I look at my production more like Tom Ford or like, you know what I'm saying, Laura Piano.
You can get this suit and you could just walk out.
You'd be like, man, I don't want my pants hemmed or nothing.
Okay, cool.
You could just buy this suit.
You just get a beat.
You know what I'm saying?
Or if you lock in the studio with me, now I can tailor make this.
That's you know.
I'm saying yeah, i can tailor make this for your album or or to your, or to your body, or to your flow or to you.
Know what i'm saying to you?
I can tailor make this around your world.
That's what most rappers up mike will made it on the ebro show.
Man, what's happening, man?
The album's out reset.
Yeah, what are we resetting, man ransom?
It's Ransom 3 R3SET.
So we resetting up Ransom.
And Ransom stands for Releasing Our New Songs, orchestrated by Mike Will.
So boom, we resetting up.
Ransom 2 is what, 2015?
2017.
Nine years ago.
Nine years ago.
Now, Ransom and Ransom 2 both had Big Sean intros.
Yeah.
For sure.
Yeah.
This time you come with 21 Savage on the intro.
Nah, for sure, man.
Shout out to Savage.
Shout out to Big Sean.
Yeah.
For sure.
All the albums have been chocked full of.
You know lyricists as well as you know rappers who bring that aura talk to the street.
It's a very holistic hip-hop approach.
If i was looking for a nerdy term, you know what i'm saying like really, it captures all of hip-hop.
Yeah right, because i think was it ransom two?
That's how you had kendrick, future and wayne on the track.
Oh yeah, ransom one yeah, and by the world yeah, but um yeah, that was 2014, so i had put future, kendrick and low wayne on that.
You know what I'm saying.
That's hard.
You know that one.
I just looked it up.
I ain't no friend.
I mean, I remember it from the time, but I ain't know which one it was from.
I was wondering why hip-hop enthusiasts and hip-hop journalists like you weren't covering songs like that.
No, we was back then.
We played that.
Oh, for real?
Yeah, by the world.
Okay, okay, okay.
Yeah, 2014, yeah.
Okay, okay, I bet.
Yeah, I don't know if it was... No, it wasn't.
I don't know if it was celebrated because...
I mean, Wayne was Wayne at the time.
For sure.
But I don't know if, you know, 2014 Kendrick, we love Kendrick, we love Future.
Kendrick was Kendrick and Future was Future.
I remember that single though.
That was a single.
Yeah, but it was like, that's what I'm saying.
It went over a lot of people's heads.
I don't know how they missed it, but it was like, I put three goats on the track.
They had all never done a song with each other.
And I was like following up after.
I thought it was going to have like the same effect, almost like bitches love me.
I know it's two different vibes, but it's like, this is for, I was doing that for the hip hop heads.
And it's like, You know what I'm saying?
I know sometimes hip-hop heads they be feeling left out when the South we come with a certain type of sound.
So I'm like, man, I'm going to be a hybrid because I came up on that hip-hop music too.
I'm a hip-hop head too.
So I'm like, man, boom.
I'm going to be a hybrid of that trap sound and the hip-hop sound, man.
We put Future on here, Lil Wayne, Dot.
Man, they ain't never seen this before.
I'm going to blame you, though know why i'll take it.
I'm gonna tell you why.
Why?
Because you don't like to talk a lot about what you?
You let the music speak, yeah.
And so now this i mean we we've seen each other in passing whatever, but we never really had a convo.
No, you're right, i think.
I think because you made such big records yeah, and street anthems and strip club anthems and all that.
I think you know hip hop nerds man, they be real like elitists.
They probably didn't even know that you was on that type of time, that you was really like nah, I'm bringing all aspects of hip hop that I love into the shit that I do.
I thought they'd be able to read between the lines.
But you right, that is my fault where I should've talked.
I don't really like doing too much talking.
I wasn't trying to be like one of them like, Wendy Williams producer.
Like, you know what I'm saying?
Like, just sitting on the couch doing all this talking like, yeah, I did this, that, and the third.
But you know what?
On this from now now, moving forward, I'm going to hit you and be like what are we trying to tell the people on this?
What are we trying to, because people are lazy, man.
They not going to necessarily get it all.
Yeah, and that's almost a form of me being lazy too, not doing that.
I see that now, like even over these nine years of the last album to this album, I could even look back and I could see like, dang, that's what marketing really is.
Telling the story.
Yeah, it's like telling the story, getting people.
People didn't know that Ransom still for releasing all new songs orchestrated by Mike Will.
They don't even know what it means to have a song orchestrated by Mike Will.
All they only heard was Mike Will made it and produced by Mike Will.
And what does orchestrated by Mike Will mean?
Orchestrated by Mike Will is like it's Mike Will made it and produced by Mike Will.
But it's also like The way I put songs together.
I might take an old verse from over here off of this beat and put it with this, even like Move That Dope, for instance.
Move That Dope, great song, you know what I'm saying?
One of my favorites that you've done.
Yeah, and it's like, appreciate that too.
And it's like Pluto, you know what I'm saying?
He had did like a hook on this one beat, crazy.
And then he did a verse on another beat you know what I'm saying on another song.
But he didn't think he snapped on that song.
And I was like, man, nah, this verse hard though, bro.
Like, you know what I'm saying?
He was like, it's hard.
But at this time, man, we had so many joints.
Like he was, just like it, just that verse right there wasn't like to him, wasn't the cream of the crop?
So boom, I'm like, man, I always liked that verse.
So then when he did- That's one of my favorite future verses.
Word.
When he did that hook on that beat, on the move that dope beat, he did that hook.
I was like, yo, you know what?
I want to grab this verse, time stretched it.
Put it on his beat.
And I'm like, oh, nah, this jamming.
You know what I'm saying?
Then my boy P Nasty.
He was cooking up the beat and he had a hook to it that he was writing for Shrimp.
And there was that popping bottles.
Don't it make you feel good?
I was like, hey, P, let me get that hook right quick.
You know what I'm saying?
So I put that behind Pluto and it was just jamming.
So then one time I had a session with Pharrell in Atlanta and I pulled up on him at Silent Sound and I was just playing them, a bunch of beats and stuff, and he was like man, what you working on?
I was like, man, I got this song I'm working on.
We're trying to wrap up a future album.
I'm like, man, I got this joint that's crazy.
He was like, let me hear it.
Then he heard it, and he was like, bro, let me get on this joint, bro.
Please let me get on this joint.
He snapped on it, too.
Yeah, like, this is crazy.
So when he said that, I gave it to him and I was like bro, try to get, push on that, because this could be like
This could be like grinding.
This is like a hustler's anthem.
This could be like grinding.
So he's like, oh, I'm going to get Push on there tonight.
So he got Push on there, and then he did another verse.
So I like parts of both verses.
So I was like, man, let me chop this up and send it back to him and see if he like it.
So I chopped up both verses, sent the whole song back to him, and he said, green light, out of here.
So I'm thinking he heard it, everything good.
Man, the joint come out.
Man, Pharrell was hot.
Like, bro, what the fuck did you do to my verse, man?
Like, what is this, bro?
And I was like, dang, bro, I thought you liked it, bro.
I sent it to you.
He was like, man, no, I thought you just mixed what I sent you, bro.
I just wanted you to use the second verse.
And he was like, man, bro.
So I felt bad.
I felt bad.
Hey, P, that shit is fire.
Man, I look up to P so much.
I got so much respect for him, so I felt bad.
I'm like... damn, I let this nigga, I felt like J. Cole when he let Nas down.
I let P down, man.
I'm like, damn.
You know what I'm saying?
That's the worst feeling, man.
Next thing you know, we took the verse down and we put the other verse up.
You know what I'm saying?
And then, and then Pluto was like, dang, he didn't like the other verse.
The other verse, he snapped, though.
You know what I'm saying?
And everybody was going crazy about how that verse was crazy.
So, Then we were shooting the video, Pluto was like, man, yo, P, you didn't like the other verse?
P was like, you like that verse?
And then Future was like, yeah.
