uproxx interviews

Aida Osman And KaMillion Of ‘Rap Sh!t’ Are Becoming Stars Alongside Their Characters

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rap sh!t aida osman and kamillion
Alicia Vera/HBO Max

Even before they landed the lead roles on Issa Rae’s new HBO Max series, Aida Osman and KaMillion have been living and breathing this rap sh*t. The new show, appropriately titled Rap Sh!t, tells the story of two estranged high school friends – the poetic, lyric-focused Shawna Clark (Osman) and the confident, sexually liberated Mia Knight (KaMillion) – reuniting to form a rap duo. While this is both actors’ first times starring in a lead role, their TV counterparts are entities the two have been manifesting for years.

Before Rap Sh!t, KaMillion had been putting out independent mixtapes and singles for eight years. Osman had worked as a writer and producer on shows like Big Mouth and Betty, and was initially hired to be a writer for Rap Sh!t. With Rap Sh!t, the two are at the forefront of their own sharp pen game after years of putting in work behind the scenes.

“It’s so complicated and scary and weird to actualize,” Osman says of being a lead on television. “Every time I see the photo of me and Milly in the car that they’re using for the Rap Sh!t art, I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s somebody else. That’s not me and her’ But like, that is me and her. That’s me and my friend. When I drive by the billboard now, it’s so weird to see that that’s us. It’s surreal.”

Aida Osman as Shawna Clark on Rap Sh!t
Alicia Vera/HBO Max

Aida Osman plays the lyric-focused Shawna Clark. She is also a writer on the show.

Osman’s affinity for hip-hop began as a secret love affair. Having grown up in a Muslim household in Lincoln, Nebraska, she was not allowed to watch TV or listen to hip-hop, which the TV writer and actress on a hip-hop-centered show admits is “crazy… because look at me now.” As a teenager, she would often take her computer and sit in her room, watching Nicki Minaj videos in secret. She played drums and performed in her school’s choir throughout high school, and by college, she was quietly writing her own rhymes and exploring beatmaking.

Today, Osman’s mother is more than supportive of her work, even if she doesn’t quite get it.

“[My mom] hates Big Mouth so much,” Osman says. “She’s always like, ‘What is this? They’re ugly.’ She thinks it’s all ugly, and she thinks the concept is so stupid. But she always pauses at the credits like, ‘That’s my baby.’ And I’m like, ‘Which is it? Which is it?’ I don’t even know if my mom understands the concept of Rap Sh!t, but we’ll see.”

KaMillion, on the other hand, has always been immersed in the world of hip-hop, having grown up in Jacksonville, Florida, and hearing music constantly playing outside. “I started writing poetry at first,” says KaMillion, “just looking at the community that I was raised in, and everything I was going through. Everything started out as poetry, and then I just put a beat to it. When I felt like I could do it, I started rapping and getting with different producers. Hip-hop has just always been in me just because of how I was raised in the neighborhoods where I came from.”

When we first meet Osman’s Shawna on the show, she is working the front desk at a Miami hotel. She is recognized for one of her viral freestyles, however, it is revealed that she now wears a mask when she records her rap videos, that way people can focus on her lyrics instead of her appearance. She is critical of the hypersexual nature of women rappers and is fed up with being slept on and wants very badly for industry professionals to take her seriously.

KaMillion’s Mia, on the other hand, strives to be a woman’s fantasy in regards to sexual liberation – a la Lil Kim in the ’90s. As an aspiring rapper single mother, a make-up artist, and an OnlyFans model, Mia wears many hats throughout the series.

Sex work is a big component of the Rap Sh!t universe. In the first episode, we see Mia live streaming on OnlyFans, taking requests and tips from men. In real life, KaMillion briefly dipped her toes in the OnlyFans waters during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, though not for what she considers sex work, but rather to share intimate pictures that wouldn’t make it past the Instagram censors. “We’ve all done odd jobs to come up,” KaMillion says. “I danced briefly to make ends meet, so I understood that aspect when it came to my character, because I’ve experienced it.”

While she became well-versed on the platform of her own accord, bringing the OnlyFans action to the screen was an entirely new challenge for KaMillion.

KaMillion as Mia Knight on Rap Sh!t
Alicia Vera/HBO Max

KaMillion plays the ambitious, sexually-liberated Mia Knight.

“When you’re recording kinky little videos on your phone, no one’s in there watching you,” KaMillion says, “but now, you’ve got to perform in front of the camera guy and the director. Like they’re up in your coochie, and I’m like ‘Did I shave good enough?’ ‘How’s every angle looking?’”

Although Shawna hasn’t done any sex work in the series, Osman, similarly to KaMillion, said one of her most challenging scenes to shoot was a virtual sex scene in the first episode, in which she is having FaceTime sex with her long-distance boyfriend, Cliff (Devon Terrell).

“There will be a closed set for things like this, so it’s just you, the cameraman, the producer, the main writer, and the showrunner,” Osman says. “But every time that we film a scene, we do a practice round before, where the necessary crew comes in and maps out what the scene is going to look like. So to lay in a bed while Issa Rae is just watching me masturbate is the goofiest thing. I felt funny and stupid, and I couldn’t take that scene seriously. I kept cackling mid-orgasm.”

Throughout the series, the promising rappers navigate the treacherous music industry as their single, “Seduce And Scheme,” continues to go viral. They face challenges like handling personal relationships as artists, remaining couth at industry functions, and the pressures of viral fame. All the while, the two channel the spirit of women in rap to help them get through the titular rap sh*t, both on-and-off screen.

Viewers with a keen ear will catch the characters referencing iconic quotes by female rappers in casual conversation. In the second episode, when Mia and Shawna are brainstorming ideas for songs, Mia says she wants to make “something fun, something for the summertime, something for the girls to get ready and party to,” referring to Saweetie’s 2019 interview for Amazon Music’s Rap Rotation. In a later episode, where the ladies head to New York City, Mia recreates Nicki Minaj’s 2017 viral “you b*tches can’t even spell Prague” video, recording a clip in front of a black Cadillac Escalade, saying, “Attention, this is how a bad b*tch leaves Miami and arrives in Queens. You b*tches can’t even spell Queens.”

Like the hidden Drake-lyrics in the dialogue of the first season of Rae’s breakout series, Insecure, and the Frank Ocean-lyrics in the second, this was something the writers did on purpose.

“It’s definitely about paying homage, and we love that,” Osman says. “It always feels amazing to catch a little easter egg like that. So with our show, it only made sense for the writers to be like, ‘Let’s put in our favorite moments from Black women in rap.’”

