Latest / Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond / Tyler the Creator

Transcript

Tyler the Creator · Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Pushkin. This song Yonkers is the track that put Tyler
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: the Creator on the Map in two and eleven. It's
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: the second single from Goblin, his first solo album. The
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: song is stark, a sparse beat with a strange staccato
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: sound similar to the shrieking Strings and Psycho. The song's
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: lyrics are outrageous. The black and white video was equally controversial.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: It opens with Tyler sitting on a stool in front
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: of a blank background, a cockroach passing between his hands.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: It ends with him standing on the same stool. He
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: opens a video with hanging himself. A week after releasing
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: the video, Tyler and his Odd Future crew were performing
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: on Jimmy Fallon with the Roots wearing ski masks. It's
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: still exciting to watch today, especially if you're into youthful
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: displays of rebellion like I am. It's hard to believe
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: something like this was actually on network television. Eight years,
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: four albums, two TV shows, and one successful clothing line later,
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Tyler's spirit is still rebellious, only it's showing in new
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: and highly creative ways. His new album Igor isn't controversial,
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: but it's an anomaly and rap. Like most of his output,
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: It's entirely self produced, but unlike the other records, there's
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: hardly any rapping. Instead, Tyler sings a lot, and he
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: opens this record with a mostly instrumental track that starts
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: with a thirty second synth note. Igor dresses in bright
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: and beautifully tailored suits and like Anna win tour as
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: a blonde bowl cut and dark sunglasses. I really wasn't
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: prepared for the sound of this record, even after the
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: last one, flower Boy, which was also pretty ambitious when
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: it first came out. But this might just be the
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: strangest and most beautiful Tyler the Creator record yet. This
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: is Broken Record Season three Liner notes for the Digital Age.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: I'm justin Richmond. Rick Rubin spent three days in Italy
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: this summer with Tyler. At the end of the trip,
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: they sat down a Rick's living room and listened to
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: a few songs off the new album, analyzing each one.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: They started with Eager Steam instrumental opener you heard earlier,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: But first they talked about the heat temperatures across Europe.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: We're an all time high. I finally got a human
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: level of sleep. I was dying. The night before was
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: a hot night. It was I was dripping wet at
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: three am, staring at a mosquito, kept whispering I'm gonna
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: get you. I know him. We're cool now, this is crazy.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: You like it. We're in the woods. For those that
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: don't know, we're in the middle of nowhere. It is
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: no uber, it is no taxi. I have not seen
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: another person aside from the people in this house. No TV.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: Three days, no TV. I think it's one downstairs. Don't
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: think it's ever been turned on. It's no AC. But
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: I kind of like that in this weird fetish way
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: that said I really like being here. I don't know,
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: it's for me. It's like a very good energy. Yeah,
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: it's not much to worry about. No, like it's crazy.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: The first night I was like, oh, oh, what the
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: fuck did I get into? Rick is crazy? What the
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: And then I got some cookies and that fan and
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: everything was okay. Talking about music, when you were at
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: Shango La at the end of the project, you were
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: kind of putting it together the final stages. I remember
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: you telling me that the first song was gonna be
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: an instrumental, and you had always had it as an instrumental,
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: and then you kind of came up with a hook
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: last minute fell this one? And how did the hook
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: come about? I was with Uzy little USI very was
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: just at the studio hanging. I'm working on this and
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: I couldn't come up with words, but I had this melody.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: So I'm in there playing on the piano the melody
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: and then he takes that melody. It just adds words
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: and sings it right, and I'm like, just add it
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: real quick, just lay that rough down for me, because
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: your voice sounds good doing it. And that's the song.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: It's nothing deep, so cool. I think that's literally what
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: it was. And I was like, that's all I need.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: Thank you. I didn't even know that was gonna make it.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: It just worked out so perfectly, you know what I mean? Absolutely?
