XL Eagle on Producing Tyla Yaweh & Post Malone, Working with Nard & B, and more -

He just seen me in there cooking up, and I'm instantly like, okay, now I gotta snap it to my mold. I'm cooking up all night until the sun came up, and Nard was just watching me just like this. And as soon as I finished and I couldn't even make beats anymore, he was like, yo, come to the studio sometime. The One More Time Music Podcast. Genuine conversations with genuine people about music. Hosted by Henry with a three and Playback Ben. We're from Bemo Coops to Pants off. They find that one more time. One more time. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back for another episode of the One More Time Podcast. I'm your host, Playback Ben, here with my co-host. Henry with a three, aka The Trap Jack Black. Trap Jack Black. Who do we got in the hot seat today, my friend? Very honored to be welcoming in on episode 59 of the One More Time Podcast, legendary Atlanta producer. It's Zaytoven. No, I told you, I told you he's worked with Zaytoven. Amen. That's not him?

No, he's worked with him. We couldn't get Zay. Oh. Zay's not coming? Nah, Zay's not coming. But no, we got the freaking guy, super producer, Grammy nominated multi-platinum producer. We do have XL Eagle. Let's go. The beat god. Thanks for coming, man. But Zay, I mean, I get that all the time. I was gonna say, Zay, if you want to come on, you know, the water's warm, come on. I was assuming you might have heard it before. All the time, man. No, because he asked me, yo, who does he look like? I go, I mean, he kind of looks like Zaytovin. He goes, No, he doesn't kind of look like Zaytoven. He looks like Zaytovin. So that's great. That's great. So XL, we appreciate you coming on. You know, you work with a couple of guys that are in the building right now. We got Woe from episode single digits four. My guy, whoa. And then and then we got Rico Brooks also in the building. The legend's in here. You know, Rico talked about when he hears someone, he's made the mistake once. I think it was with Lex Luger or some other producer where he heard something. He was a little late to the game.

He never made that mistake again. What record did he hear to want to work with you? Um, I actually reached out to Rico. It was after I started getting so much traction from T-shirt from Migos. Okay. Massive. record. My first time. Shout out to T-shirt, man. Thank you, thank you. Wow. And that was the first time I'm getting labels coming to me, and I'm just confused. I didn't know what to do. And something just told me to hit up Rico. Like I always seen him. I always knew what he was about, legendary. So I'm like, let me just try to shoot my shot real quick. Hit him up on Twitter, and he hit me back. He hit you back and was just like, yep. Yeah. Would love to. For sure, for sure. That's awesome. And then the rest is history. Yes, sir. You know, pretend he's not in the room. I mean, what's it been like working with Rico? Man, nothing but blessings, man. Nothing. Yeah. Great communication. Always plays. Always what we what we doing next to elevate this. Always. That's dope. That's dope. So you are born and raised in Douglasville, Georgia, correct? Yeah, yeah. For those of our audience that aren't familiar with where the hell that is, where is that? you know, paint us the picture of A, where is Douglasville? What kind of town is it?

You know, you know, what was your upbringing like? Um, well, I was born in Cobb and I was staying out there for a little bit. Um, you know, it started getting a little crazy out there. Shout out to the fam because then you know they wanted us to have a more peace, you know, slow slow pace, you know. So that's when we ended up moving out to Douglasville. That's more west away from Atlanta. And um, it's nothing but cows and farms. So you're a country boy. Yeah, man. Yeah. Did y'all have a farm? Nah, no. Okay. So it was just a whole lot of that out there. And um, yeah, did you like the slow pace? Because obviously now you're, you know, you just told us you're in midtown Atlanta. It's not very slow paced. Like, did you kind of like that? Uh, growing up, yeah, I did. It was chill, you know. Growing up like that, that was cool. But the more I started getting into my music, just business period, I'm noticing like you gotta get out there, yeah. Call it the boxing ring, gotta get in the boxing ring. Okay, yeah, for sure, for sure. So you mentioned in another interview that like your family was you know somewhat musical. I didn't know how to interpret that.

Like, were they playing music or just like fans of music? Kind of, you know, what was your music upbringing like originally? It's a lot of people in my family that's very musically inclined. A lot of people play the piano. My dad plays the piano. We actually have a record that we did together with Jacquees. That's tight. Oh shit, wow. Yeah, that's amazing. A lot of people in my family are very great singers, so yeah, it just happened naturally. Okay. So you're like, Dad, send me some loops. No, for sure. For sure. Load load me up, pops. That's that's dope. So, you know, did you end up playing the piano then as well? Like growing up, or not really? Not really, not really, actually, because I just started getting more into just the DAW. FL. Cousin came through, just showed me FL, and I was more so, what is this knob do? What is this knob do? I'm more so FL, that was your first kind of real experience with music. That's rare. Most people that we have, you know, that started on an instrument, but you just jumped right in, straight into it. Yeah, and I'm straight sound designer. I didn't have a keyboard at the time. So Mm-hmm, yeah.

So you did join a rap group, though. I heard you mentioned very briefly in another interview, like in seventh grade. That's crazy. So, what was your rap name? Was it XL? It was, it was it was crazy. Yeah, that's where it came from. Yeah, so that was your rapper name. Yeah, what was the group name though? The group was Holly Arrow Eagle, and that's where the eagle came from. Yeah, just randomly. Man, that's rare because we've had so many guests who had like original gym, I don't even know how you knew that. Yeah, I found it somewhere on there, but but we've had so many guests who like had like the most terrible first names, right? Because you're not thinking of it when you're in seventh grade, you're not like what's something I want to stick with for the rest of my like music career. I don't know. I always wanted something that was simple, easy to get to, great to easy to market, you know. XL. So where does it come from? Where'd you get it? Yeah, it was just easy. I just wanted something real simple. Just how can I make a memorable name in two letters? Exactly. I like it. I like it. So how long did you rap? Whoa, that was until hmm, I would say until 2008.

Did you have bars? No, I had bars. You were dope? Oh, yeah. I had bars. So you weren't running away from like the fact that you were shitty at rap, you just liked the production side of things. You just graduated. It got to the point where we couldn't get the beats. At that time, it was SoundClick. And you know, we're seventh grade, eighth grade, we didn't have any bread, so I started making um beats for the group out of necessity. That's that's a big thing. Like, people we have had people that have started DJing because someone needed a DJ, you know, just it needed to be done, so they learned how to do it, and now that that's what they do. It's pretty cool. So you you just out of necessity had to start making beats. Was it immediate that you started falling in love with production, or was it forced because like, well, shit, we need to have something to rap on. Oh, so I'm just gonna do that. I think it was immediate. Um, I always was more into listening to the beats anyway. So at the time where I was introduced to FL, I'm like, oh yeah, I'm already already seeing what's going on. Who were some of the producers that you were looking at? Wow, at that time, yeah.