As Mia and Shawna become stars on Rap Sh!t, both Osman and KaMillion are becoming stars in real life, alongside their breakout characters. According to Osman, Rae first commissioned her to write “a month’s worth of television” when she was hired onto the show’s staff. She was comfortable working as a writer “for the rest of [her] life,” and even assumed that someone else had landed the role of Shawna before she was asked to do a chemistry read with KaMillion.

KaMillion had been working toward her breakthrough moment in music for nearly a decade, and now, with Rap Sh!t, she feels like the stars are all aligning.

“I think it’s a blessing for me to be able to make a living in hip-hop,” KaMillion says. “And, ultimately, to be on a show like this – that I feel is about to be culture.”

Robert Glasper Is Channeling His Inner Miles Davis With The Blue Note Jazz Festival

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Robert Glasper
Blue Note Jazz Fest Napa

Robert Glasper is doing it all these days. He’s just come off a European Tour in support of his latest album, Black Radio III, performed at the Montreal Jazz Festival earlier this month (where he received the prestigious Miles Davis Award), and is in the midst of scoring not one, but three TV and film projects. But the biggest and most personal undertaking of them all for the four-time Grammy Award-winning pianist, producer, and composer, is the inaugural Blue Note Jazz Festival in Napa, CA.

Going down at the Charles Krug Winery from July 29th – 31st, Glasper is the festival’s artist in residence and curator. The lineup is an eclectic representation of jazz, hip-hop, and R&B’s inextricable ties. Where Chaka Khan, Maxwell, and Black Star are playing rare headlining sets, the lineup is as eye-popping for the creative collaboration performances like Snoop Dogg with Dinner Party (Glasper, Kamasi Washington, and Terrace Martin), The Soul Rebels with GZA & Talib Kweli, and Glasper alongside Erykah Badu, BJ The Chicago Kid, Ledisi and D Smoke — oh, and Dave Chappelle is also the weekend’s host.

We caught up with Glasper by phone to talk about the vision behind the festival, how the legacy of Miles Davis has inspired him, and how his career sees him tracing the evolution of Black music in incredible ways.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

AS: You just got back from Europe and I saw you first tour stop at Montreal Jazz Festival a couple weeks ago. Considering your work on the Everything’s Beautiful tribute album of sorts to Miles Davis, and scoring Miles Ahead, what was it like be honored with the Miles Davis Award as someone pushing jazz music forward into new realms the way Miles did?

It’s so funny how Miles Davis pops up in my life. Miles Davis is the first jazz musician that I ever heard cover pop songs. I was in junior high school and I got that record Miles Around The World where he covered Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature” and he also covered Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time.” That opened my eyes a lot. It’s part of the thread of who I am in just being open and being modern and not forgetting the history, but not being held back by the history. And then you fast forward and Don Cheadle asked me to score the Miles Davis movie he did, Miles Ahead, and that was the first thing I ever scored. Then in the middle of scoring that, Sony hits me and asks me to produce a record on Miles Davis because it was going to be his 90th birthday. So they asked me to do this remix record and I told them that I would love to, but I explained to them how I wanted to do it: It can’t just be that I put some hip-hop drums under a muted trumpet and call it a day. I wanted to really dive in. That’s why it’s [Everything’s Beautiful] also one of my favorite projects too, cause the way I did it, and the way I captured more of Miles than just his trumpet. I think he’s on two songs on the whole album as far as the trumpet goes. ‘Cause the other stuff, I literally have his breath tied in with the bass drum on a song, I have him talking, clapping, whistling. I’m trying to get the elements of the whole person. You can’t narrow him down to just the trumpet. So me getting that award, it just fell into place that with Miles, he is who he is, but he’s the reason that jazz started being so open to begin with. He’s a trailblazer.

He’s always looked to blur the definition of jazz, which is kind of what you’re pushing forward now.

Exactly, it was such an honor and I’ve been playing Montreal Jazz Festival for years, so it was an honor to get that. It was also the heaviest award I’ve ever gotten [laughs] I might’ve gotten knocked over by the trophy, it’s so heavy.

Oh yeah, I saw that thing, it was like as big as your torso!

And since that was the first day of my tour, I was gone for three weeks, so I had to have them mail it to me.

Robert Glasper Montreal Jazz Festival
Victor Diaz Lamich/Montreal Jazz Fest

Well speaking of festivals, you’ve got Blue Note Jazz Festival in Napa coming up. I think it really speaks to so much amazing collaboration between jazz and hip-hop and R&B artists. What’s been the vision behind the way you guys curated this and brought everything together?

The idea literally came from my residency at the Blue Note [in New York] every October. I’ve done it three times so far and this last October, Steve [Bensusan] and Alex [Kurland] from Blue Note, the owner and the booker, came to me and started talking about doing something outside of the residency, maybe doing a festival. They approached me and I was like, “That makes all the sense in the world.” We kept talking about it here and there and then literally this past April, we pulled the trigger on it and said, “Let’s actually do it and make it happen.” The festival is cool cause it feels like a family reunion. Everyone performing at the fest, I know them. I kinda got to handpick my own f*cking festival. It doesn’t get better than that. They’re all amazing artists and I got to handpick them and put them all together. That’s not a typical thing that an artist or musician gets to do.

Yeah, and for the more high-profile collab sets like Dinner Party and Snoop, there’s also one like Amber from Moonchild and Kiefer. Like, where the hell else can I see that?

Yeah, Amber’s my homie cause she was on my R+R=Now record. We’re all friends. And really, it’s like a pick-up game. Like when Michael Jordan did Space Jam and he got to invite all his NBA basketball player friends to play pick-up games with him while he was recording the movie. This is like my Space Jam [laughs]

It definitely feels like a version of your residency on steroids.

For sure. That’s literally where the idea burst from. We even got going with some guests that we’d had on the residency before and some that we wanted to have. I think it started with me making a list of people that I wanted at my next residency and then was like, “We should do a festival and have all these people.”

Something that struck me in Montreal and now looking at the lineup of this festival, and then looking at Black Radio — Black Radio III specifically — is that you’re really trying to tell the story of the evolution of Black music and where everything is at now. Talk a little about that and how everything is connected with the artists you’ve got playing at this festival that has your name at the very top.

