In 2007, Hit-Boy offered Jennifer Lopez the beat for the music “Forever.” He recollects the sale as his first on knowledgeable stage, but in addition the second he felt “in the game” and able to “turn up.” Nearly 16 years later, that’s precisely what the producer has achieved.
Despite moments of monetary wreck, Hit-Boy reigned over the 2010s by amassing manufacturing credit (and awards) alongside a few of the trade’s hottest names. We’re speaking: Jay-Z, Kanye West, Mary J. Blige, Nicki Minaj, Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, Travis Scott, Rihanna, Kelly Rowland, Ariana Grande, Big Sean, Nipsey Hussle, and Nas — to call a couple of.
By the time Hit-Boy joins The Shade Room’s Editor, Cassandra Santiago, for a digital interview on the primary day of Black Music Month, he’s a family title. He credit the music “N****s in Paris” for main him to the place he’s now — a three-time Grammy winner nonetheless promoting beats from his early days. Fun truth: Beyoncé’s “Thique” was a 2014 beat.
Hit-Boy Is MORE Than A Producer, He’s An Artist
Hit-Boy’s years grinding within the studio has afforded him what he calls “cheat codes.” Now, he’s making use of all that data to his music-making. Yes, he’s nonetheless producing for cemented and rising legends, but in addition for himself.
More than a beat maker and music surgeon, Hit-Boy can also be an artist. He touched a mic earlier than the board, however studying to assemble tracks informs his renewed concentrate on rapping.
“It ain’t a new thing, I’ve been [making music] since I was 13, but the beats just kinda were so much fun to me that I just took a liking to it. And it also… I feel like if I was just rapping the whole time, who knows what would’ve happened? But me producing, I got a lot more longevity, a lot more relationships I was able to build and get people’s trust and respect,” Hit-Boy stated. “So I feel like I’m glad the production stuff took off first because now I can produce the hell out of myself. I can make myself sound as good as I want to sound.”
Only midway via 2023, Hit-Boy has launched two initiatives, teased a sequel, and dropped various singles. The first venture was a Musiq Soulchild collab named “Victims & Villains.” The second was a solo venture referred to as ‘Surf Or Drown.’ It options an intro from Hit-Boy’s father, Big Hit.
In our practically 30-minute interview, Big Hit spent a lot of the time entertaining Hit-Boy’s toddler son, Chauncey Hollis III. He spoke solely when spoken to, listening intently to the highlights of his son’s rise to the highest.
When requested, Big Hit mentions feeling “devastated” at being snatched from his son’s trade climb. In 2012, he was reportedly sentenced to 12 years for a hit-and-run incident.
Nine years after he first went in, Big Hit was launched in May and made headlines for the way he and Hit-Boy bee-lined to the studio. They spent hours there, even returning the subsequent day. Big Hit compares the sensation of recording alongside his son once more to dropping his virginity.
“It’s like having sex again for the first time. It’s just like I was waiting on that,” Big Hit stated. “That was what got me off. It had me just like in that zone — in bliss.”
By the tip of May, Hit-Boy and Big Hit had launched their first music collab in years, “Reckless and Ratchet.” The observe is supposed to tease the “Surf or Drown” sequel, anticipated this month. At least 4 music movies have adopted the raunchy observe.
Surf Or Drown 2 loading… “Reckless and Ratchet” video out now that includes my dad Big Hit pic.twitter.com/sRfqfyhnni
— Hit-Boy (@Hit_Boy) May 29, 2023
Big Hit Talks Being A Fan Of His Son’s Work And Newfound Grandpa Duties
Now that he’s out, Big Hit additionally plans to launch an album government produced by Hit-Boy. A documentary is within the works, and he anticipates a clothes and jewellery line. Himself apart, the guy rapper isn’t shy about being a fan of his son’s profession.
“… I been a fan. I knew he always had it in him. He just needed to step it up and just recognize who he was internally. Have a introspection — gotta bring it up outta him. It’s like a lion being in the jungle, you take him out, raise him up. He don’t really know he’s a killer until you put him back in that environment.”
Meanwhile, Hit-Boy credit his father with inspiring him throughout the brief time they’ve been dwelling collectively, from his train to his studio habits. The producer calls the time collectively “a good balance.” And his three-year-old can also be loving attending to know his grandfather.
“They’ve been around each other for three weeks, and he’s three years old, and it seems like they’ve been around each other the whole time. It’s the wildest thing ever. He don’t even wanna hang with me no more. He wakes up at like 7:30 in the morning — the first thing he says is, ‘Where’s my grandpa?’ He don’t say nothing else, then he get up, go upstairs and go kick it with his grandpa.”
For Big Hit, the time along with his son and grandson is heaven-sent.
“It’s a blessing. I foreseen this, and I just prayed about it, manifested, spoke it, and brought it to existence. I see me every day when I look at him, I see me when I look at him,” he stated, gesturing to Hit-Boy and Chauncey III. “It’s all over again, it’s a repeat, it’s a superstar in the making.”
Just forward of Father’s Day, Big-Hit says he hopes to move on his dad’s confidence to Chauncey in the identical approach he’s embodied it.
As for the music, Hit-Boy wakes up day by day searching for methods to “level up” his expertise. His purpose is to proceed making eternal music on the board AND the mic.
“… All the stuff I’ve been doing led me to this place to where my respect level is just different now and it hasn’t even been like me making like top-charting, number one records. It’s just stuff that hits home and is really like gon like stand the test of time vs. like a moment.”