Um, it's crazy. Back then, I was waking up every single day watching Nard and B make beats, and now those are the homies brothers, my mentors, everything. Shout out. That's crazy. They were in um 11th Street C Room with Future. I would watch that video every single day. Damn, and now you're in pretty much every single one of their beat making videos. I was telling Henry, yeah. You know, hopefully you have some stake in their YouTube channel because like you're in every fucking video. I don't want to get in your pockets, but you know. what I'm saying? Recurring guests. Yeah. So what was your creative process like though early on making beats versus now? Was it very similar, or did you have like a very different process and approach? Um back then, you know, it was all fun, you know. So I'm more so going through each plug-in, just playing with stuff all day, seeing what does what, uh, learning new chord progressions, it's just playing around with everything. So no pressure. No, not at all. So how's it today? Um, now I feel like from me going through and doing all of that, putting in my 10,000 hours, and now I have a formula of every single thing I'm trying to get to, so it's more straight to the point. So now it's more you might have more of a vision in your head of what you're trying to get out.

Exactly. And then you just need to twist the knobs, pull the, you know, push the button, whatever it is to get it out, versus before it was maybe let me click around until something maybe sticks. Yeah, no, that's why the 10,000 hours are so important because now you get to see what you can do. But do you ever miss those days when you were just tinkering and no pressure? I do, but um, I try to take days where I have free time to just do things just like that. Yeah, just play around. Yeah, so you separate the the two processes. I like that. Those are the best beats come out when it's not, oh, you have to do this for this. Yeah. When you just wake up and you just let your brain just go, that's the best beats. Yeah, yeah, versus feeling like constrained or like I gotta make 10 hits today. Regimented, right? Yeah, just gotta have fun. Gotta have fun. Nah, true. So I think your first hit was with a childhood friend that I saw. O'Shea, is that how you pronounce it?

You got all of the gems today. I'm with that. Yeah, is that how you pronounce it? O'Shea. O'Shea. Shout out O'Shea. Okay, O'Shea. Was uh was O'Shea from Douglasville? Yes, sir. He was in the rap group as well. So he was in the rap group. Did he go by O'Shea in the rap group? Yeah, I think it was so long ago. O'Shea Eagle. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Get that right. Yeah, it's like the it's like the Eagle Mob instead of the ASAP mob or something. Everyone has like eagle in their name. Yeah, that's crazy. So, you know, O'Shea and you make this hit, you, right? That's like the first one that kind of goes for you, right? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And I mean, how does that feel making a hit with your friend? That's the best ones. That's the best ones. Even to this day, those are the best ones. It's gotta be. Yeah, it was it was super dope. And like you said, we were talking before the cameras came on. Um, do you get a certain feeling? Um, I made that beat right there. He recorded the song. That whole process was 30 minutes. And I got this, I got a certain feeling right there. That was probably the first time I got that feeling.

And yeah, that was one of the ones that just went for him. When, when you feel that, are you just like so eager to have him like drop it? Are you like borderline wanting to upload it that night? Are you like, bro, we gotta get this shit out. So good. ASAP. Yeah. No, that's it's crazy because one of my questions was, were you surprised, you know, at at the fact that it that it went? Yeah, absolutely. Because at this point, this is super brand new. We don't know anything about anything, and and that's the first time I got a royalty check. So I'm like, oh wow. You had the feeling, but you didn't know what it meant yet. No, not at all. Yeah, so where did it see it see the most success? Was it on YouTube or SoundCloud, or kind of where, you know, where did it go? Um, that was definitely the first time I got millions off of YouTube, like as far as views and um Pandora. That's where it went crazy. It went crazy on Pandora. Everybody was hitting me. Yo, yo, yo, didn't you make this thing? And Pandora was crazy back then. Yeah, any idea how? Not at all. But um, I know through their algorithm, yeah, it gets playlisted just different places, and it's just it's going crazy. Pandora is still a mystery to this day.

Yeah, at that time they were mixing everything with Bryson Tiller with O'Shea sound. So everything with Bryson Tiller. Yeah, yeah. No, that's crazy. I mean, you know, you mentioned getting to work with Nard and B, who you were kind of watching their videos and kind of you know, fanboying, if you will, or being you know a huge fan of. So you end up doing a beat battle with Sunny Digital, DJ Spins, DJ Plug, fucking epic judge lineup, first of all. Crazy. You do a beat battle, you're still assumedly somewhat of an a no one, right? In the industry at that time. Absolutely. From what you remember, like paint us a picture of that night. Like, you know, do you remember much about that night? Yeah, man. Um, at that time, I think I had like I had nothing going on at that time, and then that was my dad taking me to it was a beat battle. My dad took me to the beat battle, and we actually got into a car accident right there, and we were like, no, we still gotta make it, we gotta make it. Oh, man. still going to the beat battle.

Um I look at those pictures to this day because I remember that outfit. Like, that was like the only outfit I had at the time. Are you like judging your fit being like that? Ain't it? Bro, it's so bad. I had a scarf. Oh, it was so bad. It was so bad. So your drip game has significantly improved over the years. We here. Now we here now, yeah. Thankfully. for sure. But like, do you remember the beat you played? Or like beats, I guess. Like I ended up playing a more R&B beat that night, and that's why I feel like I came in second. And DJ Plug, shout out to my brother. He came and pulled me to the side, and he was like, Yo, when you're doing stuff like this, you want things that instantly catch the crowd. Battle they're called Battle Beats. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. I think we talked, I can't remember who was talking about it. Actually, Bijan Amir. He did a beat battle where Metro Boomin was a judge. Fast forward to Ric Flair Drip is a song that he co-produced with Metro Boomin. So literally identical story to you almost That's wild. You're a judge, who are, you know, legends in the game.

They're obviously at a certain stature. Becomes a collaborator. Become a collaborator. It's crazy. And it was the same shit where, like, did you do much networking with them though that night outside of like that brief exchange with Plug? Not at all. Um, the only one was Plug at that time. But like you said, it was a legendary lineup. Uh Plug, Sonny, um, DJ Spins. Uh, I think Hanky was there, like, just every everybody Mr. Hanky beat. Yeah, so everybody that was judging, like, we we work, we work now. Damn, what's that feel like? It's crazy how everything comes full circle. Did you know you had it in you though at that point? Or were you still dead? Okay. No, no, I knew confident. Yeah. Because some people, it might, you know, there might be that self-doubt kind of that. Yeah, um, I was kind of upset I got second place, but that's why Plug pulled me to the side, and he was like, Yo, just because you got second, don't think that you don't have it. It's just what you played today. So I was like, just keep that in mind. He was like, Yo, let's work, let's do it. So, what how did the relationship with Plug go from there? Like, did you end up getting in a session with him or anything?