A lot of people have put jazz in this box of exclusivity. Where it’s this exclusive thing that doesn’t f*ck with anybody else, any other genres. And that’s just not the case. In its conception, it’s already amuck. Jazz is mixed with classical music, blues, gospel… And later on, when you listen to certain jazz standards, they weren’t even standards, they were show tunes. They were songs people got from musicals. Like “My Favorite Things” or “All The Things You Are,” these important jazz standards, these weren’t jazz tunes. These were jazz artists reaching out into the world and bringing worldly things into the music and then they became standards. That’s kind of where I come from it. Black music is a big house and it has many genres under that roof, blues, gospel, jazz, hip-hop, R&B, you name it. I like to go room to room in this big house of Black music. Like I have a key to it all, because it’s in my DNA. I studied this music, I went on tours with some of the greatest in each genre, so I feel like I’m one of the people that can represent this thing that we call Black music. There are so many amazing artists and trailblazers, and to have them all in one festival represents so much and represents how free the music can be.

I’m hard-pressed to think if I’ve ever seen a festival lineup quite like this. What’s your hope for this weekend?

I’m hoping that this turns into an annual thing. But also, with the kinds of musicians and artists that we have, it lends itself to probably a lot of things we’ve never seen before. People sitting in with other people, cross-pollination on the stage. Most of the time on the festival stage, you go see that one artist and that’s what you see, thats what the festival is. But this one’s gonna be more cross-pollination, with a family-oriented kind of vibe. It’s smaller than most festivals on purpose. We’re trying to mirror the Blue Note residency so we wanted to keep it intimate (in festival terms) and try to mimic that feeling that you get when you’re in a small club; like the residency, with unexpected pop-up guests. I’m getting all kinds of calls from all kinds of artists on it. I’m really looking forward to it.

Blue Note Jazz Festivall
lineup poster

For tickets, visit Blue Note Jazz Fest’s site here.

Rising Atlanta Rapper Hunxho Explains The Relentless Work Ethic Behind His New Project, ‘Xhosen’

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Hunxho Interview
Getty Image/Ralph Ordaz

Two years ago, Atlanta rapper Hunxho (pronounced “huncho”) didn’t even have one full-length project to his name. Then, on the last day of July, he dropped his official debut project, Street Poet, following up with its sequel, Street Poet 2, just one year later. Since then, his pace has only increased. Instead of waiting another year to drop a new mixtape, he offered Street Poetry in March of this year. Then, perhaps unable to let another nine months go by, he followed up again with his latest mixtape Xhosen in the middle of June — this time, with the backing of 300 Entertainment, home of such street-certified stars as Megan Thee Stallion, Tee Grizzley, and Young Thug.

Named for his son, Xhosen is a polished project in the vein of fellow red clay-rooted rappers Future, Lil Baby, and Migos. Led by the driving, motivational single “Fight,” the nine-track project sees Hunxho boasting that he’s “Made It This Far” while predicting “Where I’m Going.” Meanwhile, on songs like “Heartless,” he details his early struggles and the sense of dogged persistence they’ve left him — the same hustler mentality that compels him to do whatever it takes to make good on the promises of “It’s Gone Be Alright.”

In a Zoom interview, Hunxho explains his relentless work ethic and hands-on approach to his prolific creative process, and acknowledges the adjustments he’s made over the past year as he learns the rap business and sees his newfound notoriety pay off.

Street Poetry came out in March, and Xhosen is out just three months later. Why did you want to do such a fast turnaround?

Because I love dropping music. I just want to drop, drop, drop. I feel like I got to put the music out and whatever they catch on to, they just going to catch on to. It ain’t on me, the way to choose what songs are going to be a hit. I’m here to make the music and be myself and drop the music and let the people choose what they want to choose. If I could, I would drop another tape this week. I can, but I’ll probably give it some time.

That actually kind of reminds me of Gucci Mane. Do you remember when he was dropping back to back to back? Or Lil Wayne when was dropping back to back to back. It’s a winning strategy, it can work for you.

Yo, for sure. I ain’t going to lie, I got so much music, I can not make music for three years and have enough music to drop, for real.

With such a short gap between the releases, how do you try to push yourself or evolve your sound between the albums?

I just stay locked in. Then I be putting some of the most recent sh*t on the tape, but while I’m putting the tape together, I’m still making the music. So, I might start something new and put something else on there.

So for you, it’s more important to continue making music, because every day you’re going to have something new. Right?

Yeah. It’s important for me to keep making music. But I just recently was trying to take a break from making music to work on everything else — like my performance and whatever else that got to do with music, instead of making it.

I love hearing that. I think that a lot of artists get so focused on doing the thing that they don’t think about how we’re going to present it to people. What kind of things have you done to get performance ready?

I really ain’t even started yet but I’m about to start. I’m going to get somebody who do stuff like that, who works with people on their performance. I got big shows coming up and I really ain’t did no big shows. I’ve mainly been doing club shows, so it’s different from a club and a big stage.

I know you can get a little burnt out or maybe run out of things to say when you produce so much music. How do you stay inspired?

I ain’t going to lie, I’m self-motivated. My motivation really come out of myself, sh*t I’ve been through, and where I came from. And I know where I want to be. I don’t never get comfortable. I’m a forever be hungry. I never want to make myself feel comfortable. I really want to be bigger and better.

So, let’s talk about Xhosen. I heard that it was inspired by your son?

Yeah, most definite.

Is this named after him?

Yeah, Xhosen. It’s just like that on his birth certificate.

That’s pretty tight. The substitute teachers are going to freak out though.

They’re going to mix his name all up.

What would you say is the main idea of Xhosen, the album? What do you want people to take away from it when they hear it?

I mean it’s not really no main idea. It’s just… I’m telling them my pain, my stories, my struggles. And then I want them to put it in and they can tell me what they get out of it.

If someone were to only listen to one song from Xhosen, which one would it be and why?

Probably “Heartless,” the first one on there. The energy is hard and it’s different. But I stay listening to old music. I like bringing the old to the new.

One of the things that struck me when I was doing the research for this, the video for “Fight” is heavily influenced by the Black Panthers. What’s your experience with that movement and what makes it relevant to what you’re doing musically on that song and today?

I mean, it wasn’t really that. It was really just me trying to push the concept of “Fight” by showing different fights.

Yeah. So like the fight for civil rights or the fight for liberation?

Yeah, yeah.

You know, I think that still holds up. What was the process of filming that video like?

I had come up with the idea and I had sat down with Marco Speed and explained it to him. And I just tell him, “I need you to bring it to life.” A video shoot came up and he told me to be there. It started at like eight o’clock. I was out there all day and I didn’t leave until five in the morning because we were shooting a lot.

Had you ever done a video on that level of production before?

Not where I was already set up. I never did a video like that. [Usually] I set it up myself. I did everything.

What’s the difference between having it done for you versus doing it for yourself?