He was like, well, we'll go with that verse then.
And then we just shot that verse, and then we went back.
And we know we on iTunes now.
We not on Apple Music, so we got to take it down, put it back up, take it down, put it back up.
But it ended up just you know what I'm saying being that hustler anthem and we ended up hitting the target.
All I ever knew was because you know I was.
You know, as in radio we just the version we get, first us.
Yeah, all that taking down, putting back up yeah no, but it gave it to me.
Now i'm burning this down.
Yeah, ended up good.
And then it's like even like a song like 23 is like a lot of people going but that's the molly cypress yeah, a lot of people going to get backlash about miley cyrus rapping.
Miley cyrus ain't want to rap.
She didn't say hey, i want to do a rap song, or like She didn't hear that joint and be like hey, I want to get on that.
You know what I'm saying?
It's like, I let her hear the song.
I'm like, man, this would be hard if you did this.
And she's like, nah, we were supposed to be working on We Can't Stop.
She's like, nah, I can't see me on there.
I'm like, man, just try it.
We can just try it.
If it's whack, we throw it out.
If it's hard, it's hard.
But you know what I'm saying?
We can go line for line.
Man, she aced it.
You know what I'm saying?
I'm like, man, it's too hard, Miley.
I'm telling you, it's hard.
She thinking it's a joke.
She laughing like, nah, I'm not.
You know what I'm saying?
I don't like that.
The label like, nah, I don't think that's what you should do, Mike.
Like, Miley Cyrus with Juicy J and Wiz, I don't think that.
I'm like, bro, I'm telling you.
Like, for my generation and younger, like, we all grew up on all types of music.
Hip hop, pop, rock, all that kind of stuff.
Like, MTV babies, like, VH1 babies, that's what we grew up on.
So I'm like, man.
Ain't nobody expecting this, bro.
You know what I'm saying?
The Miley Cyrus shit is really more of a...
Because we all grew up on all types, even my era.
We had all different types.
Your era, it was real like, it's this genre, this genre, this genre.
But remember, we didn't have hip hop radio stations.
We had black radio stations that played R&B, whatever.
And then you had top 40 radio stations that played anything that's on the top 40 chart.
So you was Madonna.
Mike, you know what I'm saying?
Pick a Phil Collins.
You was getting all that shit when I'm telling you, 85, 10 years old, you know what I'm saying?
Now you guys got you know.
Then you fast forward into the late 90s, early 2000s.
Now you got control.
People are taking you know what I mean, what they want, or making their own playlists or whatever we're in now.
But the Miley Cyrus shit.
I think the blowback was more along the lines of once again, if Mike had told us I'd sit, this was the fire shit.
If I would have told them, like, man, hey, look, we creating a new genre.
It's called trap pop.
I'm trying to show how far I could take this trap sound.
I'm trying to show, like, this trap sound isn't only just mixtape records.
This isn't only a sound that can't go on on mainstream radio, on top 40, on whatever, like now we're like okay mike, we trust you.
Yeah, that's a trust.
I never said trap pop, the world don't know about trap pop, so they don't know.
I was trying to take the trap sound as far as possible or like the hip-hop sound as far as possible, like i ain't even, i couldn't even imagine me being in the, in the studio with a celebrity as big as miley cyrus you know what i'm saying.
Even though she's young and like that's, that's like family.
I ended up being somebody that could be an asset and you know what i'm saying.
And and add to her like even on on the artist side and just giving advice and creatively and everything like that.
So i'm always humbled with that relationship and man, she trusted me and believed in me as a producer, some something like how know what i'm saying?
Michael jackson did with quincy jones and, and so i knew that that moment, right there, was special and we cut through with a song that just broke the rules.
Even the single that she had we can't stop.
It's like everybody said that song was too slow.
Man man, we simple slick rick in that joint, like slick rick forever again paid.
Like what what?
Certain again for the people in the back.
Yeah, yeah for that, for that, you know what i'm saying.
So it's like The blowback is like all right, what you didn't do to make sure somebody in hip hop forever get paid.
All right, relax then.
You know what I'm saying?
But I think that's hearing from you.
Facts.
Because once again, people... I didn't want to do too much.
I didn't want to do too much talking.
But we're here now.
And I didn't know how to articulate myself because I was just making it.
At that point, I wasn't really like a critic, a consumer.
I was just a creative.
I was just trying to lock in and be and be like master.
What I'm doing, like as a producer, like be a trusted brand as a producer, where it's like man hey man, he the one.
It's not like, yeah, he be doing this, but this guy like, but that, just, I'm in my own lane.
You know what I'm saying?
And, like this, artists know what it mean to have a song orchestrated by Mike Will.
Like they know, I'ma always come with something different.
Or had them trying to beat that they ain't never tried before, or you know what I'm saying.
Or like, just, it's just gonna be something different.
Like, Lincoln Chief keeping sexy red or like, you know what I'm saying?
Doing the first release with, YB and Chief Keefer, you know what I'm saying?
Like just different collaborations, like Alicia Keys and Lil Wayne.
And to your point.
People trust you enough to do things because you are who you are and you've earned their trust and our trust as listeners.
How did you figure this out or who taught you this about creating music?
Was it something that when it clicked in your head like oh, you gotta teach people how to move with these records.
It's really just like just being a student and just like learning, like just naturally just being a student of the game and then just trying to like start being a producer.
Like once I understood like man, I want to be a producer, all right.
Well, I come out of Atlanta.
Man, it's too many legendary producers coming out of here, like Tump.
You know what I'm saying.
One of the producers I look up to the most, like, you know what I'm saying?
Tump, you got Rico Wade, look up to him, you know what I'm saying?
And then you got people like Jermaine Dupri, you got Lil Jon, you got, you know what I'm saying?
Shawty Ray, you got all these different know, i'm saying goats coming out of the city.
So when i'm 16 years old gucci, let me come to the studio.
And i'm in the studio with shawty red fat boy uh, drummer boy, zay tovin you know what i'm saying.
These are goats.
I'm in here like man.
I'm damn near scared to play my beats.
For gucci like hey, this is my young boy right here.
Man, i put your beats on.
He hard on the beats.
I'm looking around like hell nah, you know what i'm saying.
But gucci, like man, what you talking about bro, you a star, know what i'm saying.
Put the beats on.
I'm like man, put me on the spot, like that.
I gotta put them on.
But when i put the beats on, everybody in there with it.
And then ko pulled me to the side, he gave me some advice, as they told him, pulled me to us, he gave me some advice.
You know what i'm saying.
And i'm getting some advice and i'm just i'm listening to them.
But then i'm also watching how different producers interact with certain artists.
And then i started i'm always recording in my basement, all with all the homies.
You know what i'm saying.
I'm always looking for the new artists and stuff like that.
So i was recording too.
And then i used to be in a group you know what i'm saying where i was rapping and making beats.
You know what i'm saying.
So it's like i understood like making music, like that.
But then it's like now i'm having more and more access to different artists and i just look at them like okay man, we got a cool relationship like and we and we rocking and we respect each other creatively.
All right hey, let's try this.
Let's try that.
First, I dive into them because I'm, like I look at my production more like Tom Ford or like you know what I'm saying, Laura Piano.
Yeah, it's like, I can...
You can get this suit and you could just walk out.
You'd be like, man, I don't want my pants hemmed or nothing.
Okay, cool.
You could just buy this suit.
You just get a beat.
You know what I'm saying?
Or if you lock in the studio with me, now I can tailor make this.
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, I can tailor make this for your album or to your body or to your flow.
You know what I'm saying?
To you, I can tailor make this around your world.
That's what most rappers fuck up.
Yeah, you know what I'm saying?
Because a lot of producers just come in and just give them a suit and just be like man, you ain't got to hem them more.
Yeah, you ain't got to hem them legs, man.
Just go on out there, put a belt on, man, you good.
You know what I'm saying?
But then when you get that tailored suit and you see what it feel like, and I got to make sure Like, just like any of these suits, I got to make sure that tailoring is right.