Or we we kept in touch, but I don't think we worked. It was more so just he was just checking out everything I was doing, and at some point we ran into the same session, and he was like, There he is. I knew I'd see you one day. That's dope. That's dope. Um, so you know, we mentioned Nard and B. You end up, you know, making t-shirt by the Migos, legendary record, arguably Henry's favorite off of culture. So unarguably. inarguably. Unarguably? I don't know. We're not grammar experts here, Henry. Who fucking cares? So, how did you first link with them? From going to, you know, from watching that video on YouTube and just you know looking up to them, right? How did you end up connecting with them for the first time? First time linking up with Nard and B. It was um shout out to Beat Billionaire. It was at Beat Billionaire Studio. I was working close over there, making beats every day over there at Beat Billionaire Studio. Um, Nard, he's close friends with him. So he came over, and he just seen me in there cooking up, and I'm instantly like, okay, now I gotta snap it to my mold.

You feel me? So I'm cooking up all night until the sun came up, and Nard was just watching me just like this the whole night. He was just watching me, watching everything I was doing. And as soon as I finished and I couldn't even make beats anymore, he was like, Yo, come to the studio sometime. What was he kind of like sitting back and not making like, you know, could you read him? No, could you tell if he was liking it or not? Not at all. That's gotta be so reserved. Yeah, yeah. He's not making any like positive or negative Exactly. responses, mental next damn. Okay, and so then you know, you end up linking with with them at their studio. Tell us about kind of your workflow with Nard and B. Because I mean, it seems like, especially like I said, the amount of YouTube content that like you're in, you're locked in with these guys. I mean, you're almost like the third musketeer, if you will, like bros. Yeah. What's what's your workflow like? You know, how do you guys work? Um, we we pretty much bounce off of each other. Um each session, I feel like they're teaching me things, and that we're we're all teaching each other things. So um it all just depends on who's feeling what.

Most of the time I'll come crank it up, Nard might crank it up, but through us making so many beats together, we all know what is best for who. Like Nard is really great with sound design and then finishing the full product. B is great with the direction, and I'm good with just getting my ideas out. Yeah. And the drums, yeah. So so you almost have somewhat of roles, even though it's like informal, yeah. There's like this subconscious formal flow to it, then when you know, everyone kind of has their their role. Exactly. That's interesting. That's interesting. So um, do you guys go into it making beats for specific artists in mind? I've always wondered this. Or do you just make whatever the hell you feel like that day? Um, like I said, the best beats come from when you just go in and you just crank them up. Um that's why we as much as we can, we try to get there every single day, knock out five, ten beats a day, so we can just make the best ones we want however we want them. And like, oh yeah, this sounds good. This would

sound good with this person. But um, yeah, it comes times where people are like, yeah, we definitely gotta get these beats for this artist right here. But most of the time we try to make them to where it's not a specific person. And is and in the times where it is for a specific artist, is that because maybe like Rico's hit you up saying like this AR is looking for, you know, beats for this artist, or you know an artist is like working on a project or something, or like, or are you just like fuck I want to work with you know, artist XYZ, so I'm gonna make beats for you know him or her today. Is that how it works? Yeah, like you said, it'd be A&R, of course, Rico. If you hit me up, I'll make sure I'm filling up those type of folders of those type of beats, stuff like that. Or most of the time the artists just hit us, hey, I'm going to the studio at 10 o'clock, and you know, so we'll just already get them ready until 10. Yeah. And I mean, even having you know support from like Whoa and Rico, right? On the management front, they're obviously plugged in, but like how important is it for you to build those relationships with the artist directly? Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, building a relationship personally is gonna make you the best placements.

Yeah, that's very important. Gem. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there's there's no plugged-in manager out there that's gonna be able to do it all for you, right? I mean, yeah, nah, you don't want to be the person that's just uh the a name and an email. Yeah, you want to you gotta you gotta get in the room. How do you do that though? Like, you know, for a producer who's out there, like I mean, what you know what I mean? Well, what would be some steps to even take? Honestly, the best step is you know, building with someone, building, you know, the next person, the next Drake, the next Travis. Laterally, someone that yeah, on the next one. You're not going for the step up, but building a relationship on that level. So you'll always have that relationship going up. Mm-hmm. Yeah, but then you're someone who also has done a very good job at collaborating with other producers. Do you think that that's very important as well? Oh, yeah, collaboration is very important. You'll never know who what they got their hands in, and just makes the you know the chances of getting a placement that much better. For sure.

So going from watching Nard and B, you know, on YouTube, for example, to then being in a bunch of their videos on their channel. Yeah, do you watch those episodes back? I haven't in a minute, but I used to. Did you? Yeah. Just to see like if you look goofy at some point or something. Exactly. I'm not gonna lie. Sometimes I watch these back and I'm like, damn, I looked fucking weird like during that time. But so do you remember And then he edits that part out? Yeah, if I can, exactly. Do you remember any like specific moments? You know, that you've really been like, damn, like there, you know, this was captured where like I'm glad that this is you know caught on on camera so I can like have this as a memory, like you know, maybe it's the cookup with Zay. We went to Zay Tobin's house. That was legendary with your twin. Yeah, man. That was legendary. Shout out to Zay. Big shout out. So what you know, what'd y'all make that night? Oh, we we made some crazy ones that night. Um, one of those beats ended up going on one of K Camp's projects at the time, it was called Ice Cream. Yeah, okay.

That was dope. That's awesome. Fire. Love K Camp, man. he's managed to just stick around, man. He's never like crazy, gone like super superstar, but he's never fallen off. Yes, sir. Love K Camp. Just did his new single Woozy. Okay. crazy right now. Go stream woozy. Go stream woozy. Let's go. Yeah. So I noticed in some videos, you're rocking the PC with Nard and B maybe. But then I also noticed you have a Mac. Are you a PC or a Mac guy? That's a good question. I'm definitely with cooking up, I'm on PC just because of the way it's more fluent with the plugins, just for right now. But as far as sound, like if I'm actually playing beats, I gotta play pull up with the aux. I'm playing off of my Mac. Yeah, because you know I got the touch screen on it, and it's just easier from the artist is like, yo, run that back, run that back. I can be doing different yeah, applications, and I can just run it back easier. Interesting. And the sound quality is just way better inside Mac. Yeah, yeah, but they're built for creatives, you know. Do you still produce an FL though?

Yeah. Which which runs on both, by the way. It does. You have it on both. Yeah, Yeah. you know, that's why I looked at you. I don't know what dolls run on what version of computer, excuse me. So something that I thought, you know, you two would have an interesting conversation about is you mentioned that Rick Rubin is a huge influence of yours. The goat. What specifically, because I I definitely want to get you to speak on, you know, DJ Double R because he's like a Rick Rubin stan for sure. My guy. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. But so what do you specifically you know love about Rick? His ear, man. He he he is a part of hip-hop, you know. Like to still to this day, he understands. I call them islands. Each island of music, you can come to him and he can tell you, yeah, no, just try to do this right here. Or that sounds great. Don't do anything to that to any genre. Yeah. So that's it's great. Do you listen to the broken record podcast? That's his podcast. If not, listen to it. It's amazing.