I don’t really know. I be wanting to be editor. If I could’ve stayed editor too, I would have did it.

So you’re more of a hands-on type of artist?

Yeah, most definitely.

That’s good to hear. That probably explains why you came up in such a relatively short amount of time. What is the biggest difference between your life five years ago and your life now?

Five years ago? I ain’t going to lie. I wasn’t even really mainly focused on music five years ago. I was living in the street just focused on making me some money. I wasn’t really even rapping or doing… When I found out I could rap, I would put it out in a rap.

For someone who just started rapping professionally, you’re a lot more polished than I see with a lot of newer artists. How did you get so good so fast?

I just be dedicated. I really put my all into it. I be locked in. Any chance I was going to be in the studio, I would be in the studio. Whatever I got to do, shooting videos and everything. Every day try to do something that’s got something to do with me perfecting my craft.

Yeah. So, in your perfect world, if everything pans out 100% correctly, how would you like to have changed in the next five years? So if we talk again in 2027, and you’ve been rapping for 10 years, what do you want to see different?

I don’t know where I’m going to be. I just want everybody to be straight. That’s all I know. I just want everybody to be good.

Hunxho is a Warner Music artists Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Syd’s Time In The ‘Broken Hearts Club’ Taught Her How To Lick Her Wounds And Come Back Stronger

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Syd Press Photo 'Broken Hearts Club' interview
Swurve

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

Syd is happy.

That’s the main conclusion I received from our interview about her sophomore solo album Broken Hearts Club. The project arrives five years after her debut solo album Fin, and since then, a lot has happened for her. Her band, The Internet, released their fourth album Hive Mind, and the group’s respective members, just like Syd herself, released solo projects of their own. She’s endured the highs and lows of love, and just like the rest of us, Syd battled to adjust to the new normal that the pandemic forced on us.

Broken Hearts Club is Syd’s real-life account of a head-over-heels love story that took place for her during the pandemic. The initial butterflies, the truly heartfelt confessions of love that came later, and everything in between are present for the first two-thirds of the album – and then everything comes crashing down. Syd is left to pick up the pieces of her heart, one she thought that she gave away for good, all while figuring out how to move on. Furthermore, there was also an album, which was initially made to celebrate this joyous relationship, to finish.

Somehow, someway though, Syd did it. Fresh off the release of Broken Hearts Club, Syd sat down with Uproxx to tell us about how it all came together, how she’s grown from the situation, and more.

What would you say are the biggest differences between Broken Hearts Club and your first solo project Fin.

The vulnerability. I think on Fin, I tapped into a little bit of vulnerability toward the end of that album, but for the most part, I was flexing really hard. It was definitely me at the time, but when I came down to writing this album and trying to bring some of that same energy, it just didn’t feel natural at the time. I think I had a lot to prove on Fin as a songwriter mostly. I wrote Fin with a lot of other artists in mind. Fin, for me, was like, “Okay, if I could just write songs, who would I write for? What would I write?” It was a lot of experimentation. So some of those songs I listen to now and I’m like, “That doesn’t sound like me,” Okay because that sounds like who I had in mind when I wrote it. It turned out great because it was all me and my boy Nick [Green]. I love how the album came out and I still love it to this day, even though some of the songs don’t sound like me anymore, I still love it. I’m like, “Wow, I was going ham, I was flexing on everybody,” and I’m appreciative of that time and who knows? Maybe I’ll get back in my bag next go around. This time, I had to just like kind of be real about what I’ve been through in between the projects.

In terms of The Internet, you said that Fin was somewhat of an itch to scratch and a way to explore interests outside of the band. Is that the same with Broken Hearts Club?

This one’s a little different. Going into Fin, and all The Internet solo projects, we had started making another Internet project before we actually started Hive Mind and it just wasn’t sounding good. We were making beats and it just sounded really weird. I felt that it was because we all wanted to do different things and I felt like we had to do those different things before we could come back together. This time around is different because we took a conscious and deliberate break. Matt [Martians] adopted a puppy a couple of years ago, and was like, “I want to take a year off and raise my dog,” he’s been living in Georgia. Patrick [Paige II] put out a solo album, Steve [Lacy’s] been working on a solo album, almost done with it, he signed a deal, and Chris [Smith] just started a solo project. So this time around, it was more geared toward the future. We were looking more at ourselves as the supergroup that we are and less as just a band. Like, let’s take this time to really take advantage of what we set up for ourselves and we’ll get back to it when it happens naturally.

Because the story on this album is so personal, I assume that it only made sense to have this be a solo album for yourself. If not for these events, was there another direction you had for this project?

I like to look at every album as a snapshot into my life at the time, so it just depends on where I’m at. As of right now, whatever I start working on for the next project and the couple of songs I do have already for the next project, they’re kinda more me talking my sh*t, a little bit flexy, talking about enjoying the fruits of my labor a little bit more. On Fin, I was talking about the future fruits of my labor [and] what I had hoped to accomplish. On the next one, I think it’ll be more about what I have accomplished. I don’t know, also, in the process of making and finishing this album, I’ve come to like a place of contentment with my life, where I’m like, “Wow, okay, cool. I have what I need and I don’t really want anything.” I finally hit that point where I’m like, “Damn, I’m good! I’m set.” As long as these royalties keep coming in the way they have been, I think I’ll be okay.

Is there a song from Broken Hearts Club that was easier or more difficult than usual to write?

“Goodbye My Love” was really hard to sing, actually. When I wrote it, I was sobbing, I wasn’t over it, it just happened maybe a week prior. I was in the midst of my grief, sitting at my parent’s dining room table. I was listening to that sh*t just sobbing and writing it in my head. It was initially going to be for a producer album, and I told bro straight up, “I can’t seem to sing this sh*t without crying, so I’m not gonna make your deadline, I’m sorry.” He was like, “Aw sh*t, well hey man, don’t rush it. I’m sure it’ll come when it’s supposed to.” By the time it came together, he had already put his project out and I was like, “Yo, can I have this?” and he was like yeah. So that was probably the one, that one was hard. It was easy to write, but it was really hard to record. By the time I recorded it, it worked out and it came together pretty quickly, but it took me a really long time to be able to sing it without crying. It’s so short and simple! But that’s probably why (laughs).

You have guest appearances from Lucky Daye, Smino, and Kehlani here. What made them fitting artists to you to tell such a personal story?

