Questlove SupremeSlum Village sits down with Questlove Supreme as part of a month-long celebration of 50 years of Hip-Hop. In Part 2, T3 and Young RJ describe their group's evolution through the years—including J Dilla passing the production torch to his former pupil, RJ. The veteran duo discusses new music, working with The Dramatics, and how Slum Village has become one of the most perseverant groups in Rap history.
Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio.
Welcome back to QLs. This is Sugar Steve from Team Supreme. Last week we gave you part one of our interview with Slum Village members T three and Young RJ. In that interview, they talked about their early days of Slum Village and somebody that I got to know during the Soul Clarian's era, the late great Jay Dilla. It's always great to hear from people who worked with him firsthand and got to know him from a young age. Please make sure you check out that episode if you haven't. Now we have part two as Quest Love Supreme celebrates fifty years of hip hop all August.
We hope you enjoy it.
I remember one of the earliest arguments I had with we were just talking about we were going through song for song, and you know, I was explaining that the frustrating thing about making things fall apart was the fact that Malik and just his very weird Malik's almost like batman like Malik shows up to the studio at like three am, like when the engineers just cleaning up and ready to go home, and he would always just come in at like odd hours.
One thirty am. Two are at thirty am and look on the.
Floor, go to the corner, and he would read the reels off like Okay, what do they work on today, and that sister, an.
Engineer, don't know.
So he's just like, well, here's the merest beats he would make, and here's da da da dada, and Malie would just be like, hey, put one of them things up now. The thing is is that you know, I'm also using this album period, like you know, there's other projects I'm working on, but I'm also using this album period to develop my sound or try to figure out what my sound is as a producer. And so I'm practicing stuff that dyl is teaching me, like he taught me shit on the twelve hundred. I didn't know he taught me stuff on my MP SO and I'm sure that you know about this RJ, like you go through this period as a beat maker where you need to practice first and emulate, like first I did the Bomb Squad, then all right, I'm gonna practice this Barley Mall track, and then I'm gonna practice this premiere track or whatever, like you gotta practice before. And the thing was Malik would always he would do complete songs to shit that I never intended for the public to hear, and I told it was hitting me that I was hell bit.
I was like, Yo, there's no way.
That I'm gonna let my slum influence out on this roots record. And it would only happen when like Malik would just unknowingly take some shit that I had no intention for y'all to hear. A good example is like the table Content song that intros the album, or that don't see Us We See You, like shit, I never intended for the public to hear. So for you though, Like again, is it is that weird? Like to know that you're that that influence, like you're a pioneer before you're an artist yourself.
Yeah, I mean, I mean, I'm definitely thankful, but man, I don't know.
Man.
I thank Dyla of course, and I would have to thank all of my mentors.
Man, like an filler R J. Rice.
I mean, we had a lot of people that was that was really just looking out for no reason at all, you know what I'm saying, which was especially for me. I didn't even grow up with a father, so you're telling me this random dude named a Philly gonna let you come in his house, you know, make some.
You know what I'm saying.
You know, rap to do all of this just because he wanted to make sure we ain't in the streets doing no foolishness, you know what I'm saying. So like we had, we had the community, the whole slum village as you will, that was helping us, you know what I'm.
Saying, r J.
I wanted to ask you, man specifically with your dad being you know who he was in the game and you know, just having that base for RJ's Las arrival, what was some of the things he taught you? Uh, you talked about musically, but like business wise, were they any principles or just kind of things that game he gave you that kind of helped you in your journey.
Yeah, he just told me, never take a man's dignity. You don't want to put a man in a position of where he got a bed or and never wait to pay a man, you know what I'm saying. Because he got a family that he's taken care of as well, you know what I'm saying, And he waiting on that money to come, just like you waiting on.
The money to come. So you know what I'm saying.
It's a lot of Jews that he taught me with how to do business and you know, cultivating relationships and things like that. You know, some things you may have to do for free, you know what I'm saying, in order to grow the business. So you know, it's a lot.
You know. I thank them all the time. You know what I'm saying.
I couldn't have had a better father mentor. And I enjoy working.
With him too.
Look is your mom?
She still singing, She's still saying. They just put a new song out. They just dropped a new song.