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: How important of the words? I like beat first, then melody,
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: and then lyrics. It's Amy Winehouse songs, No Lie. She
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: has a song called wake Up Alone, and man, I
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: love that song for years. My cousin bought that album
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: when it came out, and it wasn't up until maybe
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: two years ago, twenty seventeen, where I realized what the
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: lyrics were saying. Because I love the beat, love the chords,
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: and I just love the melody and what she was doing,
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: but I never paid attention to the lyrics. Yeah, I
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: think everyone listens to different things. First, I noticed earlier
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: downstairs when we were playing the disco stuff a song
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: came in and he was like ooh, and it was
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: just drums. It wasn't no chords, not a baseline, nothing,
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: And I was like, oh, he listens to Grew first.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: He listens to drums and grew first. And I just
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: something I picked up on and thought that was interesting.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: And me, I love good chords. Just it's songs I
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: have that are horrible lyrically, like really bad, but I
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: just like the notes in the background. So I listened
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: to him and I love it. And and this beat
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: is hard, these drums and this based on its great
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: they messed together. And then I listened to the flow
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: or the melody and the runs. Second, that's what really
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: makes me mel Then I care about it's all based
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: on the sound. That everything before you get to any
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: sound is way before it's for me personally, that energy,
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: that feeling, that sound, that's that's who you say. The
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: sound of the lyrics mean more to you than what
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: it's actually saying. Yeah, like jay Z for example, he
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: knows how to rap on a beat. He knows how
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: to hear a beat and say I shouldn't yell on this,
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: or I shouldn't wrap like this on it. The way
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: that this feels. This is how my vocal instrument could
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: mesh on this perfectly. Where it's some people who hear
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: a smooth beating like I'm gonna fucking yell on it.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna because they're just more
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: thinking of saying and cool shit rather than making a
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: good song. And that's how that's kind of me. I
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: kind of focus on making a good song with cool
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: structure rather than like, oh that verse was so even
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: though I don't get me wrong, I don't want to
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: seem like i'nna be a dismissive like care about lyrics
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: and word blah blah blah. But it's just number three.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: It's just number three. Is there any music or artists
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: you could think of that you've heard or listened to
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: because of the lyrics? Yeah, you got people like Eminem,
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: like Cassidy the rapper that stuff that I'm like, I
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: wonder what pockets they're gonna wrap this in and what
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: they're gonna say, and the punchlines and things like that,
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: because Eminem was he picked some of the worst beats ever,
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: even Ludicrous sometimes picked shitty beats, but their energy and
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: their cool, witty lines is what made the songs cool.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: So they're an exception, you know, so where jay Z
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: picked great beats. So that's what drew me in. And
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: then like, oh his voice sounds tied over this. Oh
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: that's what he's saying, you know. So okay, next one
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: I'll play and then we talk about it after. Incredible.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: That shit is so good, it's incredible. My favorite part
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: is happens once. It's when the harmony vocals do the
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: different It's so beautiful, and the restraint in that being
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: the best part and deciding I'm only gonna have it
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: that one time. Well, this album is full of that
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: because I just made each song has those moments. Oh
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: that's my favorite part, and I'm like, yeah, it only
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: comes once, but right after that is and someone else's
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: a moment face. Even even on the intro, the I
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: only have the choir come in once behind him, and like,
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: it's a lot of stuff and I like shit like that.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: It's little details that gets me off and a lot
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: of people don't listen to that stuff. A lot of people. Man,
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: if you don't got the if you don't got the
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: eight await the catchy hook, they're off it. But it's
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: so much magic throughout the whole. I think even if
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: people don't hear it subconsciously, it's something like something happens
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: and I tell I tell fans like, hey, if you
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: like it, and you see me in person and you know,
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: I got a minute to say hi or whatever. I
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: want you to articulate what you like about it. Don't
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: just say I like it, No, hone in on what
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: you like about it, because if you figure out specifically
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: what you like about something, that'll help you understand other
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: shit that you like and then weed out the shit
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: you don't help you find other shit like that. Absolutely,
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: you remember how that one came about, Like how did
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: it work out? That diverse drops kind of in the