So I picked Kehlani just because we had been meaning to work together for so long and we just needed the right couple of songs. That’s one of my friends like in real life, we’re like finsta friends, so we always know what each other is doing and it was just like why haven’t we gotten in the studio for real? That was her saying that, she was like, “Can we make a project together or something?” I was like sh*t, I got a couple of songs we could start with. Smino, I’ve known him for a few years now and we’ve been meaning to work for a while. We actually did get in the studio once back in the day, but it just didn’t come together organically, but this time it did. I had written the song and I just texted it to him. I was like, “Yooo,” and he sent it back the next day and those are always the best features to me. The ones that come back the next day or the next week are usually the best. Lucky Daye was a similar situation we had actually never met or even spoken before. I just slid in his DMs and was like, yo, I got a song, and he was like, “BET. Where we at? Where you at?” He came to the studio, it was real quick, real easy, like it was super natural. After he left, I remember thinking and saying, “Yo, he’s hella cool man, he’s one of us.”

The major transitional points on the album for me are the “heart” songs: “CYBAH,” “Heartfelt Freestyle,” and “BMHWDY.” Through these, we see that a major pain point with love is reciprocation and maintaining it. For you personally, what do you think is the scariest part about love?

Oh, for sure, just giving someone the power to hurt you. That’s definitely the scariest part for me. I’m not like afraid of commitment. I think we’re all just afraid of pain. For me, with this particular heartbreak, it was unexpected. I thought I was just going to breeze through life without ever experiencing a real one. I’ve had my heart broken before, or whatever, but I bounced back so fast off of those. This one let me know that those weren’t what I thought they were. Honestly, I think I was so ignorant before that I wasn’t afraid of that. I didn’t know what there was to be afraid of anyway. I hadn’t experienced that depth of pain before. Now that I have been through it, I can say I’m probably less afraid ironically. I know that’s like, “…what?” but now I know what to expect. I think fear of the unknown is also very real and not knowing what that pain could be like is also scary. So now I know that I could get through it. Honestly, now I know more about who I am because I learned a lot in that process. I’m less afraid these days.

Have you found comfort or a silver lining in being in the Broken Hearts Club?

Yes, yes! I have a newfound respect for all the homies who have been there (laughs). I don’t know about you, but when I was going through it, I had so many homies pat me on the back in spirit like, “I know bro, I know. You’re gonna get through this. I’ve been there.” Yeah, I got a newfound respect for all of those homies man, for sure.

In a past interview, you said that continuing the process of making this album after the heartbreak was hard because the music you were making at that time was so bitter. Now that it’s done, what would credit towards making this album in the way you wanted to, despite all the emotions you had?

This book The Power Of Now. It just taught me how to be present. What ended up happening was, I wrote a couple of songs, I thought I was going to take this heartbreak and channel it, and it just didn’t come out right. It sounded nasty and I was like, “Okay nah, I think I need to heal first.” So in order to do that, I read hella books, and the first one that I read was The Power Of Now, ironically, a suggestion from the girl who broke up with me. She read it right before she dumped me, so I was like, “What the f*ck did this book tell this b*tch? What was in here that made her leave my ass?? (laughs)” I read it and it really helped me to be present, to not run away from the feelings, but to actually go into it headfirst so that I know I’ve dealt with it, that I’ve released it, and that I’m not bottling nothing. I don’t want nothing popping up on me a year from now, you know, leftover pain and grief. So between that book, a good therapist, and space and time that the pandemic kind of allowed us.

What would you call this chapter of your career?

I have no idea and it’s really scary. It’s almost like a crossroads. It feels like it could go either way right now. One thing that I have to remind myself is that you can always start again because I’ve seen it, but when you’re being present, it’s hard to think like that. Sometimes, you can’t help but think like, “Damn, what if this is it for you girl? What if this is album is whatever to people and I don’t get another chance?” Thankfully, I’ve really gotten better at seeking validation from within. I’ve always been confident, but I haven’t always been sure of myself and now I feel very sure of myself and that’s a game-changer. Now, no one can tell me who I am and nobody could say, “Just trust me, just trust me. You’re gonna look great.” N****, I’m 30. You’re not about to tell me how I’m gonna look! You not bout to tell me that imma like this more than anything else I’ve ever been in. I fell for the okey-doke before. I’m just happy that when you Google me, new pictures pop up because boy… those first 5-10 years of my career? I wasn’t sure enough of myself to say “no.” Now I am, now I’m grown. I’m 30, can’t tell me bout me (laughs). And that feels really good.

Now that your solo project is done, is a return to music with The Internet in order?

I think we’ll be doing another Internet album before I do another solo project. Initially, in September, when me and Matt were talking about what we wanted to discuss [on the project], it was a little more about what was happening in the world, like this Internet perspective of the world right now and everybody going crazy. But when we talked about it at Smokin Grooves, he was like, “You know what? Let’s just have fun on this next record. If we want to talk about something serious, let’s have fun with it. Let’s just go back to some good times” So I think on the next one, I’ll probably be talking about all my trucks a lot (laughs), probably getting on people’s nerves.

Broken Hearts Club is out now via Columbia Records. You can stream it here.

After Writing Hits For Lady Gaga And Ariana Grande, Nija Charles Is Forging Her Own Way

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Nija Charles 2022 press photo
Brian Ziff

At just the age of 23 years old, Nija Charles is undoubtedly one of the music industry’s most sought-after songwriters. Her list of collaborators is a dream cast of names that any songwriter, or any artist at that, would love to have at her age. Cardi B, Meek Mill, The Carters, 21 Savage, Beyonce, Chris Brown, Drake, and Summer Walker are all people she’s worked to great success. Between chart-topping albums and top-20 Billboard Hot 100 songs, Nija’s resume shines on its one.

In 2020, Nija hit the jackpot — twice. She scored two No. 1s, the first being Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s “Rain On Me” and the second being Grande’s “Positions.” Her elevated success as a songwriter earned her recognition on various platforms. In 2020, she appeared on Rolling Stone’s Future 25, BET’s Future 40, and Forbes’ 30 Under 30 lists. Two years after she topped the charts as a songwriter, Nija is aiming for that same success as a singer.

Fresh off the release of her debut project, Don’t Say I Didn’t Warn You, we caught up with Nija to discuss her success as a songwriter, her goals for her own artistry, and how she’s able to do it all.

As a songwriter, 2020 proved to be your biggest year after you landed No. 1s with Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande. Ahead of your next chapter as an overall artist, how do you look at those moments when you reflect on them now?

Yeah, back in 2020, I didn’t realize how hard I was working and I’m just appreciative of my drive during that time. Getting two No. 1s, especially in pop, is not something you see every day, so it just proves to me that I could do anything. Working hard comes naturally to mean and I was able to put that into my artistry, that type of drive. Working during the pandemic, I got to be able to go back to how I usually work before I really got into writing professionally. I was in my room and just doing what felt good to me. That was really dope that I got to go back to my old self and I feel like that played a big part in my success during that year.