Because it's representing your brand.
Exactly.
Because if five years later you know what I'm saying this song didn't age well, that joint wasn't tailored right.
You know what I'm saying?
Which artist loves to be, that you've worked with, loves to be challenged and pushed, know the most like that, that you've really been able to be like yo cut that again.
Or you know, instead of zigging here zag, you know what i mean.
Like that, i feel like they all do, they all just receive it differently.
You know what i'm saying.
But i was really impressed with like, when i worked with alicia keys we did that project keys unlocked, like she already a goat, you know what i'm saying.
So she reached out to me.
She had all these amazing records that she might've just wrote with just her on piano.
And it's like, it's already there.
And it's like, one of my favorite bands is like Portishead.
And then like, just like listening to all that different kinds of music.
It's like, man, this is like, this is like a dream come true.
Like it's Alicia Keys on piano and she's ready to change and add whatever I ask her to do.
Like, you know what I'm saying?
Like she's at the studio at 2 pm and she leaves at 2 am and she's in the next room cutting, and then she'll come over here and listen to.
She's giving me the files and letting me do whatever.
So I'm chopping these up on my MPC
I'm chopping her vocals up.
I'm making new beats around it.
And when she come in there, she instantly get it like, yo, this is hard.
Like, what about if we do this?
Or I'm going to add piano.
Hey, turn the mic on.
She go in the booth.
She add some piano on there.
And then she come back and like, oh, I want to change how I cut this.
All right, you keep messing with the beat.
Hey, let me get that session.
She go in the next room.
She cut it.
She come back.
She hear more what I add to the beat.
I hear what she cut.
We combine that together.
And it's like that was our first time working and for her to like trust me as a producer and like have me bring my guys in.
And we and we did like a whole.
She did keys and then she did keys unlocked.
We did like a whole 10, 11 songs, like just locking in like that and we and And it was dope.
You know what I'm saying.
And for somebody like that to stay in the studio and then she wakes up, she leaves at two in the morning.
She always leaves on the high note.
As soon as it's moving like this, she's like, okay, I'm gone.
We're on the high note, I'm gone for the night.
But then she'll be up 8 in the morning, 9 in the morning, at the gym, then taking her kids to school, then before we start, she giving her son piano lessons and then boom, now we start.
And it's like just seeing her drive still going like after being so successful and being a GOAT in the game like that was dope.
But it's like, you also got people like Chief Keef that always want to do something different.
Like, he's so creative, like, you know what I'm saying?
Like, he always want to create something new.
I love that y'all still cooking together.
Y'all been cooking together what 10 years now?
Nah, since his first album.
So that was on like 2012, 2013.
It's about 14, 15 years.
You know what i'm saying.
But um yeah man, like salsa, he's like super creative, like he's like somebody who, like man, anytime i go various, i was like we always making a new beat, or like.
You know what I'm saying.
He find a new beat.
So he playing me a whole bunch of songs that we got.
And like even young boy.
Like certain beats that I might send him, he might be like man.
Nah, this ain't my type of beat.
You know what I'm saying?
But then if he just gets on it, like, it's just like, man, we got so many songs.
Like if he just gets on it, it's like, man, he'll get on any type of beat.
This man can really rap.
Like, you know what I'm saying?
And he just- And be a young boy, super talented, bro.
Yeah.
And he comes- he's all emotion too.
Like he just jump in there and go.
Right.
Rare.
Whatever he's feeling.
He's not overthinking it.
No.
You know what I'm saying?
He going in on any beat too.
You know what I'm saying?
Once you get an artist to understand like oh, I can get on any beat or I can, I can unlock, like This side of myself, once you unlock that right there and you open up a whole new world for artists.
That's what I'll be trying to aim for.
You know what I'm saying?
When I'm trying to produce or work with an artist, when you see you're dealing with a real creative Gucci, don't let nobody tell him nothing bro.
You know what I'm saying?
He don't let nobody tell him nothing.
I'm somebody who can tell Gucci like bro, I ain't gonna lie.
That verse man, that verse ain't there.
Go back in.
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, and I've been doing that since I was a teenager.
So it's like, And this is with the wild Gucci, like Gucci with the goals and the gut.
Like, you know what I'm saying?
So it's like, and I'm only a teenager doing this.
So it's like, now it's like going in with different artists.
Certain times, I'll tell Gucci certain things and he might be like, man, nah, bruh, I snap, bruh.
Like, you know what I'm saying?
So I'm used to him receiving it like that.
But then a certain time, he like, damn.
I'm like, where you gonna say that, bruh?
Say your heart?
Man, all right, I'll go back in there, but I thought I snapped.
But he'll relay it down and then snap harder, and then it'll be like, hey, bro, I told you.
You know what I'm saying?
But then you got people like 2 Chainz.
I tell him certain things, he might be like, hey, hey, Mike Will, You got one more thing to say.
You know what I'm saying?
If you say one more thing, bro, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave, bro.
You know what I'm saying?
He don't want me to say nothing like that, but he got one more thing to say.
But then I come back two weeks later, like, got one.
We had a song called Got One.
I pulled up on him.
He like to get in the studio late.
So I pulled up on him three, four in the morning.
He dragging his feet.
You know what I'm saying?
I played his beat for him.
He like...
Yeah, that's it.
But he like damn near halfway sleep.
But I'm like, man, he can't get on this beat playing bro.
Like, I'm like, hey bro, we can get it tomorrow too bro.
So I'm like, it looked like you kind of sleep.
He was like, pull the beat up.
And he walked to, he walked to the booth real slow dragging his feet.
And he just go in the booth, the crazy thing about it.
I been knew I had it.
You know what I'm saying?
And he just, he just going crazy.
I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, damn, I'm like, he going crazy.
So I tell him I'm like hey Chains, like Man, let the beat ride, but your verse don't need to start.
It don't need to start with a beat drop.
You need to start right before the beat drop on the open part without the drums.
He said, hey, Mike Will, you got one more time to say something, bro.
I'm going to have to ask you to leave.
You know what I'm saying?
I'm like, hey, bro, I'll get out your way right now if you want me to, bro.
But you know what I'm saying?
I'm just saying, I think that would be harder.
He was like, bro, let me finish the song.
So he finished the song.
Then he go to LA. do his thing, then he come back, then he let me hear the song.
His verse was goddamn, his verse was on that part with the open part of the beat.
I ain't even say nothing.
I was like, man, it's hard change.
Like this going crazy.
You know what I'm saying?
So it's like they just all receive it different, but like these, my bros, like you know what I'm saying.
And I like, I like rocking out with them and I like just being as creative as possible.
You know what I'm saying.
And I like rocking with artists that already are the shit.
They don't have to change nothing.
But man, when we heard Gucci Mane on Lemonade, I ain't produced that, but when we heard him on Lemonade, I was just such a fan of that because I was giving Gucci all that mixtape.
I was thinking I had to give him a certain type of beat.
But when I heard that Lemonade it was like a palate cleanse and it was just like damn.
I ain't even know.
Well, I know Gooch could rap on anything, but I didn't know he was going to get on the beat like that.
Right, he was feeling happy and up.
Exactly.
So, Black Beatles, I didn't feel like it was far-fetched.
You know what I'm saying?
I've been wanting to do an out-of-pocket crossover joint with Gooch.
And it's like man, we ended up doing it with Black Beatles and and and for.
Uh, we gotta get into this reset too.
We got records to play that you just dropped.
You got cole on the project.
Yeah man, ti dro killer, mike on the same record.
Right, you got little keyed on here.
Sway lee, the t-zone touchdown ludicrous joint.
No for sure.
Like i said, the 21 savage opens the project.
So we got a lot of music to play and i got more questions i need to know from you, like who taught you understanding the sonics of like a Black Beatles record, for example, and those chords, and how you made it feel more crossover the words you use, more mainstream, versus making a more mixtape.
Gucci Mane beat.
Where in your journey was you able to really start to learn certain sounds and vibrations that bring certain audiences?
I feel like that's just experience.
It's like trial and error.