He has conversations with everyone, you know, that you can think. of. I got to catch up, man. I've been in a cave, I gotta catch up. Yeah, I'll definitely send you some of the like best episodes. Like he had a legendary conversation with Missy Elliott. It was so dope. Yeah. Getting her perspective on like working with Tim and just, you know, oh man, it was amazing. And then he did a whole thing with the Chili Peppers. You know, he produced a lot of their records over the years. It's crazy. Yeah. So do you have aspirations of like being able to dabble in all those different genres though? Of course. Yeah, that's what I'm on now. Yeah. Well, because I know you've done like pop, RB, and hip hop, but I'll be honest, a lot of that has been starting to blur, right? You got hip hop drums in RB, you got hip hop drums and pop. Yeah, right. So some of that, but like have you like, you know, wanted to go like into that like rock genre and stuff too? Yeah, yeah. Of course. Um, definitely have some rock stuff on the way. Okay. Okay, okay, yeah. Anything you can talk about? Uh, not yet. Okay. Fucking Rico's in the room. If Rico wasn't here, he'd be dropping all the like NDA stuff, you know.

I'm always fishing for an exclusive. So, so Henry, what's you know, what's your perspective on on Rick? Like, what you know, why are you so obsessed with Rick Rubin? He's got this just wizard level patience, like, and he he'll he'll sit in a room and not say anything, and then and at the at the most random time, just give one, he'll push artists in a little direction, you know, that can just change. Sounds small at the time, but it'll change the whole course of everything. And his whole just a like minimalistic kind of approach. He's very much like, you know, reducing. Like, do we do you really need that in there? Would the record be, you know, worse if you took that out? Mm-hmm. He's very much about cutting stuff down and just like slowing down and really being zoomed out and tapped in. He's like a guru, man. And I've I feel you know, like a little just ADHD kid when I watch him work. Like, I need to slow down sometimes. So yeah, he's a wizard, man. And then yeah, all the genres, you know. I'm big on I love System of a Down was my favorite band growing up. I saw a video of uh him working with them, you know, and he'll just he would tell them, like, this record doesn't need to be on the album, like cut a whole record, yeah, kind of thing.

And it really did make the whole thing stronger. Stuff like that just blows my mind, man. Crazy. The goat. Yeah. So what's your approach when you're in a session with a you know, with an artist? Well, first of all, do you like being in sessions with artists? I assume, yes, that's yeah, that's that's the best. Yeah, yeah. So, like, what what kind of role do you like to play? You know what I mean? Like, what's what's your style? What's your approach? You know, because he mentioned Rick is kind of that like, you know, Zen, like maybe he says something, you know, once here and there, type of thing. Are you pretty vocal? Like, kind of what's your approach? Uh, depending on my relationship with the artists, and I always try to go off of their approach, you know, and any way that I can contribute. I don't like to just go in the room, you need to do this. I like I let the artist be the artist first, then I come through and actually produce it. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, Christo, who produces a lot of Jid stuff, um, you know, he's on since the 80s, and he talked about like creating this kind of like safe space for the artist and like really helping like bring their vision to life, you know what I mean? Is that is that kind of how you you know approach it as well?

Exactly. As an artist, I just let them get it out, just press record, just let them go. And I just I like to sit there if I get the chance to just structure it out. Mm-hmm. You feel me? Yeah. For sure. So um, you know, we talked about having like strong relationships with artists, you know. You definitely have strong relationships with a number of artists. I want to focus on maybe a couple, one of which is with Tyler Yahweh, my brother. Shout out. Yahweh. These couple artists that we'll talk about, like they are very vocal in supporting you. Yeah. And that's huge. I mean, you don't often see artists shouting out producers that hard. That goes back to what I was saying. Like, we started from you know, from the bottom together, you feel me? So, how did you start with him? Like, how did that happen? Yeah, yeah, we linked in LA. Um, I was making music with his ex, you know, and that's how we ended up. Wow, yeah, yeah, crazy, right? Crazy. I thought I heard that.

I was just I wanted to make sure that that, you know, was was accurate before I just led with like confirmed. So, how is making music with his ex? No, For sure. And it's like me, um, you you know, guys, you I don't like me. I'm like, bro, who is this? You feel me? But it's like as soon as Yahweh walked in the room, it was like an instant, like we was already bros, and it's like he started playing his music, and I was like, Oh, yeah, wait, it's something there. Wait, hold on. What about him though? Were you drawn to? You know, would you say? What are you saying with his music, yeah, or or personality. You said kind of like immediately y'all felt like bros, you know what I mean? Man, Yahweh just carries his energy, bro. Like, he's it's just super positive. You feel me? Like, he he's really one of the first people that really taught me to just live life. You feel me? Just be happy. Wow. This is like really short. That's why I got Ranger Boy tatted on me, man. I was gonna say, yeah, that's love. Yeah, yeah. So you guys are like that's my brother. Literally locked in, yeah. Yeah, so you know, Tommy Lee. Yeah, crazy, crazy record.

Thank you, thank you with Post Malone and Tyler. Boy, Posty, yes, sir. Yeah, who, yeah. Posty just dropped. Did you listen to the new album? Of course. Do you like it? Of course. Okay. I'm thinking about doing a review on it. We're we're doing like album reviews, or we're starting to do some of that. That'd be cool. Yeah, it was a good one. I I love the features too. The Fleet Foxes feature was actually like kind of one of my favorites. I like the Roddy feature right now. Oh, yeah. Roddy goes crazy. Yeah, insane. Cooped up, I think, also. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah. So, what did you love most about that rollout? Because it was an epic rollout. Same for um for Tommy Lee. Just the way that the record was rolled out. I mean, whether it was like the remixes, the video game placements, kind of like, you know, what were some of your favorite moments? Um, well, first of all, that was my first time actually talking to Posty. Um, they called me uh right after they did the record in the hotel room, and they called me on FaceTime, and that was my first time actually chopping it up with them. What did you what do you say to Post Malone? Um, Yahweh just instantly put uh Posty on the phone. He was like, yo, talk to him, and my post was just like hello.

I was just like, I'm like, What's up, bro? And uh, he was just like, We made a great one. I'm like, man, I can't wait to hear it. Yeah, that was in a hotel room. They recorded that, yeah. Yeah, I think it was like Dallas, I think, or DC or something, yeah. And uh Post Malone said that that's his favorite feature. Yeah, he definitely said that. Yeah. That he's ever done. One of his favorite verses. He even said that. Like, I said that myself, not even just saying that because I made the beat, but just because I'm a Post fan. Yeah. Yeah. He did great on it. And yeah, that's his favorite feature was on your record. Yeah. And like you said, the rollout, um, it was during COVID 19. So it was pretty crazy the way they were, you know, trying to roll it out because we we were trying to find the right pocket to drop the song. And then we all just came to the realization maybe everyone needs some good music to listen to right now. Yeah. So let's let's just do it. Yeah. I'm glad we did. Oh, for sure. I mean, it's it's gone crazy. I mean, because the first remix, because there were two remixes, right? The first one was with Tommy Lee.