Even though you had success as a songwriter, were you concerned that these No. 1s would box you in as a writer and make it harder for you to be your own artist?

No, I never had a fear because I’m the type of person where it’s like if I want something, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure it happens. I know the music I make is good because I just love listening to music and making music for myself. So as long as I like it, that’s really all that matters to me. I’m glad that everyone else likes it. But no, there was never really a fear because I do it for my own enjoyment.

What’s one of two things that factor heavily into your success as a songwriter, as in, without them, you wouldn’t be as consistent as you are at the moment?

Humbleness and being grounded for sure. I would say that because I feel like a lot of people chase hits and success, but for me from the beginning, I make music because I want to make what I want to hear on the radio. I’m a fan of music so that’s how I always approach every song. I make it so that I can listen to it in the car and listen to my friends. I’m not chasing success and I feel like that plays out in the results. Two, I would say drive and just being a go-getter. I’m always on call, I’m always gonna finish something, [and] I never half-ass things. I feel like that’s definitely played a part in my consistency and it’s also why a lot of people trust me and call on me because they know that I’ll get the job done and I’m going to see things through.

Since these pair of No. 1 singles, how have you grown in your art and what’s contributed to this growth?

Yeah, I’ve grown a lot because one, I feel like I’ve actually been able to experience life more. When I stepped foot in the industry, I was still a teenager and just entering my 20s. So now, I’m learning life like before I really had anything to go off of, I was just writing about what I saw or things that I just heard about, but now I have my own life experiences to draw from through talking with friends and just maturing, that definitely played a big part. Creatively, music progresses and I’m inspired by other artists that I’m listening to and just broadening my music library and just taking inspiration from all types of genres. So yeah, maturing and expanding.

I remember a post you shared in early 2021 where you celebrated your signing to Capitol Music Group. What made that the perfect time and the perfect place to lock in a deal?

It was the perfect time because the three years prior, I just kept leveling up and I’ve worked with about 99% of the people that I looked up to. My first year, I worked with Beyonce and Jay-Z, my second year, I was a big Chris Brown fan growing up and I was able to score one of the biggest cultural records with him. Then, the year after that, I got the biggest pop songs, so it was just like, where do I go from here? I definitely wanted to try something new, and having so much success so early and so quickly, I just felt like that was the right next step. Also, the year before that, Beyonce featured me on “My Power.” So it was really the best timing for me. The reason why I chose Capitol was I was signed by Jeff Vaugh (Chairman/CEO of CMG). Me and Jeff, we’ve known each other over the years because he used to work at Artist Partner Group, so we’ve worked a lot especially at the beginning of my career because he was Kehlani’s A&R and I’ve worked a lot with her — my first hit was “Ring” with Cardi and her. My main thing was I wanted to go somewhere where they were passionate about me, and you know, he was the chairman. He really, really saw my vision as well as Amber Grimes (former SVP and Global Creative of CMG), so that was the perfect place for me.

Now that you’re forging your path as an artist, how has it been balancing creating work for yourself and other artists?

I feel like I’ve had to be more focused add more structure to my schedule. I ended up carving two or three days for me and/or two to three days writing for other people. So it’d be one and off three and two and separate them for each, so that was a big thing. I had to take like a month and a half off just to solely focus on me. I wasn’t doing writing sessions, which was different for me because that’s my everyday life, going to sessions and working with other artists, but I was locked in with myself. Creatively, I had to approach songs differently than I would when working with another artist because I had no boundaries. I was able to use my whole range, I was able to experiment with different melodies and flows, and not be scared or have to limit myself for it to work for multiple people. So it was definitely a lot of change.

The title of your debut project, Don’t Say I Didn’t Warn You, and the music within it presents a double entendre to listeners which is your arrival and impact in the music industry and the energy and qualities you bring to the table in a relationship. Was this intentional, if so, how did you fit them together?

Yeah, it was definitely intention because there are two sides to me, right? Everyone knows that I’m a songwriter and it’s hard to break out of that stigma of songwriters making it out and transferring into an artist and into the spotlight. But, I would never box myself in and I would never let anybody box me into one thing. It’s me telling the music industry and just telling the world, don’t say I didn’t warn you about how I’m coming and in the music that I’m creating, and I’m gonna beat the odds. Then, the story that I’m telling is about my past relationships. It was toxic, it was up and down, and you know, it was me saying “don’t say I didn’t want you” to him. So definitely, it was very intentional with the double entendre.

What were some of the sources of inspiration for this project?

The sources of inspiration were definitely Pop Smoke because I wanted to experiment with the New York drill scene. One of my main things was definitely combining R&B and drill. I’d been saying for months that I wanted to hear an actual singing song on top of a drill beat, so that was one of the inspirations. Also, I was listening to a lot of rap, a lot of pop, and a lot of R&B, and I just really wanted to combine all of those while using freeform melodies, flows, and structures on the records. Content-wise, where I drew inspiration from was just the past three years of my life being in my past relationship and the ups and downs of what we were going through and the feelings after a breakup. Also, me going through my 20s, maturing, becoming an adult, and just being young and successful and dealing with all of that. Achieving so many of those things while also learning how to be an adult at the same time. It definitely gave me a lot to talk about.

Another notable thing about this project is that you’re always in control on these songs, like “You Don’t Love Her” for example. What was your thought process with this direction?

For me, I always want to come from a position of power. I feel like a lot of the R&B that we listened to today is very — I don’t want to say, in the victim realm — but it’s always like, “Oh, you hurt me. Oh it’s me, I’m so sad.” We’ve seen a change within the female rap genre and they’re always in a position of power. I love listening to female rap and the power that they stand for and just always having such confidence. I want to hear that in R&B music. That’s the energy that I carry in general. I always want to make sure that I never feel like the victim or like I’m taking the L. I always want to come out on top because pride is a big thing as well. I never want to feel like I’m losing or just being a victim.

Was there more pressure for you behind writing and create creating content for this specific project as opposed to writing creative content for other people?

Definitely, I feel in the beginning there wasn’t a lot of pressure. I was just doing my own thing and really taking time for ourselves. But when it came down to the wire and it was like, okay, we have 75% of this and we see where this going and see how good this could be, that’s when the pressure was on. I just had to make sure that my mind music matched up to what people know me for. I have a lot of hits under my belt and there’s oftentimes where people feel like the songwriter gave their best songs away. I never want it to feel like that about me, especially because I feel like this is some of the best work that I’ve done. These are my stories, these are my sounds, I feel like I can’t hear other artists singing these records. That’s what’s most important to me. So the pressure was definitely on towards the end of it.