I first started paying attention to sonnets, like really with, like even with my pops, like he used to always play all kinds of different music.
And then he used to point out, like how certain bands, like might have a sound that pans from like left to right.
Or like, he was like, man, you hear how that sound is going from here to there?
Or that sound is going from there to there?
And I was like, damn, that is hard.
But I was like young.
So then I started paying attention to different stuff like that.
Then I started, and then it's like trial and error.
Like I said, I used to be recording in my mom's basement.
So I got all, I paid somebody to get all these plugins.
And I got all these plugins.
And I see reverb.
Now I just twist the knobs.
And now I see what reverb does just by twisting the knobs and messing with it.
I see delay.
Even I used to record all my beats on a multitrack recorder.
Like them first beats I was doing for Gucci, all them were going on a multitrack recorder.
So a lot of time.
Multitrack recorders are like instruments or guitars or different stuff going into it.
So, like even you see, like reverb or distortion or different stuff like that, switching through that.
So i taught myself how to like make beats.
I taught myself how to um you know what i'm saying like the difference yeah, the different effects yeah, and all that kind of stuff, and it's like the more and more.
I started like because, like you start off like as a super producer, you started because now i can, now i can comfortably say i'm a super producer and you're the real, you're hearing the orchestrated and the orchestrations that you do and the way you bring things together, pull things together.
That's a that's real producing.
Not just making a beat.
Yeah.
Right.
And I feel like real producing is being able to be hands on and hands off.
You got to be able to be Like.
You got to be able to make a beat, write a song, engineer it, mix it, and you know what I'm saying.
And put it out there and it connect with the people or be hands off, not even have to touch anything, but you know, to get this person to play the keys, this person to do that, this person, this artist right here, this feature, and then mix it with this person and then have people locked in.
Quincy Jones on Thriller.
Yeah, like have people locked in.
Rod Templeton and all of them, he had them pulling all the right people in.
Yeah, and I feel like that's super producing.
You know what I'm saying?
And I just feel like with something like Black Beatles, it's like literally I made the drums first.
You know what I'm saying?
The drums is bouncing, different people in the room in there.
They bouncing.
Okay, now I'm trying to find a melody.
I'm going through this VST and, like with me when I came with the name Eardrummers, it's because I don't know how to play nothing.
I just go by the ear and go by like what feels good and how it feels.
So I'm going through these VSTs, and when I'm going through VSTs, I'm always just hitting a button.
So boom, I was hitting a button and then I hit this one sound and it was like I'm like what the hell?
And I just held it down on the beat.
I adjusted the tempo to be with that tempo.
And then boom, I'm just holding it down.
And it matched in perfect with the fucking, with the bounce I had.
And I was like, oh, this is hard.
I was like man, I got to do like a little intro that'll fuck the head up right quick before I come on.
So I just did the piano like.
You know what I'm saying?
I just played that shit on the keyboard right quick.
And then I was like, man, I'm put this on the intro.
They don't know what, what this is.
And then it breaks into this, but I always thought that beat wasn't done.
So I sent it to Sway.
I'm like, man, if I feel like a beat's not done, I'm like, it's probably just missing Sway.
So, you know what I'm saying?
I was sending it to Sway and then I sent it to Sway and Sway aced it, man.
Like Sway always brings a whole nother, a whole nother life to a beat.
Well, he knows how to fill up space without trying too hard too.
Man, and he's witty.
Like, he's super witty.
You know what I'm saying?
That's why I had a little bone with you for a little minute, because I'm like, and I didn't want to do too much talking to you, because I was like you know what I'm saying.
I'm like, man, we got to prove.
You gave us fuel to our fire.
I know.
I was on y'all.
I fought with you.
I was on y'all.
It's really complex, his fault.
It's not y'all fault.
It's Complex's fault.
Because they put y'all at number three.
The number three album all genres that year.
And I was like, nah, bro.
In 2026, have you went back and listened to that album?
It's a great album.
It still ain't number three.
What was number three?
What should have been before it?
Oh, there's a few.
The Kendrick would have been before it that year.
Tame Impala had an amazing album that year.
It was all genres, by the way.
And it wasn't even against y'all.
They knew we just broke the mold.
Complex knew what was going on.
We broke the mold.
It was amazing.
We broke the mold.
Listen, that's why I was yelling at Complex.
It wasn't even about y'all.
It was about them.
Yeah.
Because I knew they was trolling me.
They still be trolling me.
They be doing dumb shit.
They did some headline the other day.
I was like, why y'all do this, man?
Salute Complex, man, for doing that, man.
Because they knew what was going on.
I try to tell people on that first album that, man, I feel like Sway Lee, the new Michael Jackson.
You know what I'm saying?
They were like, bro, what are you talking about?
You crazy.
But now fast forward, man.
You get Sunflower, you get Unforgettable, you get Black Beatles, you get these kind of hooks.
That's like
He's a hook king.
He got hooks.
He got hooks.
And them bars.
Yeah, he gets to it.
You know what I'm saying?
He's talented.
So it's like he's a game changer.
They knew that the game just received a unicorn.
I don't even remember what else dropped that year.
So no disrespect to anybody, but I just know my boy had the unicorn.
I damn near thought we should have got number one.
See?
You see, this is how shit go left, man.
We had five singles off that joint, man.
Debut album, no mixtape, no nothing.
That was our mixtape.
We had five singles, brother.
No flex on, no tight.
Throw some more, come get her, and this could be us.
Wait, Throw Some More ended up being on Nicki's thing too, right?
Nah, Nicki was on the hook.
Salute to Nicki.
She brought him on tour.
She was on the hook.
You know what I'm saying?
Word, man.
Word up.
But listen, nah, that was a time.
Nah, for sure, for sure.
But I appreciate that.
I like that kind of energy.
Because you love hip-hop. yeah exactly hip-hop yeah no for sure and it wasn't it wasn't stopping y'all numbers at all if they would have been at like six or if y'all have been like six seven but it was three they put on they put them where they're supposed to be at You know y'all was trolling.
We had to show up.
We had to show up.
We just had to show up.
That's why I said, man, this room right here is for all the ones that believe.
Salute Complex.
You know what I'm saying?
For real.
Salute Complex.
They know what's going on.
And look, Reset is here now.
R3.
You know what I'm saying?
Let's get to it.
Let's get this 21 Savage now.
Oh, yeah, for sure.
Shout out to Savage.
We had the honor of hearing this before you put it out.
Mm-hmm.
Was there anything you would like to share with us about any upcoming releases that Mike Will may have?
Or are we keeping secrets?
The hard drive is back loaded.
And to make this album I made like was other projects like.
I started off making a project called atl.
In 20, in 2021.
Atl stood for appreciate the love, so that's why i ended up naming the savage song atl appreciate the love, because i didn't, because that project ended up transforming into something else.
And then i i was making a project called r b r b stood for rich base.
You know what i'm saying.
So it's like melodic rap, but like it's vibes.
It's like it's vibed out like you know what i'm saying.
But it's not just straight r b, but um.
And then i was working on rap and rap stuff for i love acronyms rap stuff for um, real ass production, you know what i'm saying.
And so, and then a lot of, when i was working on all this kind of stuff, every like a lot of my core people was like bro man bro, you don't want to just give them Ransom 3.
And I'm like, nah, because Ransom is like sacred projects to me.
And I was like, nah, because I'm trying to do, I'm trying to nail like a nine song concept album.
And I already had creatively in my head, I was going through that.
So boom, that's why, like on my trailer, you see andre 3000, because he had pulled up to the studio with me.
We jammed out on a couple beats and then, and then we're just talking, we're just chopping it up, and he was just telling me i was.
I was asking him like, i'm like man, you hear them, you hear the music.
At this time i had a totally different track list, but i was like man, you hear the music, and i was telling them what i was thinking.
I was like man, people saying i should say ransom three, like what you think about, like sequels, And he was like uh, he was like I don't know.
I just feel like artists started doing sequels just to try to be as big as the movies.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, I don't think you need to come back and be like, man, here goes another one.