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: middle of the song and breaks down like that. I
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: remember right before I finish, and I was like, I
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: need something to happen chord wise, I'm gonna keep saying
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: I'd say chords so much it's annoying, But that's the
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: shit that makes me lit. Oxygen water and chord progressions.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: It's fucking annoying. But I was like, I need something
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: to take me there because the song didn't have a bridge,
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: so I was like, I need to put something in
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: the middle somewhere that just goes there. And I was like, fuck,
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: the structure is already perfect. Maybe I could take one
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: of those leaves and just fuck it up real quick.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: And that's literally what I did, and I yeah, that's
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: how it happened. It's the song on the piano is easy.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: But I was just like, I'm gonna have four chords
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: that just feels like a waterfall and then ramp it
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: back to the original progression. So those chords are only
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: moving around in the middle of one of the notes,
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: if that makes sense. Yeah, you're gonna show me on
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: the piano, so why are you there? I feel right there.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: That's regular. And then I went and it only happens once. Wow,
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: And that's why it feels so whoa. It's so dramatic
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: because most of the it's mostly like this, it's mostly
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: just like regular line. So it's mostly just regular line.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: So me bringing that out of nowhere, it just makes
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: you say, oh, I came. And then everything after that's
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: just icing on the cage. Yeah, we'll be back with
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: more Tyler the Creator after the break. We're back with
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: more Tyler the Creator. Lyrics came last. Yeah, I made
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: the skeleton of the beat, and while I let it play,
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: I paced in my room and kind of came up
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: with that. And I was like, damn, that's all I'm
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: gonna say is you make my earthquation. Don't leave, it's
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: my fault. That was it. And then in the middle
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: it was a piano solo. But then I added Cardi
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: on it because I just love his voice. And yeah,
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: it was the lyric related something that was just going
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: on in that moment. Or it was earthquake. Oh really
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: corny enough. It was an earthquake, and I was like, damn,
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: I like earthquake, earthquake. And I was like, oh, I
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: say that with an F and a queue instead of
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: the thh and the queue instead of earthquake, I say earthquake.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: So I was like, huh, And then I just started
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: singing that and you make my earthquake, don't leave, it's
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: my fault because of the fault line that earthquakes are on. Ah.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: So yeah, and like you shake me up, you be
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: making me nervous because when everything is fucked up, I'm
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: gonna need you when everything comes crumbling or whatever whatever.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: So cool, just simple, but yeah, so cool. It started
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: with the chords. You wrote the chords first, and then
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: the beat came after. Yeah, yeah, I just had those.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: It's super simple, super simple. It's a it's just it's
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: just so that I interpolated where the guys like, I
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: think I'm falling in love this time of thing. It's
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: for real. And I was like, man, these chords are
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: He made these really bullshit pop chords that I will
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: usually hate. Yeah, sound cool. So I always had that
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: in the back on my head. And then I found
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: this drum loop. I was like, this is tight. It
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: was only a second, so I kind of fucked with
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: that to make it a full thing. And then I
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: was like, oooh that one melody that guy did. Those
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: chords were sick. So I figured those chords and added them,
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: and I was like, man, I also like his melody.
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: Fuck it. I'll just add it there just as a placement.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: And then the full song came and just was like,
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: I'll just keep amazing. So did the did you have
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: the vocal? The first vocal phrasing hook before you ever
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: had the beat. It came with the piano pianos I had,
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: so I had the song that I interpolated with the
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: chords in that hook phrasing. It was just a song
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: guy just already had and I liked it and I
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: was like, this is cool. Then when I looped these
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: drums and I was working on a beat and I
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: was adding chords, I was like, oh, you know it
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: will be tight the stuff from that one song. So
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: then that's when I see that. So I see and
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: they just want hand in hand and so cool. When
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: that happens, it's cool. I just wanted to dance. My
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: favorite part is to break down in the middle. That
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: bridge is so sane, so good. That bridge is insane,
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: so beautiful, so beautiful, and that's like number seven. That's
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: bridge seven. Bro. I have six other versions because I
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: was like, I need to perfect this bridge. It's two
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: other bridges with salons on it and he singing back
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: and forth and stuff. But I was like it's not perfect,
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: And I was like, what do I want to do again?