Yep, that's what's up man, that's beautiful. I feel an audio recording. It's the craziest thing I ever heard of my life. It's an audio recording. And I'm assuming that you're holding a video camera. You guys are in a car together and this is the only I only know the audio part of it. And Dylan's driving and you ask him a question, you say, hey, man, what's the day?
Oh?
You know about this? Okay?
It just yours me every time I hear it. You're like, hey, what's the day, man? And Dyl's like, I don't know. Thursday he said, no, man, what's today, And Dyla's like, oh, okay, it's February tenth.
He's like, yeah, man, what's the day.
He's like, yeah, man, February tenth is the first day that we're making our new album, Fantastic Volume two, Baby Da Da Dah, and y'all just talk about it.
Yeah, man, I'm just like it. Really.
I was like wow, just you know, because for a lot of us, February tenth being the day of his transitioning, it's such a you know, such a thing for those that you know, follow his music so closely. But to hear that clip and the excitement of you guys like talking about your future and all those things like will that often happen?
We had to you gotta understand this.
First of all, Plumb Village had to wait for Dilla to blow because Yla is you know what I'm saying, So I was still kind of hungry and broke me in ten and Dealer was making money already, you know what I'm saying.
So we had to wait on that. So we had to be patient.
So for the day for us all to come together and say this is the official day for us to work on this shout out to Wendy Goldstein, who was who was lacing a lot of us I know.
Was that was my saving grace too?
Yes, that's what I'm saying. She layd us all. And you know we got that opportunity to really just go in there and do it. And guess what, we had no guidance, you.
Know, you know what I'm saying.
They just let us do what we want to do and which is beautiful, you know what I'm saying. And shout out to our jail for solid solidifying that deal. I wish, I wish now I think about it. We had a couple of deals on the table. I wanted to go with death Jam in my heart because we did have a possible situation with death Jam, but we decided to go who we went with.
Yes, so there was a deaf Jam deal on the table and Interscope and any other labels or.
It was about five I think universal. Yeah, we had some deals, but we just chose what we chose. And I think we were with a M first, which was terrible.
Did you guys at all work with John McLean?
John McLean is the one who got who was like part of getting the deal at.
John McLean is one of those figures that you know, even I'm working on the slide doc right now, and he's a part of SLID's eighties, you know, attempted several attempts to come back or whatnot. But he's one of those brothers that's so elusive in terms of like talking to the press or whatever.
What What were your interactions like with John McLean?
I didn't have many.
I was mostly your dad and management talking to him. I was really brief I had so that was mostly RJ and Tim. Tim Maynor mostly spoke to him. Most of the time I was out of business. I was such a studio nerd.
I was.
That's what I was at.
Yeah, I didn't you care to meet executives and all those things anyway, Like that was like my manager did that. But you know, occasionally I would have to have conversations about like the concept of the group or you know, those sort of things that you don't want to have with label exists and whatnot.
How did that deal fall apart?
Because I thought I saw a tangible version of what I thought was a fantastic volume two on Interscoope.
Later found out it was a bootleg or whatever.
But I'm gonna tell you how it fell fell apart. This is how no disrespect, but what happened was corrupt. He decides to double album. Oh no, the West versus the East. Yeah, I know that album shut down the whole rap department because the lack yes and guess who was right next after that? It was slum Village, then the boot leg on top of that, it was like, well, the only thing.
We could do.
I guess we're gonna gona start touring in Europe. So we was able to tour Europe in ninety nine.
That was super early for us to go down there to our first European tour, which was an ordell too because they'll act like he left lost his passport for a while because he didn't want to go because he had to finish some remixes.
It was like, man, this was just going on.
I can't find a passport ship.
So yeah, I was about to say, how so this is also the period in which like he's gonna leave the group or whatever, So explain how just the adjustment readjusting the group without him on stage with you.
Well, he he didn't. He said he would do select shows. He's gonna do the West Coast. He was gonna do Detroit maybe something else. That was all he was even when he was going to Okay player you need.
You know what I'm saying. So we got him for two shows at least.
Right, You're right, you got shows, right, So that's all he was gonna do because he wanted to hitch up with all his work at that time, you know what I'm saying, because he was hot and people wanted those those remixes like asap, so you know he was doing all that. Then he was producing all different albums, so he just wasn't there. Now the whole thing when he decided to leave, you know what I'm saying. We had a brand new deal on the table, right, you know what I'm saying. That was the whole Capitol deal. So it was like where you going. We got a whole situation, you know what I'm saying. But he decides to go and do it, does the n C A deal, you know what I'm saying, that with frankin Denk and get his own label situation popping over there.
