Track Selection Quotes

'Dirt on My Boots' was pegged as the second single from 'California Sunrise' from the get-go, and we felt like it was just a fun song to go with.

When I sample something, it's just me drawing from what I'm actually into. It's whatever sounds like a good track.

I didn't really feel that there were any filler tracks on 'The Red Shoes,' but if I were to do that album now, I wouldn't make it so long.

Normally doing an album you go from track to track and go, 'Let's not work on this one today, let's go work on the other one,' and I think you tend to get more self-indulgent that way.

I started writing rhymes first and then put it to the music. I figured out I could lock it to the beat better if I heard the music first. I like to get a lot of tracks, put the track up and let the music talk to me about what it's about.

Doing DJ sets is like - is difficult to me. Cause you have to find that happy medium of playing what the crowd wants and what you want.

I know I have this image but in reality, if you take all my records, I had to use five or six [tracks].

When in doubt, play track 4 - it is usually the one you want.

You better check your playlist. Because you are on the wrong track.

Before I hit any country I always do my research. I look at what's on the chart there, what's worked in the last few years. As a deejay, as a producer, that's when I get editing. I bring my own edits of tracks that are really cool and happening out there.

I have a hard time narrowing things down to ten or 12 songs. If I walk off stage in anything less than two hours, it just feels strange. It feels early.

But to put out a greatest hits on one CD was totally impossible, I just couldn't do it. The best compromise was to put out two CDs - Early Days - which is what it is - and Latter Days.

The bottom line is what we record is what we use. Once we feel we've got a good album, we stop at that. That's usually around 12 tracks.

The one person who's disappeared out of the business is the A&R man. Because the listener at home becomes the A&R man. He's the one who chooses what tracks he wants on the album. And that's cool.

If there's a track that's rhyme friendly, the verse will basically write itself. If the track is less rhyme friendly, you have to put forth a little more effort to get the song out.

When I made '1983,' there were a bunch of tracks that were in the early drafts that didn't make it because they just sounded like tracks for rappers, and that's not really the sound I look for when I produce my own albums.

The role of a DJ is being able to keep people on the floor for X amount of hours so you can't just push buttons to do that, you have to have good tracks and a knowledge of where to take people.

If the beat feels like it don't make you move right, I scrap that and go to another track. Sometimes it takes 10 minutes, sometimes it takes an hour to get one done.