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: What world is this? Where is this living? Yes? I
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: want to be in studio fifty four dancing of this, Yes,
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: and I just want to hear these chords. Oh, I
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: just want to hear these chords. I don't want to
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: hear vocal, so I stripped it. That's why you have that,
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: and it lets you breathe. Yeah, it really. It's spectacular
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: when it comes in. Feel so good. The next one's
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: like my favorite, like my fucking favorite. I love that
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: so good. My favorite part is the again, the breakdown
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: with the little hook and the loud snaps and then
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: the beat, the new beat dropping after it. It's just
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: like living and pretending. I breathe a lot on this album, Yeah,
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: because of my like recording it, Like my asthma flares
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: up randomly, so a lot of the things like I
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: would actually breathe on, and then at some point I
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: was like fuck it, I'm gonna just breathe on a lot.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: So igor steam. I think this one, I breathe on
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: New Magic wand the end of What's Good like I
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: just made it a thing. But that song, it's like
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: the epitome of like uh I was in the mask
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: off section is incredible with the rat but it still
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: has the harmonies under it. That's my favorite. It's so
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: and I'm oh gosh, it's so and it also feels
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: like a vulnerable lyric in the context of this a
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: song that doesn't feel like that at all. Yeah, it's
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: just really like gets like real, like it feels like
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: because a song feels like running out, it's like it's
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: it's just some pop song, like it doesn't have me
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: until that part. It's like, oh no, this song is
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: about something like it's it's like you're spine and it
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: gets emotional. Yeah, and it's un completely unexpected and I
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: put the I reput the vocals from the first part
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: under that just so oh those vocals have meaning to
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: them too. It's yeah, all related. How do you decide
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: to do the fake out ending like the stop and
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: then the little breakdown extra piece? Uh, it just needed
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: I just wanted some movement. I just wanted some movement,
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: and I wanted to just have the roads just by
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: itself so good, and I was like, I'll just bring
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: the snaps here and then because I wanted it to
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: die before those drums came in, and then drums so
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: fucking hard, really interesting arrangement, like just the order of
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: events that happened in the song or bro it's magic.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: Every five that it's something new, even the car sound
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: that just goes through it here and there. It's like,
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: I don't know, just a little little kinks that I like.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: We'll be back with more of Rix Conversation with Tyler
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: the Creator after the break. We're back with more of
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: Rix Conversation with Tyler the Creator in the current live
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: show do you play? Do you mixing old songs with
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: the new songs? Start with the majority of this album
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: and that outfit wig and the suit and stuff, and
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: then I switched in there like regular clothes for older stuff,
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: which is like flower Boy, Cherry, Bob Wolf stuff, and
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: then I do like two or other songs from this
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: album at the end. It's a weird. It's figure outable,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: but I don't. I haven't figured out yet how to
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: perfect how to do both, because I don't want to
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: wear a wig and a suit when I'm doing Ship
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: from three albums ago, you know, unless you also don't
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: want to do only the new album yea, unless you
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: change the way you do the old material to suit
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: the new style. Yeah, And I've thought of that, and
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: I'm like, but this world that I've built with this
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: character that don't want to say the music doesn't match
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: the shoes I'm wearing. Yeah. Yeah, so I was like, all, whatever,
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: I'll just change it. But how would the character cover
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: those songs if he was an artist and he wanted
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: to do it, would take it would take away from
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: those songs. That's the thing I don't want to hate
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: going to shows where it's like, oh, they're kind of
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: performing the song I love, but they want to be
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: too creative, so oh, they're singing it a cappella with
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: a cowbell and one guitar note. It's really fun listening
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: to this. I love this album. It's good. It's fucking good.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: It's also the first album where I'm like really like
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: when people were like, hey, the album's great, I know
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: and thank you, and it's not an ego thing. It's like,
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: I'm so proud of it. Yes, I put in so
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: much effort and I love it and I know that
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: it's good. You didn't have the same relation and trip
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: to flower Boy. No. I think flower Boy is good
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: and it's my best work thus far, just because it's
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: an easy listen but it's so it's not born. It's
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: just kind of tame to me and too good. Yeah,
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: it's like of course you're gonna like it. It's nothing abrasive,
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: it's nothing too weird about it. It's good songs and stuff.