So I mean he's that and told me, man, you're gonna have to take over the group.
Man, I did not want to because I enjoy being the middle main by the way, you know, less pressure.
I just I wanted to be gone, you know what I'm saying about. You know, So it was it was hard to restructure.
So one of the main pieces I had is is all the people at the studio, and one of the main people was was young Jay.
So me and him was already.
Bonding over beats and doing stuff, and then by ten, you know, was barely showing up. Kind of like we're dealing with with Malik b. You don't you know what he's gonna record to the friend that we wasn't even working on, you know what I'm saying. Yeah, Okay, he had this machine in the back and he would just make songs all day in these machines from the randomnest beats. I don't know, you know, someone was watching, someone was just someone was that you just didn't know, and were trying to piece this album together, and it was it was a difficult process, you know what I'm saying.
But we got through it, you know, luckily.
That's how we got close with Kareem, and Kareem contributed and them and Black Milks.
You know, coming up and all this at one time and you know, I had to mix it up. I had to make some magic.
Yeah, I wanted to ask you man, I had to. I had a blessing before he passed to talk with about ten. I interviewed him this has been it has been years ago, and he talked very openly about like his like mental illness and just kind of things he was struggling with. How do you manage that? I mean, navigate in the group is hard enough as it is. How do you manage that having someone in your group that has those kind of specific problems? How did y'all navigate that as a crew?
Well?
Number one, when you're young like me and we was, you think, Okay, he just eclectic.
You know what I'm saying.
You don't think it's something clinical, you.
Know what I'm saying. Once I figured out that it was a real situation.
We was at the Climax, we did the Climax video and his sister had had a spell or whatever that we had to shut down, you know, the video, and.
It was is it Tina Tina Marie?
Is that Tina Yeah? Yeah?
Song on the record. She had a spell. Man, we had to shut down. It was a bit much.
I've never seen anything like that. It's scared the daylights out of it, you know what I'm saying.
Wait, when you guys were shooting the climax video in La Oh Ship, I didn't even know.
Okay, you was right there, but you wasn't You didn't see all of that.
Well, yeah, because y'all just keeping the car listening to the beats.
That was the diversion.
Sit here, listen to it for two hours, I say, oh, I'm in heaven. Great, y'all ready.
Yeah, she had a whole spell and then she and then I knew it was uh, bipolar schizophrenia and uh and we figured out it ran in the family, you know, about ten even and so I didn't really know, Like I said, I just thought he was a collected Then it just got worse and worse.
Until the point where it was it was it was a bit much to we have to have a.
Whole handler kind of like ODB you had to have a handler with ten Okay, this is your job.
QUD.
I remember one time this guy we about to go on stage. I'm talking about ten minutes before we go on stage, he decides to go grocery shopping.
Like word, I'm very familiar with actions like these, Yeah, you very and this is.
After this is you talking about? This is after fantastic, this this Trinity time on Capitol already.
Yeah, we're on Capital's Yes, it just got worse and worse.
Man, But you know, did he did he have a reaction at all to I always wanted to know if because people often ask us, like, you know, what was Malie Bee's response to water when he heard it?
But lses versus and reunion? Did he ever respond to that?
Or you know, yes, he they they talked. They talked on the side or the building. L was not even talked to him before that. He put out the verse so so and at this time by Tim was kind of not doing so well and he kind of showed up at the show on the side or the door like like what El said, right, and you know what.
I'm saying, And it was, it was. It was a tough situation.
That's that's the reason why I brought Pam back in the group afterwards, because I just wanted him to try to get itself together.
You know what I'm saying, take this medication, Because.
I learned in the music biz there is a lot of people who's struggling and just deal with it every day.
It's real, like a lot of us are caring a lot of what they call epigenetics kind of passed down through generations. Your grant great grandfather had something, now your grandfather has, and your father has and so on and so forth.
I always wanted to know, you know.