For those who are hearing you in front of the mic for the first time, what do you want them to keep in mind as they listen to your debut project?

One thing I one thing to keep in mind is that I am not the other records that you’ve heard me pen on, they were meant for other people. I want everyone to listen to this with an open mind and a clean slate and not compare this album, or this project, to my past work, that’s one thing. Two, I want everyone listening to this with expecting to heal, especially if they’re going through a toxic relationship. I feel like this is one of those projects where it’ll help you overcome those feelings. It’s definitely not something I’d be down in the dumps with. So those are definitely two things that I want them to keep in mind.

Don’t Say I Didn’t Warn You is out now via Capitol Music Group. You can stream it here.

Cousin Stizz Really Likes Making Music — Especially When It’s ‘Just For You’

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Cousin Stizz 2022 press photo
Zhamak Fullad

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

A little over two years ago, Boston’s Cousin Stizz was Trying To Find My Next Thrill. The title of his 2019 sophomore album presented a man searching for the next excitement in his rap career. He’d won the hearts of those in his hometown through his first two mixtapes, 2015’s Suffolk County and 2016’s Monda, and well as his 2017 major-label debut One Night Only. He’d collaborated with some big names in music like Offset, Smino, Freddie Gibbs, Yung Miami from City Girls, and more. So a search for his next thrill through two albums and two mixtapes made sense.

In 2022, though, Stizz returns with his third album, Just For You. The 13-track project is a mostly solo effort, with just one guest feature from Curren$y. While the Boston native’s search for his next thrill is ongoing, he continues this journey with a project crafted for those who adore him the most. Stylistically, it’s quite reminiscent of Suffolk County and Monda. Backed by strong production from Kal Banx, Charlie Heat, Latrell James, Luke Crowder, and more, Cousin Stizz runs the show from start to finish with equal amounts of precision and finesse.

Fresh off the release of his new album, we caught up with Cousin Stizz to talk about the project, how it’s been searching for his next thrill, the Boston hip-hop scene, and more.

Pandemic things aside, what have you spent the last two, going on three, years doing that brings us Just For You.

Learning bro, literally. Just been learning the game, where I want to be, and where I see myself in the game. Learning life things, you know, things for myself to just help me grow and put us here.

I really liked the idea and concept behind Trying To Find My Next Thrill. Where do you feel like you are on that journey and what place does ‘Just For You’ have on this journey?

Ironically, I feel like Just For You is filling that void. I feel like right after I made Trying To Find My Next Thrill, the world shut down. I went on my own about the business, so that and all the things that happened in the midst of that, it kind of just ironically became that.

Speaking about Just For You specifically, what was/were your biggest intention(s) with this project?

Man, I just wanted to really put something out. My biggest intention was just to get some music out and really just kind of see how people feel about it. My biggest intention was just to get my point across and see how people felt about it because it’s been a while.

You released two projects under RCA, and now you’re back on the independent route, what went into this decision especially ahead of this project?

I think it was just where I saw myself in my journey and where I want to be. I feel like I kind of have to build my foundation just to make sure everything is done the way I want it to be done.

The scarcity of features on this album reminds me of Suffolk Country and Monda. Why did you choose to completely lock in with yourself this one?

I like making music, you know? And I make a sh*t ton of music that doesn’t get out there for people to hear, but I like making music. It’s not even a thing that I do intentionally. I just make music and everybody ain’t there when I’m making music. I make music a lot of time at my crib around like one or two in the morning. I’m rapping from like, 10 pm to 6 am in my crib. So it’s like who am I really around during those times, but myself?

So it’s not really like an intentional thing because I like the people I like and I like working with the people I’ve worked with, we’ve made great music. I make music for myself and I tried to keep my fans in mind when I’m making the music as well because, without them, there’s no me, but I really make music for me.

What are some things you wanted or tried to do differently on Just For You compared to your previous releases?

I kind of try to always do that. I know what I’m good at. I know what I do well. I always leave pieces of that in records because that’s what you should do. I know what people want to hear from me, for the most part, but at the same time, in order to keep it exciting for me, I always gotta just try things and let that part of me go.

Being able to put out five albums and still get the attention you get is a blessing. What keeps the love alive for crafting projects each time around?

Man, that is a blessing and I’m super grateful for it. I think that’s half of it, just knowing that it’s been since 2019 and I’m still getting some type of love and that’s crazy to me. I’m just super appreciative of that, and that alone helps me love this sh*t a lot. It shows me people care, and when people tell me that they care — those real person-to-person interactions where a motherf*cker come up to you and they tell you “This record helped me” or “This record did this for me or that for me” — that keeps the love in the game for me every single trip. Plus, I just like making music, it’s something I was doing for free, it’s something I would do for free. They say if you don’t love your job, you should quit and it’s like I just like making music.

Looking back at your days of doing cyphers at 12For12 and dropping Suffolk Country to where you are now, you’ve accomplished plenty in your career. What are some personal goals you what to check off for yourself and your legacy?

I want to be the best in my eyes. When I feel like I’ve accomplished that — and I got a long way to go — but when I feel like I accomplish that, then I’ll be okay. I don’t even know what that means because we always feel like we can get better, especially with music or with any art, you feel like something can be better with something. But whenever I feel like I’ve got to this point and I can look back and say I’ve done something, I’ve helped a lot of people, and I’ve taken care of everybody that I needed to be taken care of, then I feel like I could be like, right.

When we look at the Boston scene, acts that you came up with (Latrell James, Avenue, Kadeem, etc.) are still working. Then there are acts like Van Buren Records, Sean Wire, BIA, Najee Janey, and more who are getting their shine now. How does what you see going on in the scene feel to you? Is it reminiscent of what you experienced in the city during your own come-up?

Shoutout to everybody that you named. I think it’s super f*cking dope. I think around the time that we were doing what were doing, it was really me and all my friends. I remember booking venues that we were going to and sh*t like that, I remember being there for all of that. Now, it’s a bunch of different cliques and crews doing their thing and that sh*t is fire. I think that’s super important. You need a bunch of different energies in order to make a scene and I think that’s what’s starting to happen. I think that’s what is happening. Shoutout to all those kids, keep doing y’all things, keep going, keep being consistent, and don’t stop. Literally, just don’t stop.

In these few years, as you’ve worked on the latest chapter of your career, what was the best advice that you received?