Tommy Lee himself. Actually, Tommy Lee. Henry made a joke. He goes, Yeah, I mean, like, he, you know, he didn't actually get to do a record with Tommy Lee. he like thought that, and I go, No, he he did get to do a record with Tommy Lee. Actually, I was like, he actually got in the remix. So that's uh epic. And then you get St. John who's one of my favorite artists right now on another remix. Easily. So as a producer, you get your hands in like those remixes, too, right? Of course. From like a publishing perspective, of course. Yeah. Oh, yeah. That's like the gift that keeps on giving. What happened to the remix, man? Like, remember like 10 years ago? Every time there was like a hit song, you were like, I wonder who's gonna be on the remix. There's definitely gonna be a remix. Why are we doing that anymore? Oh no, that's a good question. Yeah, you know, yeah, those were the best. I always looked forward to it. Is it because it's so easy to put out music now that like they can just go to the next one versus like before maybe if the record was out and it was hot, it was such a pain in the ass to like get another record out that getting a remix was like the lazy half-assed way to possibly add fuel to the fire, yes. I don't know, but then having your song in a video game, was that your first video game placement?

Was that my first one? Oh, he's got so many, he's got to think about it. Jeez. Yeah, I think tough life. Yeah, I think that was. Are you a gamer? Of course. So do you play 2K? Yes. And that's why it was so cool to me. Yeah. Yeah. Did you just listen to it on loop? Like on the loading screen. I seriously, yeah. And I made that my characters of music when he came out in my walkouts. Oh man. Epic. I won't even judge you for that, man. That's fucking amazing. I had to. You had to. I would definitely do the same. Thousand percent. So, you know, uh have you had anything since with Tyla? Of course, yeah. Okay, because that's that's every day. But is he working on a project or anything right now? Of course. Okay, album on the way. Album on the way. And we're gonna have some some XL Eagle on there. Of course, of course. Do you prefer Beat God or XL Eagle, by the way? Man, whatever you prefer, man. I'm I'm with everything. XL, XL, Eagle, B God. Is that confusing? Because we we saw on the Tommy Lee song credits on Spotify, which once again Spotify's song credits are, you know, you can trust them with take them with a grain of salt type of shit sometimes. But it was beat God XL on that one.

But everywhere else it's XL Eagle. Did they just fuck up? Or look at that. Or did you tell them to do Beat God XL? Or no, everybody in the camp just called me Beat God over there. So you know, it's all the same thing. Um, I'm working it out. Publishing check's the same, so everything's all gonna link together, so it's all cool. Yeah, but Henry was talking about how it'd be cool if Spotify actually got the shit together and had like a producer profile where he could have like clicked clicked your name and seen all your discography and stuff. Yes, sir. You know, they're slacking, man. They definitely need to do that. I think they're working on something though. Are they? Yeah, okay. I don't think Spotify's been working on shit for the last few years, honestly. Spotify. Well, there goes any Spotify relationship we have. That's fine. There goes our Joe Rogan type of Spotify deal for podcasting. We're going to Apple. Another really strong relationship is Jacquees, who we found out grew up not too far from here, or like is from the East Side. Yeah, we're on the East Side right now. Yep, yep. And so how did that relationship get so strong? Oh man, me and Kui have been working since 2014. Something like that.

Okay. And and did you meet through an ex-girlfriend as well? Or like how did that happen? Yeah, through my brother, um, DC Da Vinci. He works with them now. He's in FYB as well. That's their label over there, Cash Money. Okay. And that was my friend before anything. And um uh DC was like, bro, you need to send some beats to Kui, send some beats to Kui. And the first couple packs I sent, Kui texted me, like, bro, yeah, we got something here. Let's just keep going. Keep sending me stuff. And the very first beat that I sent him uh was our first placement. Wow. And it was supposed to be with Black Youngster on it. And that came out 2016. Okay. Yeah, I was just sitting in the car with Nard. We were leaving the studio, and he turned on the radio, and this is my first song ever on the radio. And I'm like, I think I heard my tag. Wait a minute. God It's crazy. This is pre-Rico days. He would not have let that happen. No, for sure. Yeah, you're not just surprisingly hearing your song on the radio. It's not gonna fly.

Although it'd be cool. Um, but so you know, just like you send that beat pack. He obviously is a is a fan, so then like do you start getting in the studio? Yeah, because I mean, like, he's shouting you out on like daytime television interviews. Yeah, you know, we we built the relationship though. Um, still just sending stuff. I didn't want to, you know, do anything and get him out of his comfort zone as far as creating, so I'm still just sending stuff, just waiting for him to be like, hey, just come pull up to the studio. So any other little things. Um, we started going to events, he had shows back then, like we've been doing stuff on the East side, he had a whole concert. And um, anytime we'll we'll play basketball up the street, stuff like that, just building a relationship. And it led to us just, you know, going to the studio all the time together. Yeah, because you guys have like a crazy catalog of music together. Yeah. He post he posted a tweet of it, and it's like 15 records deep or some shit. Because we were just having a conversation on the phone, and he was like, Wait, we we got a lot of songs together, don't we? And I'm like, I don't know, let's stop and think about it. And it's still stuff that's unreleased.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's a ton. And I mean, like I said, he's like doing a daytime television interview about like his new release, and he's shouting out you. Yeah, that's love. That's gotta feel awesome, man. No, that's a real one. That's a real one. Because once again, artists doing interviews, they ain't shouting out producers. Yeah, always, like at all. I mean, I got you know, I gotta go back to what I said though. That's why it's so important to build with the artists early. Build something together. You're not getting that when you just email beats out to people, you know. But so where was Jacquees, though in his career at that time? I think at this time he was still with um TIG at the time. Um he was dropping no, he didn't drop that at that time. It was early Que. That's when I worked with him. Yeah, he killed it with um Rich Homie Kwan, yeah. All of those songs. Trinidad and Forte Bowie. So he had some, he had some songs going, but like not at all where we know him today. Exactly. King of RB type shit. Yeah, like I said, Kui Ben.

I already knew this was about to happen. Yeah, yeah. Do you do you kind of pride yourself on like seeing that superstar talent like early? Like, did you kind of see that in Que? Yeah, even you know, with a lot of people, I'm thankful that I I can hear it. All I need to hear is a couple of seconds, and I'm like, oh yeah, there's something there. Damn. And anyone that you can like share that you're really, you know, really on right now, you know that you're kind of early on, you think? Like, is there any artists you're working with? Is that an early one? Um, not in particular, I would say. Okay, you're still looking for that next. Yeah, I need to hear it. Yeah, All right. for sure. can you do you let like artists send you music? Of course. You have like outlets and everything, yeah. Sure. So when you're really locked in with someone, right? Because you mentioned, and I think even you know, Tyler mentioned this in an interview as well, is like when you send a pack, he damn near records on the first one that you send every single time, he said. Which is kind of seems like you should probably probably listen to the rest of them, Tyler, but but like whatever, to each their own. He said, like, it's that like that chemistry there, yeah.