It's also with with the Trinity record, where you guys really did have like your moment in the sun, especially like with Detroit Delhi and with Trinity, I mean you have something that even roots can't claim, which is like you got fully embraced by like the one oh six in the Park audience, and there's a moment where where it's almost that slum village, I mean, whether you look at as an eclipse or a shadow of Dila versus Odyla's group where you guys on your own are about to you know, find an audience, find a home, find a groove in a movement. Where did it feel like like with the with the success of of Taint It and also working with like Kanye on Selfish Selfish? Yeah, can you talk about that period number one?
It was the it was a hurt feeling for me man for uh, you know, I'm not having Dila a part of it.
To get a touchdown, but.
Yeah, yeah, not officially part. I mean we made sure he produced records on it. We was gonna do that.
But like when we did the video shoot for a selfish, you know what I'm saying, And you know, it was a glorious day.
It was three hundred women there. It was pretty ridiculous. You know, you got Kanye, you got John Legend.
And then I was like, man, I heard Dealer was say I didn't even get a chance to talk to Deler with so many people, so much going on, you know what I'm saying, And I just felt that detached that I never wanted to feel with Hell, you know what I'm saying, kind of like yeah, you know, but you know, I'm a happy I'm I made it in a good space, but at that time I wanted it to be what it was, but but it couldn't be, you know what I'm saying. So I was always like that, man, every time I have success with Slum Village, I would always be like caught into somewhere or some situation where I can't even.
Enjoy this, you know what I'm saying.
I'm just not getting to a space now with some village, man, Jay, where I can I enjoy what I do, you know what I'm saying and kind of do that. But it took a while because it was just so much conflict. It was always something new every day, you know what I'm saying.
See.
But the thing was this though, three because when you were shooting, like I called Dealer to come to the Selfish video shoot. So when he get there, we're watching him shoot and he like, Yo, man, y'all good, y'all don't need me no more. And I'm like, bro, what is you talking about?
Shit?
What were doing?
You?
You the foundation?
We always gonna need you.
We're like, nah, nah, y'all need me no more? Man, you know, And I'm like he had just got out the hospital. I'm like, this weird, you know what I'm saying, But you rolling with it. So it was like things along the way, you.
Know what I'm saying that he was saying to kind of like I don't want to say, like prepare everybody for what I think he felt was coming. So but that was like the last time that I saw him in person where you know, everybody was there and able to kick it and have fun.
Man.
I wanted to ask y'all, what was the the how did it come about with bringing Elsie in the group?
What?
Well, let me tell you this, that was a necessity. Okay, So here's the situation. I'm managing l Zi that that was my artist at the time, So I'm managing I. Yes, yeah, I'm managing that's my artist. And you know, I'm about to put him out next I'm about to get get him going too. So at that time, then then like they'll tell me he leaving. So I'm like okay. And then we got a big deal with Capital All at the same time, so they're expecting us to to pull off an album, you know, and they gave us a two album deals. So I was like, well, I can't turn down this money. I can't turn down this situation.
I can't.
I can't.
I can't.
So then on top of that, by Ten wasn't showing up for the studio. I'm like, man, I can't make the I'm telling I'm telling r J.
Rice.
I'm like, man, I can't make an album by myself, man and call it Slung Village.
I cannot.
So I was like, man, I'm gonna have to bring l in. Man, I'm gonna have to bring Llen and he just gonna have to fill in. I'm gonna how you do so many songs?
Hell, you just come in. It's gonna be your You can do it. Go in the group and you can bounce off this and you can come in like all right, man, cool, I'm with it. You know what I'm saying.
It was, you know, uh, he still wanted to have his rough and rugged Personay, he sold some of the girl records.
I had to convince him on a little bit that he didn't want to do. But he didn't want to do tat it.
Don't want to do that because he was trying to still be you know, that lyric code spiritual guy and nothing wrong with that. But but we had to make some records because we had to get it. You know, we got to put as long as you said.
You know what I'm saying.
So I'm sitting there and you know, we're pulling it together. I'm finding these new producers, black milk breams, you know, be y'all gunna coming through the hole squad. You know I'm producing. We were just pulling it together, man, you know what I'm saying. Until it say, give us some beats. But then when that happened, he goes and remix all the beats. I chokes, you know what I'm saying. So it was just a lot when we did that record. So you know what I'm saying, God bless me even pulled it off.
That was a producer that y'all had that was I don't know if he was in the camp, but I would see his credits on stuff Broan E Roan and still.