And here goes another one.
I was like, but that's exactly how I've been feeling about the sequels.
I was like, that's crazy.
So when I was telling one of my homeboys I worked with, like on my trailer and everything like that, I was talking to him about it.
And I told him what Andre said.
And he was like, and I was telling him what was just going on with me over the last years that I hadn't been dropping, like losing the hard drive and all that kind of stuff fulfilling the deals renegotiations, all that kind of stuff.
You know what I'm saying.
And being independent.
When I was telling him that, he like, man, you almost, like, you really going through like a reset.
And I was like, man, now you right.
He was like, man, I'm like, bro, that slick, that slick stand out.
He was like, bro, that could be the name of your album too, Reset.
I'm like, yeah, and it could be R3, SET.
Then it could still be Ransom 3. but it's still reset.
It defines like the moment.
And it's like, and it like sets up the fact that it's like, it's all new.
It's like a lot of new collaborations.
Like even with me, with the artists and with the artists, with the artists.
Yeah.
So it's like uh, NBA young boy chief Keef, have they?
They never been on the record before, think i think i know they did music before for show you know.
So i think this is the first like official release song.
Yeah yeah, they cooked before.
Yeah for sure, t's no touchdown ludicrous, definitely never been all right.
Nah um, let's see ti dro and killer mike all together.
Shout out to the west side man, that's that 285 west music right there.
You know what i'm saying.
Tough money talks.
Yeah, appreciate that um.
And then we took it to the east side with juice man.
Hey, you know what i'm saying.
Stove lit.
Yeah, that's my brother man, i've been rocking with juice man since i was 18 17 18 um, have you ever done a record with cole before this?
Um, just cold.
No, not just cold, you know what i'm saying.
And shout out to j cole.
He was another one like secretly in my corner, like i was supposed to drop a project in 2023.
I was shooting this video and then i i was talking.
Cole had called me because he was already recording at my studio for like a week and me and cole got a bunch of stuff.
But he was already at my studio for like a week and um, And so I was talking to him on the phone.
He was like, man, what you up to?
I was like man, I'm shooting this video, i'm about to go ahead and drop the project in like two weeks bro, like he's like man no, do not do that mike, don't do that.
I'm like what you mean?
I'm like bro, i gotta man, i gotta go back to feeding the streets.
Like bro, that bro, it's time to go up.
He's like no mike no, like bro, put your album together.
Bro, like you got some good ass music.
Like like man, this next album need to be like real intentional.
You ain't been out in a minute, you ain't dropped in a minute.
You know what i'm saying.
So you're not just super and overly lit in the marketplace because you ain't dropped, not because you ain't got good music because you ain't dropped.
So don't just treat it like that bro, like you still might will.
Bro, like you gotta die.
So he always been in my corner from from that time right there, all the way to like now release date.
Like he's seen all the trailers, he's seen all the video, he's seen everything.
He just like oh yeah, I liked the trailer, but make sure you add this, or make sure you know what I'm saying.
You're not forgetting that or make sure, you know what I'm saying?
You have your album done.
When you put that out, don't just throw the trailer out there and make sure the album is done.
Like, you know what I'm saying?
And just telling me different stuff like that.
And he was like, bro, call me at any time for anything.
Ask me any questions, bro.
Because like me, like I said, I'm all the way create, create, create, create, create.
So I'm not even thinking about how things are being put out.
How are you going to the marketplace?
I'm not even thinking about marketing.
And that's why...
And that's why By The World missed.
That's why all these records missed.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, not because they're not good.
It's because they're not being teed up right.
And I feel like that's a lot of times that's what artists run into.
And so salute J. Cole for being in my corner on that.
And also young Thug, too, because he saw my trailer.
I thought my trailer was ready to go.
I'm like, man, hey, Thug came to my studio.
I'm like, man, I'm about to come back hard.
He was like, bro, it's time.
Bro, what you waiting on?
I'm like, no, I'm about to come back hard, bro.
Watch it, bro.
Man, check out my trailer.
Showed him my trailer.
He was like, he watched it and it went off.
He was like, He was like, this it?
This the trailer?
And I was like, I'm like, damn, bro, like that?
He was like, man, bro.
Because at first it was more simple.
It was just like me walking through the woods, showing the studio.
And those shots are dope.
It's cinematic.
And it gives you the feeling.
He's like, bro, all that cinematic and it look dope and it's big.
Like, man, we know you put some big stuff.
But he's like, bro, you the GOAT, though, bro.
You got to show these folks. like moments that you really live, like, you know what I'm saying?
Like all the way from the underground to like when shit was lit, like you got to add some more to it, bro.
Cause there's a lot of people don't really know everything about you or, like you, know what I'm saying.
So him being that voice, like so many people come to my studio and hear the music and watch the stuff or whatever.
And they right there with me.
So it's a vibe.
So it was like, man, hey bro, out of support, it's just like, you ready to go.
But it's like it was refreshing to have Thug because I always liked the way Thug thought like you know what I'm saying.
As a producer, I mean, as an artist and a producer, you know what I'm saying?
On his come up and his whole journey with his whole career.
I always liked how he thought different and forward pushing.
So, you know what I'm saying?
When he said that, that really woke me up and I started digging in the crates putting some more footage in there.
It sounded like Cole and Thug was like, nah, you gotta lock in deeper than this.
You can't just treat this like Yeah, like you know who you is but bro, the world don't know who you is.
And you can let them know by not even saying too much and just remaining you too.
But you got to push this a little bit harder.
And man, both of them saying that, That like, you know what I'm saying?
So that's why, even on my album, I said the universe is a creative director, because it's like you know what I'm saying.
To be able to have access to J. Cole or Andre 3000 or Young Thug or, you know what I'm saying?
All my peers or, you know what I'm saying?
Everybody who I work with, every creative that I work with, on All the content, from the trailer to the edits, to the music, to the.
You know what I'm saying.
To everything that we capture.
It's like the universe just lined it up over these years, over these nine years.
And that's literally what I got in the city of Atlanta.
So I got 70,000 square feet right in the city of Atlanta, like, you know what I'm saying?
Like right by the Bend Stadium and all that.
And it's like a compound and it's like a culture hub where, if you're a creative in the city of Atlanta, you've been to my studio like no question.
Like, you know what I'm saying?
Whether you do music, art, record, rap, like, you know what I'm saying?
Whatever you do act uh streaming whatever, like you've been over there and um, and that's where all this whole album was created.
That's where all the beats were made, that's where all the songs were recorded, or or, if not record over there.
The beats was made over there and i might have went 10 minutes around the corner.
So i felt like with this album, it was real important like not not to feel like i'm reaching for anything like.
I'm like man.
I don't wake up in the morning and try to like touch a cloud.
Like, you know what I'm saying?
I go get in my car, I go eat breakfast, I go to my studio, you know what I'm saying?
I adapt with my people and that's what I could touch.
So whatever I could touch for the day, I'm going in here and I'm making three records a day.
Whoever pull up on me today might make three records with them, or i might make three beats today, or i might make three, but i'm staying consistent on that three a day.
You know what i'm saying.
Seven days i got 21 new joints and i had you know what i'm saying last week and and next thing, you know, it might be five songs with this person, three songs with this person.
You know saying whatever it is, and um, and i, and and i.
Always, when i do music, i'm always aiming for like giving people like yo, I never knew I wanted this, but like this, I feel like this is what I needed.
Like this is what I was looking for, but I ain't never know that I wanted this.
And so that's what I'm aiming for when it comes to production.
Like, um, I'm always aiming for that.
Like that's always been the aim.
Like, even when it come to like, like I said, 23 to all the way to TZO and Luda to.
You know what I'm saying.
Um, to, um, even putting Sid Shrew-Ram.
Yeah.
I was just about to ask you who that was.
Sid Sharam, so he's like popping.
Man, yo, he's amazing, bro.
This is one of the most amazing artists I ever worked with.
He's already popping in India.
Famous over there in India.
He's famous for doing Bollywood music and everything like that.