Like you said, it's just the chemistry. Um, all of the time. That was my first couple of times going to LA, and so I made beats right in front of him, so I know exactly what he wants, how he likes it. So, yeah, it's just the chemistry there. And and so, like, does it seem as like effortless as it seems to me as a third party, or is it like y'all are struggling too sometimes creatively? You know what I mean? Wait, what you mean? Just like when you're locked in with someone like that, it seems like it's effortless, meaning like y'all can't miss. Like, even with Jacquees, when you got like 15 fucking hits borderline, is it as you know, is it like is there a grind we're not seeing where he's like trashing a hundred of your beats and you're like fuck, but then like there's 15 hit records, and so we just look at it like oh, this is so easy for them, you know what I mean? No, not at all. Um, it's just like we're just having fun with it. No beat block, nothing like that. Nah, I don't I don't try to get beat block. Um, I try not to stay stuck in front of my computer at all. Gotta go live. Once you come back and live, yeah, you'll be good to go. Yeah.

What do you like to do to get away from it? Oh man, like you said, game. Um, I I like to shop, I like to eat. You feel me? Like, I like to eat good. So what's your favorite go-to spot in the city? Oh man, I can't give away my spot on when everybody at my spot. Come on, we need it. We need it in the cut. We need that XL recommendation. We need that. Yeah, but I like seafood. Any they got some cool seafood spots in the city. You you you ever been to a Steamhouse Lounge over there on 11th Street in Midtown? Of course, any restaurant. Like, try me. Okay. Try me. He's been there. They got the best lobster bisque for 25 years running according to their uh sign. According to lobster bisque. Yeah, it's actually good too. It's actually good. No, it is. It is. Um, so in another interview, you mentioned like some advice you'd give to, you know, producers would be to stay positive, was one of your things. I'm not gonna lie, it's like very easier said than done, right? So what is it that you do to keep that like positivity? Always. Are you like a meditator or like what are you what are you doing?

Definitely meditate. Um, but always looking at the bigger picture and knowing that it could always whatever situation you're in, it could always be worse. And there's always something that you could be doing right now, and that always keeps me going. Gratitude. Yeah. And like so, almost like working. Yeah, like just like challenging, like, go do some more shit. Like you, you know, like is that yeah, once you break it down, it's it's easy. It's easier. Yeah, just like break down the steps of like what it takes. Like, are you like a big goal-oriented guy where you're like writing out your goals and shit, or are you kind of more like fluid and just I don't have to write them down, it's in my head, but I definitely keep track of my goals. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, like medium term, long term, short term, all that stuff. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. How important is like mindset in this game? Oh man, very you gotta test your patience every day. You gotta have discipline. Yeah. What what is it that you think the patience, you know, like why do you need patience in the game? Man, you can go a whole year, two years thinking that you have the biggest song about to come out, and you know, through paperwork negotiations, it you know, you could be waiting. Yeah, that placement game is no joke.

You could be sitting on it for a minute. A long time. Yeah, damn. What's the longest you've you've gone? Oh man, it's been a minute. Um, but uh probably no longer than like a year. Okay. Something like that. Okay, so you've never done like a like a three year like a three year bid, like waiting for that first check. I'm I'm saying that, but future has so many songs in a vault. It's like so many I know he has. I'm like, bro, please just put one of those out in the back right there. So I didn't make the last project. Yo, he has so many in the vault, though. Like sometimes he forgets, he just records so many. Yeah, good. Can you like give him a little friendly friendly reminder? You know what I mean? No, no, for sure. Remember this song, bro? That's heat. Damn. Um, so you end up speaking at Georgia State. Yeah, that was cool. With with BMI. Let's go panther. That was cool. Did you go to college? No, I didn't actually. You said straight to the music shit? Yeah, it would have been cool if I would have went, but you know, yeah. Ever thought about going back?

Yeah. Getting your degree or something? Yeah, of course. It's there are different things I want to go back for. Yeah, that's cool. So the the series was How Did I Break? I think was like what it was titled. That was like why you were there, right? To speak. Mm-hmm. So give us, you know, for those that weren't there, give us a little bit of the synopsis. Like, what were you talking to them about? Yeah, just the whole um me meeting Nard and B. Um, well, I went all the way to the beginning. It was me at first meeting Beat Billionaire. He heard a song, the O'Shea song playing inside of DTLR because O'Shea worked inside of DTLR and he's like, Yo, what song is this? Who made this beat? And that's when he gave him my information, he hit me up on IG, and I'm like, nah, this isn't real. I just I think I went back to sleep. Thought it was a scam. So then I woke up and I'm like, wait, hold on. I think that is him. He's like, yo, call me. And at that point, that was my first entry through the door. And I knew it. Like when you you can number when your number gets called, you gotta run. Yeah.

So instantly, whatever I needed to do. Shout out to mom. She was helping me make my way to the studio every single day. Getting up there. Yeah. Clutch, clutch. Shout out, mom. Yeah, big time. Mama XL in the building. Yes, sir. Goat. XXL. So, you know, obviously. So obviously, you, you know, talked about the beat billionaire connection. Yeah. And then, you know, Nard and B, but like, what else were you saying to them? After that, um, just the series of different placements. Um, we went in order of the first ones. Um, it was the 7 million by Uzi. That was a cool one, and just how things just started to change once I started getting songs where it was more recognizable to people. And um, then we talked about how just having a song like T-shirt and being Grammy nominated just changed everything and how things just started just started rolling, the placements just started rolling in after that. Yeah, how? Like, for those that are out there, if if they catch a t-shirt record, which multi-platinum at this point, right? Yeah, for sure.

How did it change your life? Like, what started to actually happen? You know what I mean? Yeah, now you you're getting different phone calls, you know? And it's time to go here, it's time to go to LA, It's time to go to New York. It's time to travel around, and of course, financially. So now you have the funds to move around and do what you want to do. Yeah. So so people were. So it is true that like they'll find you at that point. Absolutely. So you weren't having to do as much of like outbound, like hitting people up on your own. Like, at least initially after that, you were getting a lot of stuff that was keeping you busy. Yeah, definitely. And you know, having having a record at that time, it was so big, you can just walk in the room. Yo, uh, I did t-shirt, and they're like, Yo, what? Yeah, that's all you gotta say. I need a pack right now. That's all you gotta say. Yeah. Damn. It's massive. When you can just say t-shirt, no, for sure. And they're like, Oh, gotcha. Well, yeah, what was the t-shirt beat like? Like, I think you talked about this a little bit before, but like, you know, how did that one come about? Yeah, just a normal day cooking up with Nard and B.