What I know he did the Ohamad Dia joint that y'all was on. Yeah, what what's the deal with him? Is he still making records?
Like?
Who was he?
Bron and Steal was dwell As you might as well say, like sign to Dweller. You know, Dweller was signed to him, you know what I'm saying.
So he was like a guy that produced back in the day and had produced some records and stuff that Teller didn't want.
To do, you know what I'm saying.
He'd be like, you know, I ain't doing it, and then he'd be like, Okay, I'll give it a shot, you know what I'm saying.
So Dealer would like pass off the work.
Gotcha, gotcha? And R J W V R. Gunner. That was you and Black. Y'all were production team at.
That time, correct, Yeah, not at Trinity time.
Not at Trinity time, correct, Yeah, but yeah, y'all were production team at that time. How did y'all come to work together? And what was y'all collaboration process like as producers?
For me?
Me and Black met through that kids group that I had, kid you not.
The guy that was closest to my age was in a group with Black Milk, and he played me some of their songs over the phone. One of the songs that I heard was the beat for what is This? And I was like on Trinity and I was like, he should come up. And then he had another relationship through by ten, you know what I'm saying. So everybody had kind of like was like, Okay, he came up there, we started working through like mixing us the records and stuff like that. By the time we was done with Trinity, me and him was like friends, you know what I'm saying. So we was like, Shit, we're doing all the work. We might as well just make a production team, you know what I'm saying, and get it cracking because we're doing all the work, and then that's kind of how br Gunner started, and then it just kept going.
Wait, I'm one second years old. I didn't realize that b our Gunner was.
Milking young Jay.
I actually thought I was going to say, wait, how come NMB one's mentioned in b R Gunner right now? Like I thought it was an actual person. I'm thinking like, oh, maybe they got beef with him or something. But I'm probably the only person I know that actually spends late eighties in my set, Like obviously your parents are on it as well. Is there a longer version of the eight eighties sketch that that was on Trinity?
No, that's on Detroit Delly, Oh.
Yeah, I think it is.
It's in a uh in one of the machines that he was talking about, because we recorded on like the digital machine.
I forgot. There's two versions. The one on Trinity. Yes, that's the one I'm speaking of.
Yeah, yeah, it's on the machine in the back.
Yeah yeah, right with you on that one and uh and your mother right and.
Yeah yeah that's my that's my ship man and also the original version. All right, So the the version of fall in Love that is the hidden track on Trinity, the one based on the remix.
What happened to uh with Samaya.
Well, well, yeah, that we was gonna do this group called it as Bad, which was right, and somebody was a part of it, and uh, and we was working on the records.
I was working on the records. Me and her worked on that record. Me Her, Vernon and Jay worked on that producing that record.
But what happened was I think it just got mixed up because I was kind of dating her and that kind of got made things up a little bit. Sorry I did that and it just got messy and my bad. You know what I'm saying to somebody, Yeah, I.
See you.
After the self titled album comes out, the one in two thousand and five, call me's on that, right, the Isley Brother joint.
Yeah, that's my ship man.
Even post that, Like and again I know that some people are just like only dealan fishing out whatever. Now, like the entire Slim Village Cannon to me is like there's so much magic on all these records, though, Like how for you though? T three with what's happening, especially with the transitioning of Dyla and by ten and with L's Eyes, dismissal of the group and whatnot? Like, how is this winging on your mental Do you feel at some points maybe the universal universe is telling you like, well maybe I should do something else? Da Like, what is it that's keeping you still in fighting shape and wanting to keep this thing alive until you know, you say it's done?
I don't.
You know, I did go through a turn where I was kind of going through my thing for a minute, kind of down and out. But I luckily I had a nice support group. Man, shout out to H to his dad, big RJ and RJ. They helped me out a lot, man, you know what I'm saying. To the point, you know where I just went through it. You know, I lost everything for a minute, my girlfriend and everything. I just lost my house, the place I live, and they really just helped me, you know, help me get myself back together, you know what I'm saying.
So it did weigh on me a lot, you know what I'm saying. And it broke me down for a millisecond.
But you know what I'm saying, Well, you know we kept working, man, And you know, luckily I had some brothers with me to help me out. Man. And and that's and that's how I got through it, man, you know what I'm saying, But it was it was tough for a second. Say you remember them days we was trying to put that stuff together. Yeah, it's tough.