And I just heard his voice.
I didn't even understand what he was saying.
I just heard his voice.
And I was like, yo, man, this dude is serious.
I was seeing him perform.
My man DJ, my man DJ had put me onto him.
You know what I'm saying?
My manager.
And he was like, man, yo, this guy is incredible.
And I listened to him, I was like, I'm like, yo, this dude is serious.
I'm like, yo, I want to do a project with him.
I just want to, I felt like that's something that could change the game.
So I told Sid when we met up, because he was born in India, but he was raised in the Bay.
So, you know what I'm saying?
He's very much Indian, but then he's, you know what I'm saying?
He understands American culture.
You know what I'm saying?
So boom, first thing I do, I tell him I'm like hey bro, we about to make that music that like make people want to put cologne on, make people want to get dressed up, make girls want to get dressed up.
A dude get a girl in the car, and they going on a date.
Hey, man, they playing this.
They feel like they putting somebody on or something.
We're going to make that type of music.
And we just stuck to it.
And one of the first songs we did was at AAA.
AAA stands for Again and Again.
And that was the- Another acronym.
Another acronym.
Well, that song started off as Again and Again, but then I turned it into like hey man, we're going to call this Triple A.
You know what I'm saying?
Word up.
Because I'm playing off the letter, I mean, the number three.
And then it's all the way for Atlanta.
So I'm like, man, it's just.
But yeah, Triple A, Again and Again, it was just like, that song, he just floats on that beat.
And it's like.
I don't know.
I never heard nothing like that sounds like this.
So y'all got a whole project.
We got a whole project that's coming soon.
Like I'm about to start rolling that project out now.
Now that this album's out.
You're going to India.
Oh, yeah, we're definitely going to India.
Shoot some visuals.
The project's called Elephant in the Room.
We're going to shoot some visuals in India.
We're going to shoot some visuals in Atlanta.
And we're going to shoot some visuals in the Bay.
Yeah, and he's the only artist in the world where that's literally his backdrop.
You know what I'm saying?
So my focus this year is the 2027 Grammys.
You know what I'm saying?
It's like Sway Lee has never dropped a solo album.
So he should be best new artist.
If he's not best new artist, Sid Charan should be best new artist.
You know what I'm saying?
Or either Alexa Lee should be best new artist.
Or T3 should be best new artist.
You know what I'm saying?
Or Mike Will should be producer of the year.
If not, we just gonna keep it in the category of big.
Belong in the Grammys.
You know what I'm saying?
Keep that shit classic.
Another one.
You dig.
So who, Mike, whose idea was the record Deeper with T-Zo and Luda.
You had T-Zo on it first.
You had Luda.
I had T-Zo on it first.
So I had like this drum loop and like man yo T-Zo is like one of the most creative artists I've worked with bro.
Like the way that he pushes the boundaries and everything like that.
It's like man, he's like, He's just a he, a different breed, like.
When it comes to that, you know what I'm saying.
And so we're in the studio, I'm playing, I'm throwing all kinds of different beats at him.
And then he hears this one drum loop and then he just starts singing, he starts singing that.
I pull up in the two-seater, around three, I'm like, what?
You know what I'm saying?
I'm like, bro, lay that down.
He's like, nah, nah, hold on, hold on one second.
Like, let's slow it, let's slow the beat down a little bit.
He slowed the drums down and then now he's singing to it like that.
And he like, yo, I think we need to add some more like sound.
So I also do a lot of cooking.
Like so I step out, go cook.
I don't know what i'm cooking pizza or something i don't know.
I'm always cooking because that gets me prepared to create too.
So i'm in there, i'm in the kitchen cooking.
Then my homeboys um, from sweden they, they went in the studio with tizo and then they were just with, like i just bought a whole bunch of new sense in my studio that i never used before.
You know what i'm saying.
So i was trying to get all new sounds.
So it was like simon albin, like they really know how to like tweak the the board.
So they were in there fucking with The Sims, with T-Zo.
And then next thing I know T-Zo got like the verse laid down when I come back in there from cooking.
I'm like, bro, this sounded crazy.
I'm like, man, yo, now all we need is like a hook.
He was like, nah, you don't like where I'm taking it on the hook.
So T-Zo already had like the, super Atlanta drip here.
He said he had hit the flea market and just got an Atlanta t-shirt and an Atlanta hat.
He had a cock to the side.
He had like a gold tooth and everything.
He was like, man, I'm just, I'm in it.
I'm all the way in Atlanta.
So, He like, man, boom, he went and he flipped the D4L, that Diggamy, the Diggamy sample.
So he flipped that.
And I was like, bro, this is too hard.
Like, this is too hard.
Cause I grew up like Shotty Lowe, one of the first rappers to embrace me.
He didn't rap on my beats right away, but like he from the West side, I'm from like Cobb.
So like A lot of artists from the west side were coming up the cob to the clubs out there and a lot of them got popping out there too,
So Charlotte Lowe, one of the first rappers, I was like 15, let me come to the studio.
They used to be going to the Pool Palace and the Crucial and I used to pull up with them sometimes, like you know what I'm saying.
Whenever I could, I used to be sneaking in the club back then.
So, boom.
Like, for him to flip digging me, I was just like, boy, that's too hard, bro.
It's taking you to a place.
Yeah, and it's like, man, I'm saluting low, and I'm like, man, that's perfect.
So then, like that beat was just, i just had an open verse so i was like i was trying to think about like who would be like a perfect feature on this joint, because it was like it was already wavy.
But it was like man, i felt like it wasn't complete because i just had that burst in the hook and so i was like man.
This beat just screams ludicrous.
And i'm like man.
I want to know where luda is at.
I don't know where he's at, but i know he's too rich and he raps too good and he too smart to even miss on this verse.
So i'm like man, I called him.
I'm like, man, big bro, where you at?
He was like, I'm in the city.
I'm like, man, bro, I want to let you hear this record, bro.
You know what I'm saying?
He was like, where you at?
You at your studio?
And I was like, yeah.
So I was shooting something.
So I'm thinking, like, it might take him an hour or something like that.
Next thing you know, boom, I see him walking in my studio door.
I'm like...
The fuck?
But his studio was right by mine, but he was already, he said he was already on his way to the crib.
I caught him at the right time.
So boom, he popped up at the studio.
So I started letting him hear the album.
I let him hear that song and he was like, oh yeah, I'm gonna kill this.
He was like, man, give me like 24 hours.
I'm gonna kill this.
Came back, let me hear the verse.
I'm like, bro, this is amazing, bro.
So he was like, man, here's a session.
And when you pop in on the song.
I remember the first time you played it for us.
He pops in on the song and you're like, of course right, the beat screams his name yeah, all the way.
And it's like after we did that, tizo flew back in town.
It was like bro, you don't know how much it means like for me to have like a song on your album, like bro you known for like delivering, like real hits that i grew up on.
So i want to make sure like i overly deliver on this.
So he relayed down his verse and then did an outro and everything like that and and then me and him just kept tweaking tweaking, tweaking.
And then it's like, boom, man, we got it to a place.
And I worked with Mike Dean and my boy Sage on the mix.
And yeah, man, that song came out dope as fuck.
Well, and this conversation now gives us even a deeper insight into how you guys so got busy. went so crazy on that versus oh yeah now for sure and how much effort you put into you know that versus you know what i'm saying from the special guests to having a dancer on stage to like creating the atmosphere and entertaining the audience in a real way yeah you know what i'm saying like you you you know you care man yeah you care about this hip-hop Yeah, 100%.
And I feel like it's important, like, when you pop out, like, you have to, you know what I'm saying?
Like, I got to pop out correctly.
Like, it's like, you know what I'm saying?
The ones that came before us, like, man, their albums were so thorough from top to bottom.
And it's like, man, like, this is our time.
So salute to Timbo, salute to Swizz for the opportunity.
We've been trying to figure out, like who would be like that person to like, like be a good person to like line up with on the verses.
I've been wanting to do it because I'm a fan of verses.