There’s been a couple of different gems, but really one of the best [pieces of] advice that anyone’s ever given me is that this sh*t does not stop. Once you get to what feels like your goal, it just kind of restarts. You put a new goal on yourself, just so just know that when you’re in this, there’s no break. So if you’re willing to understand that and you’re willing to make those types of sacrifices, then this is for you. If you’re not willing to be that then, maybe you should try something else.

Just For You is out now via Stizz Music Inc. You can stream it here.

50 Cent Tells Us Why His ‘Power’ Cinematic Universe Is The Hottest Thing On TV

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50 cent power force interview
Getty Image/Ralph Ordaz

If you’d told me 20 years ago that 50 Cent would become one of the hottest producers in television with a veritable cinematic universe to his name… Actually, I would have believed you. At the time, he was the biggest thing in rap music, a world-class superstar who had promised to put the radio game in a chokehold — and then did it.

Now, he’s done the same with premium TV; again, if you told me his Power franchise (with three spin-offs plus an unrelated but thematically relevant Black Mafia Family bio series) were majorly responsible for a big boost in Starz subscriptions for the past three years, I would definitely be inclined to believe you.

The story that began with Ghost St. Patrick and Tommy Egan way back in 2014 in the original Power is, in 50’s own words, coming full-circle with the upcoming spin-off, Book IV: Force. Following Tommy’s exploits when he leaves New York for his hometown, Chicago, Tommy will once again get wrapped up in criminal enterprise and intrigue as he gets caught between two of the city’s rival organizations.

With Book IV: Force set to premiere on Starz on February 6, executive producer 50 Cent sat down for a Zoom call with Uproxx to discuss the show’s cultural impact, its catchy theme music, and why he would actually prefer if his cinematic universe was a little more family-friendly.

What modern-day social issues do you hope to address with the show with the story of Tommy in this new city?

Coming into the town, he interacts with who he would just run into. It turns into a whole different thing, but in the future, you should expect him to see more of that culture that we are aware of coming into the show, but it comes in as a resource that he sees. When he’s under circumstances where he gets into something and he involves them to come as muscle.

I’m not trying to fix the world with television. I’m trying to entertain people with it. And I think when you look at everything else that’s there, when you look at the news, all you see are things that speak to the graphic nature of premium television. So this is where we make a connection that network television doesn’t. I think people connect with that, having really flawed characters that people could relate to. I think that’s what makes them watch the show with a different intensity. They feel like they could have played the character.

How much of yourself do you see in your characters when they make choices on the shows? Do you find yourself going, “Well, I would do that differently”? Every time Cane [In Book II: Ghost] does something, I’m just like, “This dummy.”

I definitely do that. “What is he doing? Why are you doing that? I get into it too. I’ve seen the material. I’ve read it. Even when I’m not on set, I still get a chance to see the pieces of it. I watch it, complete it before everybody else watches it, and I’m still not excited until I’m watching it and everybody else is watching it because I’m thinking what everybody else is thinking when they watch it.

How hard is it as the producer not to jump in and be like, “Don’t do that! No. Change that.”

It is very hard. Look, I’ll call the writers or the showrunners of the shows, I’ve called each one of them at points and said, “Why? Why is this like this? Why does it have to be like this?” There are certain scenes that they’ve done in Ghost. I look and go, “Yo, could we tone that down a little bit?”

So, when you put that with younger characters… Also knowing some of the audience is not as mature. I like the sex scenes and stuff but some of it can be insinuated, you don’t have to see it. The fact that we can do it, they feel like, okay, cool. We just don’t want to go from watching television that ended up in soft pornography.

How many spinoffs do you think this universe can support? What would an Avengers-like crossover look like between the shows?

Whew, you said Avengers, that’s crazy. Look, I already took this far enough. If you looked at Power, Ghost, Raising Kanan, and now, Force. finishes the story. Because it was Ghost and Tommy in the beginning.

It’s just, his lady would help him with things. She was the right woman for the journey and the wrong woman in the story because she’s only seeing him one way. So she just wants him to be the biggest drug dealer. Remember that line, “When you look at me what do you see?”, “Biggest drug dealer in the city.”

Right. Right. Right. And it’s like, don’t encourage me to be this. Encourage me to be better.

Something different. And then while he’s having to change a heart no one knows.

And that’s kind of like where every gangster show goes, right? The guys want to go legit and the city won’t let them. The game won’t let them.

At the point that you decide that “I have enough. I’ve made enough. I experienced enough.” Right. This is when you go, “maybe I could have did it legit or did it a different way.” And at that point, the irony of it is you’re under investigation.

Yeah. Because you’ve gotten too big. That’s the danger of being the biggest is that you become a target. When you’re recording the theme music what inspiration do you take away from the show itself and how does it differ from writing music for yourself?

When you get into the theme songs, it’s fun to make those records for me. It’s like each one of them is a separate energy, a separate piece. I’ll go in the studio. I’m like, “Yo, this last one was forced.” It was easy. I had to make something that felt like Chicago and no matter what I write about Chicago, it’s going to feel like New York.

So look, there’s two vocal versions of the song. So when you hear the television show, it’s slightly different from when it’s on the song and it’s because I’ve really set the vocals once I heard the tones in Durk’s verse and what Jeremih the chorus felt like finished. Because we’ve done it several times. He’s done the hook two, three different times before we got it all the way right.

Durk recorded one time and then sent it back and then we heard it and then we had everything, all the pieces to put the song together. And I didn’t want it to feel like a collage because I’m here, they’re there and we just put it together. So I matched the tones of everything else so it’ll feel like a cohesive song.

How do you find angles to play off each individual style out from the collaborators like with NLE Choppa and Lil Durk?

Look, you have with NLE and these guys, these are the new guys, bro. The “hip” part of hip-hop is youth. You know what I’m saying? So what they’re thinking and doing, you got to watch them and see how to wave for what’s coming next. It’s going to go.

Do you think you can ride that wave into the future?

The cadences that they using is not difficult at all. If you listen to the music, you could just go, “Okay. I could write that.” If I was coming right now, I’d be on fire. I think once you’ve been, let’s say seasoned, right? I sold over 35 million records, bro. I have a whole 12 years, 13 years of dominating hip-hop culture. Nobody wants to remember that time period though because it was not comfortable.

When you represent things that are street or that have the energy, it’s on the artist without him even saying anything. The NBA YoungBoy, these kids is coming from different territories, but they have street on them. They can’t help it. It’s already there. You don’t have to have Instagram or Twitter or any of that stuff because once it connects it, it’s just there.

Power Book IV: Force premieres February 6th on Starz.