I was gonna ask you ash you man. So me and Black we had a conversation.
This is a while back, but we were just talking about how with some village we were talking about kind of difference between y'all and and LB and like, how y'all because y'all had those two records on Capital and I had those two big singles, and how that translated?
I guess across touring?
How did that show up for y'all on y'all side, Like, were y'all able to see a difference when it's like you do your set and then all of a sudden you do selfish and people like, oh that's the one we know, or they do taint it and it's like, oh that's the one, or over time was it people where they die hard? It's like, yo, we want volume two, we want you know, volume one? Like how did that look for y'all? You know what I'm saying, as a group that had that major label.
Experience, it looked just like you said, you had a divided group of folk.
You had these die hard Volume two people.
There's also Volume one people too, right.
And then you had these two big singles and they didn't always mix together really, you know what I'm saying, you know, But and that's how it was. So we and then they would put us in different venues in different situations to see where we fit. Like one tour would be with somebody extra hip hop, and then we did it with nd I Re which was like, oh it was not the best, by the way.
Yeah, So it was like I don't see I don't see climax going over good with an indie audience that I don't know.
It was like Marcia and Brosia and Indiri and slum Village, Like where do we come in in this?
I don't even know what really, you know what I'm saying. So it was a lot people don't know what a place.
Is because of what Selfish did or what Tainta did, speaking of which I gotta talk about Cloud nine man.
Yeah, just how the anger I had.
So I had to do this tour once in which Marcia is doing about thirty dates with us, and it's one of them things where like she sends it MB three to my phone like this the song I want to do, and I'm listening and I'm like, oh shit, I gotta play this every god damn night. Is one of the most nightmares loopings of gospel drumming. I've like, way past the end of jay Z showing what you got, like pre anything that I've ever clowned, just plazed for about that. This is past any like Rush Stewart Copeland, Like it's the craziest thing.
Can you talk about that? That like what made y'all want to do this?
This group and their knack for picking the most unorthodox shit ever to rhyme over.
It was one of those things where we was in Detroit working and a guy who was around the time Scrap Dirty was like, Yo, here goes Marsh's out. Focus has sent it over because he had produced it.
Shout out to Focus, man, yes, So we're like, man, this.
Ship is crazy. We need this and he was like, I mean it already came out though, and we was like, man, we don't care. And then we reached out to Focus and he was like, yeah, ship, y'all can go ahead to use it, and he sent it. You know what, I'm saying and everybody likes it.
Came to it.
Yeah, we had fun and we got a chance to performing the Cup a couple of times with Marshall live. And that's a funky record.
That's a funky it's funky, but it's a drummer's nightmare.
So every jam session I'm like, get her backup, drummer, because I ain't doing those rules ever.
Getting this lifetime man that I wanted to ask y'all specifically about Scheming. Man, y'all able to get you know, Daylight and and Fife, you know what I'm saying, and just really kind of bring it, make it complete.
How did y'all put that other man?
Scheming started out as a young er J record. I was making a solo record in the midst of doing slum and then they ended up hearing the record and was like this is crazy.
So T was like, man, this is.
How I think we should do it. I think we should do it where because he wrote the hook, and he was like, I think we should do it.
Yeah.
He was like, man, we should do it where Daylight saying something and then maybe somebody else is seeing the hook and somebody else is saying it and then we just started reaching out because I had done the Forever record for Daylight, so I was able to pick up the phone and call you Forever. I did Forever in morning Roch God.
Damn.
To this day we still close our show with Forever. Man that is That's That's one of my favorite, like top ten songs ever. Man.
I love that shit.
Man?
Can he talk about like for you as a creator, as a beat creator, especially you know, the last of the Mohicans, you know, I mean I put you up there, milk up there, riggings up there.
You know, there's some catching Detroit that are doing the thing as well. But like in twenty twenty three.
How how farn is the lay of the land for you, at least in terms of where hip hop is today musically and where people are going, and like how do you adjust to it? Like what's your process of creating records now?
Like I'm going to keep it a hunter. It's not a lot of inspiration out there to be like, yeah, this is crazy.
Let me go in the studio and work for the most part, unless you're digging you know what I'm saying, and you just kind of know like Okay, this dope.
Bart hast just dropped something on an underground scene or something.
