and left me with a melody, and then I put it together.
It's never the same relationship. I see my job as filling in the blanks. Whatever it is that the artist lacks in the process of making a record, I'm supposed to fill that in. And sometimes it's a lot of stuff and I have to hector them about working on the material and that sort of thing. Sometimes you have an artist that's really fairly self-sufficient; they just need another ear to offer some objective criticism, but otherwise pretty much know what they're doing. It varies a lot.
I'm actually good friends with Diplo, and we've talked about collab'ing.
Snoop Dogg and T-Pain, to me, are like legends so it's like, any time you get to work with a legend like that, it's cool.
I've had production offers with artists I really admire, and oftentimes that doesn't work out. Sometimes it does, but... For instance I was asked if I wanted to do a Talking Heads album back in the late '70s, early '80s, and I was already working on a different project and didn't have time, so I never got the opportunity to work with them.
Performing with Thomas Rhett our song 'Craving You,' I'm so excited for the fans to see it and sort of see our worlds come together because I feel like he's sort of a genre pusher and boundary pusher, and I feel the same way about my music.
I did a song in eight minutes. I thought everybody could write songs that fast. But working with a lot of them, they don't.
Klaus from the Teddybears, Bloodshy and Avant and Mike Snow, they've done lots of Britney Spears production. They went backwards from production to being in a band, which might be cool. I might do that, too, one day.
Yes, I want to work with Rick Rubin. Yes, I want to work with Trent Reznor. Yes, I want to work with Madlib. Yes, I want to get with all these wonderful people. Collie Buddz, Marsha Ambrosius. I just want to go, man. I'm gonna keep on making music.
It'd be cool to do something with Coldplay, and Ryan Tedder's amazing.
I think it's OK if somebody likes my music and likes Sam Hunt's music, too. And I think if we're both selling records, it's good for everybody. I think it allows other records to get made.
I gave everything I ever wrote to Johnny Cash. I think he said later in some interview that he would take them home and throw them in the lake with all the other demos. I'm sure he got a million of them.
I did this thing with Trisha Yearwood, a song called 'The Price.' I had been sitting on it for a while, because I figured, you know, this really needs a good singer.
Even with G.O.O.D. Music, we have artists that have done very well, and we've had artists that haven't. Being attached to Kanye is only going to get you so far. You've still got to have the records and the talent and the artistry on your own to carry it.
Every time I do a dance track it's like I'll get a heart attack, because it depends heavily on the video, the hook line, the stars and the promotion. Any of these factors fail, the song fails.
I've been into 3IOB since 'Battle Cry Under a Winter's Sun.' I've wanted to work with them since.
When you get a song placed with two of the top stars in the world, like Rihanna and Eminem, especially as a new writer, they're gonna take a huge chunk of your publishing. That's just the way the business is. I'm not complaining.
I would love to do a track with Will.I.Am. He's always creating amazing songs. I mean, to be honest, Chris Brown has always been amazing, so I would hop on there and let him do his thing and create some magic there. As for a producer, I would love to work with J.R. Rotem. He's my favorite producer out there.
I was once trying to find a song to fit Nicki Minaj's 'Hey Mama.' But nothing worked out. Sometimes, you can't help it.
I've done a couple of tunes with Kaytranada. 'Got It Good' has had such a great response.
If I'm writing for a particular artist, I definitely think about their past records, pay attention to the type of tempos that they like. If I have the privilege of actually being in the session with the artist, I just like to have a conversation with them.
DWYCK' was only intended to be a B-side of 'Take It Personal,' because we had done a record with Nice & Smooth for their album, Ain't a Damn Thing Changed, called 'Down The Line.' They were returning the favor with 'DWYCK,' being that we let them borrow the 'Manifest' instrumental.
I would love to perform with Rihanna. That's one of my biggest dreams.
