I'm just trying to follow the footsteps of God. I don't question him. Just keep moving. He never fails. He always amazes me. It's like, damn, the sky isn't the limit.
I do it all, man. I produce, I do my own wardrobe and my own ironing, too!
I'm a producer, not just a beatmaker but a producer.
A Red camera is the best. When I started shooting videos, I had to pay ten thousand dollars just to rent one. I was like, 'I do all these music videos, and I still don't own a Red camera?' So I spent about a hundred thousand dollars to buy one. My own bread. Boom!
For 'Black Beatles' to be so true to us and our sound - we weren't chasing a sound - it solidifies that the world is ready for us and what we have to come.
I was able to bring Gucci and Rae Sremmurd on a track together. It was crazy because it seemed like it was destined to be.
Putting together a hit record is like putting together a puzzle.
When I was still at Interscope, I told them about Rae Sremmurd and we were talking about signing them. I was like, 'This is the hood Backstreet Boys, the black *NSYNC. This is the most ratchet pop is gonna get and this is the most pop hip-hop is gonna get.'
Me and Miley just clicked. She has good ideas. She's real creative.
We Can't Stop' has so many different vibes to it. She sounds country; the beat has these live, knocking drums; and then it has these pop melodies. It's a feel-good record.
We Can't Stop' was the first song we did. We didn't try to reach and be too 'hood:' It's hip-hop-influenced, but Miley's a pop singer, and she's going to have country in there.
With 'HUMBLE.,' I knew that beat was going to capture a moment. It just felt real urgent.
People told me that Miley's '23' wasn't hip-hop. Let me tell you, she went in and owned that track.
A lot of times, older people don't get the new generation.
With rapping, that's just another form of expressing your music. Whether you're going to rap, you're going to sing, it's whatever you want.
As far as rapping goes, as long as you are telling the truth and you have a good flow, then you win.
Pharrell is a legend.
It's important to show the new generation that soundtracks can be just as exciting as traditional albums if put in the hands of the right curator.
Jimmy Iovine has been telling me since 2012 that I needed to start my own label with my own artists. This was when he first met me and 'Bandz a Make Her Dance' was first taking off.
I wanted to find raw talent and help build it from scratch. I wanted to build from rags to riches. That's the way Ear Drummers did it. We took over the music industry from my mom's basement. That's why my first album is going to be called 'Made It Out the Basement.'