But like I was talking to Black at our Shawan Detroit, and I was like, bro, we all we got to inspire each other, like, you know, so if you're not gonna make that shit or everybody ain't gonna, you know, going there, and we ain't gonna viounce ideas, what else do we have for inspiration? So it's just kind of like when I go in there, I'm just making what I want to hear. I'm past the point of trying to please people musically. I'm like, if if I'm gonna throw it up there, then it's just gonna be something that a piece of art, and that's how I treat it. And either you get it or you don't. And that's just kind of where me and Ti at now. Even we're working on these new records, it's like we creating art that we want to do that we feel ain't there and y'all get it or y'all don't.
You know what I'm saying.
I love it, man, I love it.
I want to ask y'all as well. Man went to the new single that y'all got out, and bro, like, how did you hook up? With the Dramatics, Like where what was that?
Like, Oh, we got hooked up with the Dramatics through that's pop because he was touring in all of that stuff and mixing and mingling, and him and Ryan Banks had a super close relationship.
On top of that, at the time, he was dating her daughter, I mean his daughter at.
The time, so you know, we just kind of he would come up to the studio all the time, telling stories him impossible, we talking shit, and then you know, it just kind of got to the point where he was like, Yo, you know, y'all should record something. So the first record we did with the Dramatics was do Our Thing that was on prequl to a classic Okay. Kareem Riggins produced it, and then from that we did the be Our Gunner record, and then after that we did.
Some other songs and we just set on vocals. So it's like songs that I got with the Dramatics with LJ. Roan and all the original members that we just holding on to vocals.
Did they tell you I Vinny there experiences or stories and whatnot. Yeah, probably three or four years ago. I didn't realize the movie Detroit was about the Dramatics even at the time when we did a song on that record. So when we got sent over a copy of the movie to see it, I didn't realize like that the Dramatics went through hell they were, but I'm always here in the Even in Snoops first cover story for the Source, there's a brief shootout moment that happens and the Dramatics have they're like coming back. The Sore story starts with them leaving the video shoot for Doggie Dog World and it just goes like they've been in the craziest situations whatsoever?
Have Have they ever shared these stories with you guys?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, he was you know, a lot of drug use, a lot of Dracond, you know what I'm saying. So you know he would he would just come up there and kick it and you know, talk about the riots and you know what he experienced seeing and living through that, and you know what it was like going from the big stage to doing smaller shows that was like less people, but they would do multiple shows tonight, you know what I'm saying. So he was just saying, like the adjustment period of that and you know, like how to keep a group together and members leaving and you know all of that. Those are all the things that you know what I'm saying, we would talk about and you know, they would give advice on.
Man, I wanted to ask you about one of my favorite records of yours that you did. You did a record for Pool. This was back when you and Pool were working together. This is I mean got twenty two thousand and eight nine something.
This is years ago, but you did a record for him called what We Are.
We ended up putting it on the left Back record, but it was originally a solo jump there and I love that song, man like body that shit just talk about kind of like the production of that song. And one thing I always admired about you You would always incorporate You would incorporate live instruments, but it would sound like a sample. It would sound like something that was vintage. How was How did you achieve that in the studio? Was that something that you kind of had in mind or how did that come?
It started off, you know, with the sample, you know what I'm saying, That was chopped up, and then I had a drum set set up, you know what I'm saying at this at the house, and then I just got to a point where I would just would get on the kit and play and then have musicians come over and add bongos and all that stuff and turn it into a jam session. You know what I'm saying, Because at a certain point, music was like getting stiff.
Yeah, you know what I'm saying. So I was like, you know, we just we was.
Cranking our stuff, and then I want to make sure Pool some joints, you know what I'm saying. So I was like super locked in and focused, you know what I'm saying. I'm I felt like me and Pool was both underdogs, you know what I'm saying in terms of how people viewed us, And it was like, Yo, we're gonna we're gonna go in here and lock in and make.
The you know, the dopest ship we can make. And you know, bringing Craig Lane, you know what I'm saying. He was playing on keys on.
Some of the records, you know what I'm saying. That's what it's always been about, making filling up the speaker. A sample can only give you so much, you know what I'm saying.
What are your weapons of choice when you're making this these songs? Like are you still on the three? Thousand. Have you upgraded to?
Oh no, I'm on the I'm on the MPC X nah. But I still track everything gud like analog.
You know.