Like it's just dope to be able to go all that.
Would you battle again?
Would you battle again?
Because you got more records that you didn't use.
Well, I got so many records I didn't use.
But would you battle, like if they called you in a year, I don't know, I'm making this up.
In a year, I feel like, man.
And they was like yo, we want to, we want you got to run it up again with somebody else and somebody else wants to smoke.
Yeah.
I feel like next time I want to do it like...
Because it was crazy.
When I was putting this set list together, Swizz was telling me like man bro, I can't wait for that Sunflower to come on, or that Unforgettable.
I'm like, I'm not playing none of those.
He's like, what you mean you're not playing none of those?
I'm like, nah, I ain't produced those records.
You know what I'm saying?
And he's like, bro, but you gave the game Sway Lee.
You know what I'm saying?
It's still part of your tree.
It's still part of your umbrella.
I'm like, nah, but... this is like a produce like this is like for the producers so i'm gonna just only play the track so i got my dna on like but we could have played the box with that with 30 rock and roddy rich i set that session up that's 30 rocks my my little brother you know what i'm saying from air drummer you know what i'm saying and um same thing with um it's so many different songs so i feel like next time i like to do like air drummers you know saying like the air drummer sound versus whatever sound like, you know what I'm saying?
And I feel like whoever got that extensive sound where it's like 20, you know what I'm saying?
Like we come through with 20 and I feel like that'll be dope too.
Cause then we show like the real whole spectrum, you know what I'm saying?
And it's like, and one thing about the squad like, Anybody in like the, you know what I'm saying?
That's been a part of the culture and the industry and everything.
Everybody know like when we show up, man, we're going to be turned up.
Like, you know what I'm saying?
We just Swiss, called me and told me like bro, whoever you bring, Just make sure they got the energy bro.
I want that energy to be in there.
And I said, bro, you ain't got to worry about that, man.
We going to be turnt up.
We going to be having a good time to my records and Hit-Boy records.
Because Hit-Boy is not a slouch.
You know what I'm saying?
It's not easy for no producer to get in a situation like that, like Bursas, and play their catalog next to his.
So I knew I had to take that serious.
You know what I'm saying?
I couldn't take that light at all.
Of your classics, before I let you up out of here, because man, Body Party, yo, there was cats.
It was like, I remember for the version, there was a couple of cats on the team.
It was like, man, I hope he play that Body Party.
I like that joint.
That shit came on in there.
It was different, bro.
That song is different.
Shout out to Sierra, shout out to Pluto, shout out to Jasper, man.
Man, that shit is different, bro.
How many R&B records you sitting on right now?
Too many.
Do you have any plans to lean in on cooking up with somebody in the R&B space?
Fuck yeah, it's already cooked.
I got to bang on everybody hard drive again.
You know what I'm saying?
Whenever they want to drop it, I got a banger on everybody's hard drive.
On everybody.
That's what I had to do.
I had to load up my hard drives on everybody, and I had to land something on everybody's hard drive.
So whenever they want to drop it, you know what I'm saying?
Because you got something.
I'm loaded.
Like from the top R&B artists that you already seen me work with, I got bangers with them right now.
You know what I'm saying?
Whenever they want to release it.
And what about Future?
You been cooking up with him?
I heard he been in the studio again lately cooking up.
Man, me and Future ain't been back in the studio but me and Future got so many records that ain't came out.
You know what I'm saying?
And we done created so much history.
You see I'm being nosy right now.
Yeah, I see you trying to get the right names.
You know what I'm saying?
But I ain't going to lie.
Me and Future got about 20, 30, 40 songs that ain't came out.
You know what I'm saying?
Let me ask you this.
You think J. Cole would ever let you do an entire J. Cole album?
Man, that'll be dope.
I don't even know what to say on these platforms nowadays.
I don't want to get cussed out for like years.
You was up there fucking around with Ebro ass.
Said the wrong shit.
I ain't going to lie.
That'll be dope.
Yeah, and that's my brother and he love my studio and, like man, we already got joints, like me and J Cole and I like the way Cole thinks, but you know what I'm saying.
I know he real intentional about everything.
Yeah, when the time was right, he would lean in on something like that.
I really thought about that because you know the way us finally getting Kendrick on a mustard thing.
Like if you was like, y'all, you know, they from LA.
So you're thinking like, yo, one day.
And then when you finally get it, you're like, yo, this is crazy.
You know what I'm saying?
And then now you hear this and you're like, yo, wait up, hold up.
I need, I need a few of these.
A few of these now real talk.
Cause it's cold from the South too.
You know what I'm saying?
You know, North Carolina, Atlanta is right there.
Yeah.
And on that too, for Atlanta, right.
Metro put out a project that was very Atlanta, rooted in Atlanta summertime roller skate.
You know, futuristic music.
Um, Jermaine did the magic city thing, you know, documentary and all that.
Um, Does the city feel collaborative?
Cats was saying that they felt like the new scene and the older scene and it just wasn't feeling together for some reason.
But these last couple of summers was feeling like it was coming back together.
I don't feel like the newer scene and the older scene was ever together or ever not together.
You know what I'm saying?
It was just the older scene was already just out of here.
Nobody brought them together.
Yeah, they were already out of here.
And then the newer scene is bubbling up.
I was like...
I was like a gut hybrid because I was always the youngest in the room.
Like when like 2 Chainz or Gucci or Future was coming out, like, you know what I'm saying?
Like Gucci, like I said, we 10 years different.
Me and Chainz pretty much like the same thing.
And then me and Pluto like five, six years difference.
You know what I'm saying?
So it was like, I was always the youngest in the room.
So I always was tapped in with the, the younger guys that's coming up, you know what i'm saying.
And then as the younger guys started coming more and more on the scene, now they i already knew southside was a giant.
I knew that's my brother sizzle, my brother, you know what i'm saying.
Like i already knew he was a giant.
I mean he's kind of my mom house.
Like i showed him how to use a beat machine first.
Like i remember when he first started that's my brother, like talked to him every day on the phone i already knew he was a giant, you know what i'm saying.
Like When Walker first started rockin' with him, when Walker did his first rap song ever, we on the way on Southside Beat.
You know what I'm sayin'.
So, been knowin' what Sizzle was gonna be, been knowin' what Sonny Digital was gonna be.
He started with eardrummers, like, that man used to come over my house all the time.
I used to sneak him in the club, and you know what I'm sayin'?
He used to move around and he ended up know what I'm saying creating a whole new wave and a whole new sound.
And like Zay told me, that's my big brother, like he used to always let me come to his house and he opened up up the doors you know what I'm saying for me and you know what I'm saying like man.
Big salutes to Zay.
You know what I'm saying.
And like the producers always had like a, a collaborative scene, like even with Metro.
I've been on Metro before he even moved to Atlanta.
You know what I'm saying.
Then we moved to Atlanta.
I saw his whole come up, his whole growth.
We was in the, in the, in the rooms.
He was in there when i was doing a lot of the early work with pluto.
He was in there like you know what i'm saying.
Even he introduced me to thug, put me down on thug for the first time, like you know what i'm saying.
After gucci was telling me metros, let me hear the songs that they were doing.
You know what i'm saying.
So, like all these guys like already knew that they were giants even before, like the, maybe the TIs or the you know what I'm saying.
Or the different OGs in the game knew, but you know what I'm saying?
Like once these guys grew up know what i'm saying, and and and like they just rose to the like cream of the crop.
Like they just rose up, like they were supposed to boom like now.
Now it's like their name is familiar on the scene as well too.
So now naturally, you know what i'm saying the ogs are like okay, i heard about this person, that person.
They might not have a connection to, it might be a disconnect, and then it just takes people being glue.
So when we have people that's moving and operating as glue, I feel like that's when the city does best as far as like collaborating and different stuff like that.
Like you get a Gucci and Future mixtape from me.
You know what I'm saying?
Like me putting Gucci down on Pluto.
You know what I'm saying?
And then me telling Pluto, pull up to the studio and then they just doing this tape, Free Bricks.
