I felt like when rap first originated it was always Black people talking about their struggles, day-to-day–

And the Latinos! They were there at the Big Bang of it. Got to shout out the Latinos.

What do you think about where rap is right now,where Macklemore can win best rap album?

You’re going to get me on a tirade with that one. [laughs] I don’t mean to be harsh but the reason why that’s even possible is that we let everybody in. We are the people that made homeowner associations and we’re the most excluded. Just like anything, any person that’s been abused, you try to show that that’s not what I’m going to do or that’s not who I am. Black people have lost a lot trying to do that and that’s sad. When I think about Hip-Hop now, it’s starting to be one of my favorite eras. I wasn’t here for the ‘90s but when I look back at the ‘90s I can see that they were getting to it. Now, there are so many artists I love like Pink Siifu, Kenny Mason, Liv, KieyaA, OvrKast, Teezo Touchdown. I can go on and on and on. Notice that all the people I named aren’t famous.

Yeah, it’s not the mainstream but it’s almost like ‘they’ don’t want it to be either.

Those collectives. Grip, too. I can go on and on. RIP Von, Travis $cott, Mick Jenkins. I’m proud to contribute. Kari Faux, Peyton, bLAck pARty, and these are just my friends. There are so many good artists. It makes me feel like okay kids being born are going to look at this era just like I looked at the ‘90s. “All these people were working and they knew each other?” When I found out that Nas and Wu-tang knew each other, that shit blew my mind. The excitement is in the moment in the making of the music with the Wu and the second excitement is the kids finding out. My friends’ kids, they’re babies now but I want my friends’ children to grow up and be like, “Daddy! You knew Quad?!” That’s the shit I be dreaming of but to speed back to the question, I know all of those other artists are thinking the same thing so that’s what’s inspiring. That’s what’s really exciting, that’s what keeps me waking up every day and wanting to do this shit.

What’s influencing the project the most right now?

80s rap like Paid In Full and It Takes A Nation of Millions. SUN RA, comedy albums like Red Foxx’s Foxx-A-Delic and Martin Lawrence’s Funk It.

How do you record?

It’s more of a feeling. I can rap on drums and loops, it doesn’t have to be all put together but it has to give me some type of feeling. It has to make me think of a scene or something that I want to rap. It conjures the image and I just know the words. That’s most of the time when I pick beats. When I’m working on albums, I like the concept of musicians making albums like movies and shit you know? Like they talk about how Good Kid, M.A.A.D City is a Tarantino joint. That’s something I definitely try to look at. I always try to make something beautiful like it feels textured and varied like a really good A24 movie.

Do you ever see yourself making a short film to pair with an album?

I actually did one for Malik Ruff but it was like a bridge from Ebo & Booker’s Day Off it was like a bridge to this one.

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