I don't just bounce the file. So I still get hit the patch bay and go through the eqs and uh mike preeze lining and all that stuff, the eyeboxes. It's just to me, you can't get the sound that I'm used to without it, I don't know how to achieve it.
So I still go old school change.
So you don't have a macboo pro. You don't. You don't just like.
I'll sequence everything in the computer. I mean with the drum machine. You know what I'm saying.
But when I go to track out, you know what I'm saying. I'm tracking out through all vintage stuff.
So is there a new round of young producers that are in Detroit that is sort of being mentored by you and Milking and Ricka is the way that you guys were mentored through Dylan.
It's it's guys out here. You got you got people who's coming with with is.
Its attitude that's handling them thout. For some reason, They're not able to jail with anybody. You know what I'm saying.
So it's it's like there's not a hip hop shop sort of epicenter that someone in a way that Marie threw that stuff for you guys, there's not someone carrying that tradition now, nah.
But that's what me and T was talking about, were talking about trying to open something, you know what I'm saying, where we can have the community to come. You got to sput the spots like Paramuta here that do little dope DJ things, you know what I'm saying, like around electronic music fest things like that.
But it's not a whole lot is like a hug anymore that that people can go to.
And that's what we need to get back to, you know what I'm saying, in order to be able to raise up that next crop out the city.
Okay, And I guess in terms of terrestrial radio is concerned like does that have the same hole that it once held in Detroit? Like is there any figure in radio that is just as expansive or wild? They're crazy as you know growing up in the early period was for you guys, you.
Got T three on the on the radio now, so that's where you know what I'm saying you're getting that other variety of music.
Okay, Yeah, I do a two hour show on Sundays and they basically let me play what I want to play.
I ain't going crazy, though, I am not mojo crazy.
You gotta no, man, I'm telling you you gotta go mojo crazy. Yo.
Yeah you got Okay, Okay, I'm serious.
Like that's I remember questioning go crazy?
So on him. No.
But I feel like if that to me is that opens up so many creative portals because even the first night, the first night, you know, when when you go there, you're sort of like, Okay, I want to see what these cats really about because it sounds crazy on record, but let me see what they're about. And I'll never forget the first night that the three of you were in the basement together, right before it by ten leaves, He's like yo, he tells Dylan. He's like yo, man, He's like, I want you to make a joint to herb Albert's Root one on one, And I was like, wait a minute, that's the song always Here when like, to me, that's the ultimate yacht rock Dennis song that I mean, when you're the dentist officer you're shopping, and I was like, wait, did he actually say he wants to rhyme to root one on one?
Like that's the most.
Craziest, Like, doesn't he mean rise by Herb Albert, not root one on one? He's like, no, he wants to like the World's Happy Song. It's like, you're gonna.
Flip that ship. He's like, hell, yeah, I'm gonna flip that shit.
Like to me, it's I feel like, what makes the choice special is that you guys are not quick to say the word no.
As fast as other people would.
And I think that that's that's kind of notable, you know, and you already see the evidence of that and how the ripple effects and how it affects people. So yet I know, two years just like, hey, I do a two hour show on Sunday and it might not matter, but you know, even if you reach one person.
That that spark happens to you, then you know, I feel like that's that's a job well done.
Nah, Seriously, bro, I mean me and team we've talked. I mean, we've all three of us, we've like talked, you know, at different points in time. But seriously, man, I just had to you know, just say to y'all bro as we celebrate Iune if you're an LB and I tell people all the time, and we were making our first album, you know, the listening like I.
Had, we listened to Fantastic Volume two religiously.
I played the fucking MP three tags off that now and like I will hold up in the studio and we would. I would tell ninth Poop all the crew straight up, like yo, if we ain't making nothing nicking fuck with this, then we don't even need to waste our time, right like this is the bar.
If we ain't bringing it like these niggas, It's still in my north start of this day.
Man, man, love y'all brothers, man, and just thank you for everything.
Man, appreciate you.
So on behalf of the team.
Takeolo La Yah un paid, Bill Sugar, Steve, myself, the Great R. J. Rice, and the one and only T three Detroit to own slum Village. Support your gods. Man there there's they're still here with us and Taren on an awesome legacy this quest Love Supreme and we will see you on the next go round, y'all.
Thank you, m M much. Love Supreme is a production of iHeart radio.
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