And then it's just like, you know what I'm saying?
Or like, yeah, you know what I'm saying?
It's like people being that glue, like you know what's that metro putting pluto on savage's first single, or like you know what i'm saying, like different, like as they told him, putting everybody being as they told my house.
Like i saw gucci and and um and juice man do the whole, a whole mix up.
I seen gucci and goddy do a whole mix up.
I seen as they told my house.
I seen you know what i'm saying.
I seen all of this kind of stuff and i feel like even like how i started working with jesus, like me being a magic city And my boy Esco, just making a movie, like playing four of my songs back to back and saying like yo, the biggest producer in the world, is in here tonight.
This was just my brother Esco.
I just pulled up on him one night.
And then Jeezy sent one of his A&Rs to the DJ booth and was like, man, who the Mike Will nigga?
Who Mike Will?
You know what I'm saying?
I'm like, that's me.
Boom.
Man, met him.
You know what I'm saying?
And then boom, he set up the session with me and Jeezy.
Boom, went over there, played Jeezy some joints.
And so it's like all, and we do way too gone.
So like all of that kind of stuff is just like, it's like that, it's like that glue shit.
And I feel like, You got to connect people.
Yeah, I feel like and it's tough because a lot of people be like I had to learn in this shit and this music shit.
Like you can't take nothing personal because everybody got their own shit going on.
Everybody's their own corporation.
You know what I'm saying?
So there's so many different corporations and there's certain times that it just makes sense for this corporation to line up with this corporation.
You know what I'm saying?
Sometimes it just don't make sense at certain times.
You know what I'm saying?
Not anything against that or against this, like it just, They're pushing this, we're pushing that.
Just like me and any artist and not doing the whole album yet.
You know what I'm saying?
It's like, they doing this.
Timing, priorities, business, there's so many levels.
Man, for real.
And once you start realizing like people, like Coca-Cola has been around for hundreds of years, you know what I'm saying.
Companies like Audemars Piguet have been around for hundreds of years.
And these are two families that came together, that grew.
You know what I'm saying all the way, like that.
And once you understand the origin of other brands, you'll start looking at your brand and being like oh bro, I'm literally like just getting started.
Like, you know what I'm saying?
Like, I'm just getting, I got a lot of work to do.
You know what I'm saying?
So it's like- A lot of ups and hopefully more ups than downs coming up.
You know what I'm saying?
But it's a long road.
And it's like bro, if you a senior in high school, you might not be hip to the person that's in sixth grade, that's on the way to the high school.
Now you on your way out of high school, now this person end up being a shit by 10th, 11th grade.
You already going on and on doing whatever you doing.
And you hear about this person you know what i'm saying being being the at the school.
Like, you know what i'm saying and that's that's even what happened that like with like fly j like fly, j is like killing it on the basketball scene.
We went to the same high school but it's like, you know, i i ain't know what she was, she was a baby, so it was like spitting, though she's spitting and she balling.
You know what i'm saying.
Word man shout out, fly j man.
She too hard, Fly J out here.
And I just talked to her the other week too.
She had dropped a single and jumped on the virtual from her dorm room on the way to practice.
She had dropped a single today.
She a dog.
You know what I'm saying?
One of my homeboys from my first rap group was telling me about her when she was like...
13, 14, because he know her step pop.
So, man, he was telling me about her at 13, 14.
He was like, bro, I'm telling you, Fly J going to be the one.
Fly J going to be the one.
I'm like, all right, bro.
You know what I'm saying?
I'm like, all right, bro, you going hard for your man's daughter.
But then when I heard her rap, I'm like, damn, man.
And her confidence, as soon as she hit the door, confidence is there.
She killing every beat.
It's just like, man, she different.
And rapping for real, not playing around.
Nah, not playing around.
And that's somebody who went to the same high school.
But I had already been going on and on.
You know what I'm saying.
And she come like five, six years later now, like she on the scene.
But it's the same thing with the industry.
So I feel like that's the difference between like the older and the newer, you know what I'm saying?
People just don't know each other.
But like man Teezo was excited about doing a song with Ludacris, or like you know what I'm saying.
Like, J Money, Caribou, and Aneesia, like, nobody really saw that one coming.
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, J Money, OG, but then you... You feel me?
But that's the glue you was talking about.
That's the glue, bro.
Bringing people together that may not be in the same room because their lives is in different places.
That's the glue, bro.
For real.
Mike Will made it.
Ladies and gentlemen, make sure you go get Reset.
Reset.
It's going crazy.
It's on Apple Music right now.
It's going crazy.
And it feels like this is the first time, hopefully, of more...
Oh yeah, for sure.
That store where Mike gonna pull up on us, put us up on some music.
Yeah, it's crazy because I just now realized that it's 52 weeks in a year.
I don't know why that went over my head, but I'm realizing like it's 52 weeks in a year.
The music store opens every Friday.
People go shopping every Friday for new music.
I took all these weeks off, you know what I'm saying?
Not dropping that.
So we got to drop.
We got to overly drop.
Sway Lee feeling good.
Shrimp back in the studio.
They working on a new album.
You know what I'm saying?
Jimmy working on an album.
And I'm just telling everybody like, hey, look, man, we got 52 weeks in the year.
So Sway Lee album about to, well, it's dropping now.
You know what I'm saying?
Sway Lee's on the way.
Yeah, now Sway Lee on the way.
He coming like, we rolling out right now.
You know what I'm saying?
Shout out to him.
He got a lot of bang.
He doing what he do best, you know what I'm saying?
But now he, just just like how I did on Versus, played all my songs back to back.
Now he giving people like a whole project with his bangers, just back to back.
And him and Shrem I mean him and Jimmy got crazy Shrem records.
You know what I'm saying.
That's on the way.
And Sid Shrem, Lex Lee, T3, you know what I'm saying?
Those are my favorite, like, new artists.
International Hefe.
We dropped a project with Two Feet Beano earlier this year.
You know what I'm saying.
So we still tapped in with the new artists as well.
And, like...
T3 is, that's our baby brother.
He got the wave on the R&B.
I got to check that.
Yeah, you're going to fuck with T3 tough.
And then Alexa Lee.
She's like she has her own vibe, but she kind of like Amy Winehouse, Gwen Stefani, like kind of vibe.
Like you know what I'm saying.
But she got her own vibe.
I don't really like to compare artists to artists.
I'm going to check it though.
What's her name?
Again, alexa lee, alexa lee and then and then um sid sharam yeah, i heard him on reset and just know like That's one artist I enjoy working with, because every beat that I might have made for like like yo, this is a hip hop beat for like Jay-Z or like somebody who could rap like that.
Can you know what I'm saying?
That's ready for the challenge.
Like yeah, it's like I don't.
If I play it for a lot of rappers they'll be like man, it'd be too weird.
I don't know what it's doing.
When I play it for him, he like, oh yeah, this is cool.
And just kills it.
His voice just, His voice just demands just as much attention as how weird the beat is.
And it's like, but it meshes together so perfect.
So I'm very excited for the world to hear that one.
Like, you know what I'm saying?
We put some work into that elephant in the room.
And yeah, man, we got too much music on the way, bro.
Yeah for sure.
Oh yeah nah, you too.
And y'all go check out that new bts single.
You know what i'm saying.
Yeah, i got, i got two.
I got two on bts album.
You know what i'm saying?
So i got them boys rapping too.
That's a big bag.
Yeah yeah nah, for sure man, we just stacking it on top of each other.
Man shout out to bts and and another thing shout out to jenny man, we're doing a lot of work in south korea, jenny's fire bro.
Yeah, we're doing a lot of work and career, so we're taking the sound that way too.
We did eight on her last album, you know what I'm saying?
Her last album had heat on it, too.
That Gucci reggae, it was a few things on it.
Man, she got joints, man.
She too cool, too swagged up.
And BTS, man, word up.
We're taking it global, man.
It's eardrumma global.
It is.
Michael made it, bro.
My brother.
Love, brother.
Appreciate it.
Here you go, the Ebro show.
