I don't sleep.
— Mike Will Made It
When you're on top, you're going to get flack for anything.
Those are two artists that I worked with real closely. Me and Miley are real close, me and Future are real close.
Yeah, I co-directed '23.' Yeah, the whole concept of the video... Even with that video, I feel like it's not a video that you can get sick of. You can always go back and watch that and it's fresh.
It doesn't matter if it's platinum or 10-times platinum - it's a certification that lets me know that I'm not wasting my time in the studio. That being said, I don't let those certifications run my life.
I'm just trying to follow the footsteps of God. I don't question him. Just keep moving. He never fails. He always amazes me. It's like, damn, the sky isn't the limit.
I first heard Trouble in 2008. At that time I was on my grind, trying to work with all the next-up artists. I had sent him a couple beats; he had done a couple songs. We was always around the same age.
At the end of the day, I was listening to the big homies and they were saying, 'Yo, man, you got talent, man, stay off the streets.'
The 'trap' sound is a sound from the city. We've always liked music with bass. We've always liked old schools with big speakers in the trunks. We like our music loud. We've always had a nightlife scene in Atlanta.
It started off with me being all the way influenced by Atlanta and southern music but I knew my sound had to grow - I started learning melodies.
When I do music I don't think about urban music, pop or country, I just think about a good song.
Sometimes I feel like I represent for the misunderstood.
We Can't Stop' - everyone said that it wasn't going to work on pop radio, because it didn't have an EDM-type beat. But it went to No. 2 on Billboard and No. 1 on iTunes.
No teacher ever skipped the student process... if you want to be a leader, you have to be a follower first.
I have a 200-song catalogue in the streets and I never got any money off that.
I feel like soccer brings another dynamic to the city, it makes it more eclectic... I feel like it opens doors for people who grew up playing soccer here their whole life. We've got some rings on the way, trophies on the way, and we're gonna win, and we're gonna stand behind Atlanta United just like we stand behind everything else out of Atlanta.
Me and Future, we did 'Dirty Sprite,' 'Ain't No Way Around It,' 'Turn on the Lights.' Every time we record, we're setting bars.
I used to grind. I be telling people, you don't grind, you don't sell. I was like 15, 16 getting dropped off in the city by myself, with my own beat CDs.
Miley Cyrus is the new Madonna.
I don't want to be on the mic, man. I want to stay producing.
I'm not really the type that likes to put out a project just to say I've put it out - I like to make them count.
I'm looking at EarDrummers like a boutique label, like an Interscope or a Def Jam.
With Yo Gotti 'Rack It Up,' that was him hitting me like, bro, I'm about to put out a single next month, I want you to produce it.
A Red camera is the best. When I started shooting videos, I had to pay ten thousand dollars just to rent one. I was like, 'I do all these music videos, and I still don't own a Red camera?' So I spent about a hundred thousand dollars to buy one. My own bread. Boom!
I used to listen to songs on the radio and play that junk back on that little keyboard.
I like everything rare - cars, shoes, clothes.
I'm just trying to bring the sound from Atlanta over to the mainstream radio in a way that everybody can enjoy.
I can work with all these different kinds of artists and still be able to come up with huge records. Not just cool records, but game-changing records.
I want to make sure that I sign dope artists, old and new, just to make sure that we come up with something new and creative.
When I tried to send him beats in 2010, he told me I was too expensive for him. I told Future we had to work together, that it would be beneficial for both of us, that we didn't have to worry about the money.
I love Atlanta.
You wanna champion someone from your city and it blows it up.
That's the most important part of all the music I produce: making sure the artist is bringing themselves out in the music.
That's what music is all about, vibes. That's what makes people react and relate to a song, what makes it soulful.
Tupac Back' was the first single I had, but prior to that I already had 20-something songs in the street.
It's like I have three different brains.
I'm so into making music and being behind the scenes. I'm such a visionary person that I don't see myself being the person in front of the camera or the person in front of the mic.
If I get a Grammy, that would be dope.
A lot of people slept on Rae Sremmurd.
At the beginning of my career before anything started propelling, I used to blow up everybody. I was trying to work with whoever got next.
If you're a super-producer, you can produce whatever you want to produce. That's where I'm at.
I'm creative so I'm always gonna create.
Matter fact, my girl complains about how much I'm in the studio working. But she sees the results as they roll out.
I really believed in 2 Chainz, I really believed in Future, and I was going to the studio with them every single day.
Future was always the person to knock out multiple bangers in one night.
I like to listen to the Police, Sting, Queen, Pet Shop Boys.
Future is my brother. He has no idea how big what he does is.
Kanye is one of my favorite producers and artists.
This is the city of the underdog champion, so they want to see the next person out of their city blowing up and making I feel like, man, Atlanta's a big city, but it's so small.
You can't please everybody. As long as you make dope music, you're gonna have your fans.
