This week we welcome rapper, producer, singer and songwriter, and record label owner Hit-Boy to the Vibe Check podcast.
Hit-Boy's moniker isn't even remotely hyperbolic, the California-born producer's credits include Jay-Z and Kanye West's "N***** in Paris", "Trophies" by Drake, "Clique" by GOOD Music, "Racks in the Middle" by Nipsey Hussle, "Sicko Mode" by Travis Scott, and "Sorry" by Beyoncé, among many others.
On top of those certified platinum and Grammy-award winning records, Hit-Boy has just executively produced King's Disease, the thirteenth studio album by Nas which dropped last month.
For this week's Vibe Check, Hit-Boy calls in from lockdown to chat with Noah Thomas about his super-producer status and finding things to celebrate while in a state of lockdown –such as spending time with his 5-month old son – and reflecting back on those "Wow, I really made it" moments.
Press play above to check it out.
The following interview has been edited and condensed.
Noah: First off, congratulations on the success in a time where there's a lot going on, I feel like you definitely have a lot to celebrate right now.
Hit-Boy: Yeah, for sure. I mean fortunately I produce, so people are still making music even though they're not performing it for real. People still want to be in a studio or they want beats in their emails. So, I'm just fortunate for real, and I just really locked in and just been taking advantage of any opportunity in front of me. That's really what it boiled down to.
Noah: When I first heard King's Disease and I saw some interviews that Nas was having and he talked about how it was originally just one song. Like y'all were supposed to just do one song
Hit-Boy: Right. He came through... he just wanted to hear some beats but we ended up making an album, just off the energy we had. And I know we were supposed to link and work a while ago. We linked up and got to get that face time in and just kick it and get to kind of know each other. When he pulled up, I was like, "I got some ideas." So, everything I was playing he was being responsive to. And, we just take it from there and did it song by song. And before you knew it, we had an album.
Noah: You've worked with tons of legends at this point. And, you're one of the few in this modern era, I think, that's a super-producer.
Hit-Boy: Well, that's funny. I just saw a clip on IG and people was having a debate like, "is Hit-Boy a super-producer?" And, it's so funny because I guess I'm the first ever producer in history to do probably around 10 Beyonce songs. I did 'N***** in Paris", I did "Clique", I did "Trophies", I did "Backseat Freestyle", I did "Sicko Mode". I did "Feeling Myself" with Nicki Minaj and Beyonce. I did tracks with Beyonce and Nicki Minaj and I'm still underground somehow, so shit, I guess it's working in my favor.