Um I did I crank, I crunk up that one, and Nard finished it up, and I'm in my head, like, yeah, this has to go to like Travis Scott. So I wanted that beat to go straight to Travis. It would have been good for him too, though. Yeah, that would have been cool. And um, that's when Takeoff hit up Nard a couple of weeks later, and he was like, yo, I need beats right now. And Nard, that was like the first one Nard sent him, and we just didn't hear anything back. And about a month later, they're like, Yo, you think you got the single of the album? Sheesh. And our first time hearing it, yeah. Um, they had a show in Atlanta, and we were invited to the show. Coach K told us to come out. He was like, Yo, this it's gonna be a big one. And that was my first time hearing it. Yeah, I was like, it's cool. And when Coach K says that you listen. Did you go to P's uh birthday party the other night? Nah, I couldn't make it, man. I was in a cave. Yeah, okay. I was telling Henry I was driving through Buckhead going to get a uh cheesesteak from Woody's in Buckhead, and I see this like back to back white Rolls Royces, and I'm like, ah, like, you know, we're in Buckhead, like whatever. But then the license plate said QC CEO, and I was like, hold up.

So I like go, I go up next to him, and I'm like, I was like, P. I was like, Happy birthday, bro. I didn't get the invite to his fucking party, but P next year. We'd still love to have you on the podcast, despite me not getting the invite. Shout out to Pete. Yeah. That's that's huge. So, you know, you talked about like definitely having your hands in like RB, hip hop, and pop, for example, right? We hear that there's some rock shit on the way, you know, definitely intrigued at what that's gonna sound like. Crazy, crazy. Okay, that's awesome. So, how do you creatively approach like multi-genres, right? Like, do you have to be in a like in your feels, RB mood in that day to like, you know what I mean? Like, how are you actually going about like making different types of of music? You know what I mean? Yeah, no, thankfully, like like we talked about me growing up in Douglasville. I was introduced to so many different types of music, different crowds. So I instantly know how to tap into each world.

So, yeah. But do you have to like just channel it that day, or do you whatever you're feeling, then that's like how it comes out? Hmm. Hmm. Nah, just whatever I'm feeling that day. Yeah, yeah. Nah, that's interesting. You don't have to be like, uh, I have to make some RB today, no matter what. Nah, as long as um I know whatever kind of session I can pull up in, and I can just instantly press play. I'm loaded to go, my computer's loaded to go in whatever genre, I'm cool. Yeah, yeah. How would you recommend like a producer going about getting in sessions? You can't just um you say go, what you mean? Just like, how do you get invited to a session? Like, literally, you know, how do you even get the chance to pull up and play beats? I mean, for real. Yeah. Um, I I think that'll more so go back to um collaboration as well, too. You know, you never know who they'll be like, yo, come pull up over here, come pull up over here. Yeah.

Stuff like that. Yeah. So it's almost like you need to make sure that they're thanking of you all the time. To invite you. And that's something we've talked about is that like if we can make, you know, I work with a couple artists, I work with Henry. It's like, if we can make you guys top of mind so that when something comes up, yeah, they're calling you. Yeah, I would definitely say something like that. Make sure if if at the very bare minimum, just make sure your beats are at the very top of the email all the time. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Consistency. Yeah. On that. How often are you sending out packs? Man, whenever, whenever you get a chance, keep them, keep them going. I would say, yeah. How many beats in a pack? Don't overwhelm it. Right. Yeah. No more than like five. Five. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. We've heard we've heard different types of answers to that question for sure. Yeah, we've heard some interesting uh takes on that. Don't overwhelm it. Just keep I would do more consistently than big, huge packs. Yeah. That's a good one.

So as someone who's multi-genre, you know, I guess successful, right? You've had success in pop, RB, hip hop at this point, right? Do you recommend that a young producer that's maybe hasn't caught that like big record yet? Do you recommend that they kind of, you know, go across the spectrum that way? Or do you think that like focusing is a better approach? Definitely, whatever you're more comfortable with, whatever, you know, whatever you feel like your sound is, go crazy on that and let you know, people gravitate towards your sound. So not necessarily focusing on like just R and B at first? No, not at all. Whatever you feel like your sound is crafting out to be, let the people come to you, and whatever you have fun with, right? Exactly. Gotta have fun with it. Exactly. But what's so interesting, right? Is it is like, you know, we talk about a Rick Rubin. Is there a Rick Rubin sound? Nah, definitely not. There's not, right? But he has fun with all those genres. I know, but it's interesting because there are some producers that have like a sound. Yo, that's a you know, T minus sound, or that's a whatever sound.

I mean, you know, Zaytoven even for sure. That's a Zaytoven sound, right? I don't know. I see like the pros and cons of that, right? Like if you don't have it's definitely pros and cons, but I always made it my interest to not have uh a sound, you know. I wanted to do everything. That's why, you know, I like the nickname Beat God. I can tap into any island and do whatever I want to do. How do you feel about the term beat maker versus producer? No, that's yeah, nah, but beat maker, that's you you gotta put some respect on it. Yeah, producer. Okay, I won't call you a beat maker than in the you know description of the video. I guess there's some people out there that Beat maker. Don't really want to work with artists and do just like making beats, and that's that's definitely a thing. That's fine for them too. You know what I mean, but you're not producing records. Yo, we trying to produce over here, yeah. I think you mentioned uh that you got some guitar, I assume loops from a guy named Jerry. Jerry. For... Jerry, my guy. Jared. yeah.

Okay, Jared, excuse me. Sorry, Jared. Um no disrespect. Calm down, Jared. Yeah. So uh how often do you is he like an instrumentalist where he's just sending you guitar loops? Yeah, Jared, he's very musically inclined, so he can make his guitar sound like anything. And so do you work with a lot of people like Jared that maybe you know, kind of you know, load you up with you know, piano or guitar, or you know what I mean? Like, are you working with a lot of I'm very open with um collaboration? I'm I'm all about getting to the finish line. So besides Jared, my guy Dave Dave Savage goes crazy um and my guy Simon we do a lot of stuff with money long okay yeah yeah yeah she's super dope on fire right now go crazy go crazy sis yes that's actually she actually got nominated for BT Award so congrats on fire hell yeah yeah that's like uh that's a real producer because like a real producer you know you don't have to be able to do every job but you have someone that you can hit up to help get the job done you know you have the you gotta be able to have the resources be able to make the phone calls to get the job done. Yeah, at the end of the day, I still tell them exactly how it needs to be done so yep you still have the ear and you know what needs to happen absolutely that's dope so so what are you excited most about you know coming up definitely Yahweh. yeah The Yahweh project definitely has he already announced it he announced that it's coming out but no no date yet no name yet either. We didn't say the date yet no no name yet either damn yeah can you leak it we did that exclusively I gotta I gotta let Yahweh come out with that one man all right does does he make it out to Atlanta ever to work or are you mainly going out to get him out here he has a few shows out here he did wild and out out here but he just loves LA just an LA boy yeah how do you feel about LA you like going out there? I like the vibe um but you know as far as my sound um I like to still stay in Atlanta yeah but definitely the vibe out there is cool yeah I'm not like an LA guy oh man next next time you go let me know yeah it's cool All right. you probably weren't doing the right stuff hanging out with the right people. That's how it is. That's how it was my first time until I met Yahweh and he showed me like yo we gotta go here we got to do this. if XL's invited me I'm going for sure.

Right. You know, I and if and if Tyler wants to show me the the real LA, you know, I'm not gonna say no. You gotta prepare for him, rock star life. God, yeah. I mean, what's you know, what's he like? Is he as as you would think? Of course. Yeah, like just true to to that whole that whole image. Of course. That whole image? Yeah. Shout out to Yahweh, he's wild, man. Can you keep up? He tries, he forces me to, he forces me to, and I love it. He brings you, he brings you up to his level. Makes you feel super young again. Yeah, no, like before him, I was just like super just like chilled, but it's like he always breaks me out my shell every time. Every time, yeah, he's a character, that's for sure. Well, Ben just had a kid, but I might be able to keep up on that Rager Boy life if I come out there. Yeah, even before my kid, I was like grandpa status, so I'm not sure I can keep up with uh the name of Tyler. But no, it sounds exciting, man. I can't wait to hear the um you know rock shit. That's like real, you know, interesting to me. That was so fun. Just the creative process of doing it. I was gonna say, tell tell me about like did you feel like super out of your comfort zone at first, or did you feel like right in there? Um, it was definitely a learning curve, and that's why I was so excited about it because um, you know, making you know trap beats and are my first beat I ever made was an RB beat, so all of those are like water to me, you know.

So I'm like, nah, we gotta step it up a level this year. So making the rock, it was oh now I see I need to go get different sounds. I gotta okay, now I gotta learn new plugins. Now I gotta see, okay, they like this sound right here, and this, okay, cool. So it definitely was a learning curve, but it was so fun. The drums in particular are very different when I do like rock style drums. You don't want to be like right on the grid, you want to have it a little loose, Even then, once I did the drums. Um, you know, Yahweh, he was in a band, so he actually knows where everything's supposed to be placed. So once I did everything, he's like, all right, cool. Now that you have this, make sure this does this now. And he actually helped me a lot with the prose production. So do we just hear that it's a Yahweh rock song? I think he didn't want to leave that, but I think we just got it out of him. Rico's gonna make me edit that one out. But anyways, um, no, that's you know, I was hoping that would be the case. Uh no, that that sounds good. Yes, sir. but all programmed. No live drums?

Oh, okay. Well, it's a couple secrets, man. Okay, okay. Okay, that's uh I won't I won't make you incriminate yourself any more than you have. But now that's that sounds super exciting. I can't wait to hear that. Um, for sure. You've been absolutely crushing it over the years. I mean, you know, like I said, I think what's what's most interesting to me about you know your story is like I said, the amount of respect that the artists that you do really, you know, lock in with. I mean, like I said, just to even shout you out like as much as that they have, like that that's huge. Yeah, yeah, because I mean before anything, I try to be a friend to all my friends, so yeah, yeah. I think that's really important. Do you work with a lot of people that you're not actually friends with? Yeah, yeah. Okay. You know what comes with it? Like straight business. Yeah, it's cool. But it happens to be that like these really strong relationships that's not business. It's not business. Yeah, we haven't talked about my brother TK Kravitz. Yeah, you know, it's most of my placements have come from just having relationships with people, yeah.

Yeah, so you know, hang out with them outside of music and stuff, and exactly. Like just you know, checking up on people, making sure everybody's good. Yeah, yeah. So, like, how did the TK Kravitz you know relationship start? How did me and TK that's crazy? How did me and TK meet? We actually met at 11th Street, and that's the first time I met Yahweh's ex. Shout out to Sexty, man. She's going crazy right now as well. Um, that's when I first met him there. Um, beat Monster Mark and Young Land actually introduced us that night, and we made the record with Sexton and TK Kravitz called Space that night. The first night I met him and her fire. And after that, that's when TK was like, yo, me, me, me and you, we gotta, we gotta do something else too. And shortly after that, and wait, Space came out in 2017. So shortly after that, 2018, that's when me, TK, and Jacquees did Ocean. And that was another big one for me. Yeah.

That was my first one that was just, you know, me alone on the beat, and it actually, you know, did really good. So you know, royalty checks look a little different after that. Yeah, no splits. Well, except for you know, on the artist front. But yeah. So, you know, is it just coincidence that it sounds like every artist that you've then gone on to work with, pretty much the first session, maybe even the first beat of the first session, you've made a hit. That's fair to say. Is it is that just yeah, like do you think that like is there? I just I'm trying to, you know, wrap my head around like, is there something to be said for like either the chemistry's there or it's not? Is that or have you had to fight through it sometimes for you know with an artist? Yeah, no, it's it's been times where I've gone to sessions and we didn't even cook up that day. We'll probably just be talking in the room the whole time. Yeah, but okay, but even still, once you do cook up, is there something to be said for like if you have to send so many beats or play so many things? I get where you're going, yeah, you know, try try not to force it.

Yeah, yeah, is it almost like cut bait or or or have you fought through it and then it's really worked? Um, sometimes when it's too forced, I don't know. Maybe you guys just don't have a sound together. Like it's it's all good, you know? Yeah. Because not every producer, even if they're dope, is gonna be able to work with every artist. I mean, yeah, yeah. I wouldn't force it. Yeah. Yeah, so it is something where like maybe if you're not you know feeling it, it just might not be, you know, maybe come back to it. Yeah, their sound might not be for you. Yeah, yeah. No, it's interesting for sure. Well, yo, this has been amazing. I think that like you're on a fucking run. Like, I can't wait to hear more of the Tyler shit that you guys have. Because like I said, it sounds like you know, y'all really built this, you know, strong relationship that you know it comes out in the music too. It's just shout out to Jacquees too, Say Yeah is out right now. Yeah, go stream that that's going crazy. Yes, sir. Any anything else you want to shout out? Anything else I want to shout out? Just all the up and coming producers, man. I know you said I said just stay positive.

That was pretty, you know. That was early me. Now I I think I would say something like work, work smarter than working just so hard. You know, don't, don't overwork yourself. Sit down and really plan it out. Play chess, play smart. Not checkers, yeah. Play chess. I was never a good chess player, so that analogy just goes, you know, right over my head. But no, in all seriousness, XL, we appreciate you coming on the podcast. This is super cool. Yep. Thank you, man. Shirts back here. Yeah, we might have to get you might have to bless him. You're going home with one if you want one. Y'all got some shirts. Oh, yeah. Yup. For sure. And Henry, until next week, what are we doing? Getting out of here. Getting out of here. Peace. Yes, sir. Pop that shit like one more time. Pop that one more time. Pop that shit like one more time. Pop that one more time. Oh. Hop up in that foreign whip. Oh. Oh, the homie this shit dripping. Oh. Middle finger to the law. Yeah.