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: But I still feel like some of that stuff is
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: a little niche, a little bit just did you feel
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: it at the time or not at the time, a
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: little bit, Like I was happy people loved it and stuff,
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: but it was missing a lot of little things, Like
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: it was mixed too clean and not in a bad way.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: It's supposed that I'm supposed to sound crisp and clean,
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: but like it was missing my little tinks that I'm
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: like itching to do. And I had to pull back
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: and restrain myself because this is what the album was
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: supposed to be. I love cinnamon, but you can't put
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: it on your spaghetti. Yes, you know. So I made that,
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: And because of that, I think that's why I made IGOR,
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: because I was itching for I need this, I need
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: distortion and an annoying bass and pitching fucking this is
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: gonna come out of nowhere and all fucking change. Put
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: eighteen Bridges on one song like I needed that, but
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: still has some of the musical growth that we first
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: saw on flower Boy. Yeah. Yeah, it's because you don't
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: you don't go to you don't leave LA and go
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: to New York and go back to LA with no knowledge. No,
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: now you know how to wear a jacket because it
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: was cold as fuck out there, And now you apply
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: that whenever you gotta go jacket shopping, because you went
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: to New York and know how to wear a fucking jacket. Now. Yes,
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: So just because you know, just because I you know,
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: flowerboys super clean, doesn't mean that I can't get dirty
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: and crash a car into a fucking building. It's just
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: that now I kind of know which car I could
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: crash into a building, so I don't die. Yeah. Great,
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: it's so funny here in the juxtaposition of the beautiful,
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: melodious piano lines and the lyrics and the please don't
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: shoot me down in the gunshots. Yeah, such a good
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: buoye base combination. I love again. I love the hard
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: shit pause, and I love the pretty shit. Now we're
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: just trying to mix it together, just make it so
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: much more interesting. Yeah, because you don't know what side
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: you're on. Yeah, So the meshes like uh that one
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: also is the most traditional rap structure where it's got
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: a lot of verseus. You know, it's got a lot
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: of verse words. Yes, this is the it's in the
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: middle too, So it's like the that's the rapper one,
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: that's the that's the listen to what I'm saying one.
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: I'm I'm saying words on there and it's all specific
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: and it's so that's why I so laid back, because
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: it's like I'm more just talking, like observing that that one,
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: I'm just looking like it sounds really also personal and
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: intimate and real. Yeah, no, it doesn't sound like a performance.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: No the uh oh you're faking your man oh, take
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: your hoodie off? Like it's every time I hear this song,
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: I think of the specific moments of why I'm saying that.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: So it's and that's why it's not a performance. It's
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: just just talking and I think it's it's good. That's
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: a good song. How did that one come about? What
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: do you do you remember about the process? That was first?
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: So that's it was a song. I was listening to
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: the song that I've kind of dealt with before, and
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: I was like, man, I would do this differently. I
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: would loop this part because this is a sweet spot.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: So I just looped it and came just made my
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: own new song structure out of this other song that
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: I sampled from and kind of built around it. Were
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: you sampling a song of your own or it's this
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: other song called Bound that I sampled it from that
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: I like, I just had added the rough you some
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: other fucking dangerous but that was part of a verse
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: and then I kind of just kept repeating that and
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: made it into the hook. Yeah, when did you decide
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: that this was going to be the one that was
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: going to have that this was gonna be tell the
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: rap story, have something to say. Oh, well, it wasn't deliberate.
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: It's just that when I made the beat I just
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: end up rapping on it like that because that's what
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: vocally felt right understood. And then the melodies and stuff
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: where they are now is where I was like, this
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: is where it feels right. Don't shoot me Dan. The
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: boys a good like and I kind of kept it
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: at that. They didn't want to add anymore. I was like,
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: this is perfect, and it was asking to rap on
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: like that song was asking for a verse. Yeah, and
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: it I think it has so much more power because
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: because it's the we're in the middle of the album
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: and it's the first time we're hearing this many words,
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: it really changes the way you hear it. You know,
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: if this was if this was the sixth song of
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: six rap songs, yeah, it wouldn't It wouldn't have much power. Yeah, No,
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: it's even and like this album, like on I think
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: I'm doing this rap but it's cool, and then I'll
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: rap in the middle of Running of Time sort of,
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: and then the real rap verse doesn't come until the
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: end of New Magic One. It's a rap song, but
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: the rap verse doesn't come till the end. So when
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: you finally get to number seven and you get this
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: full rap performance, not like perform like a real just
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: rap song, like base level core hip hop, yea, it's like, oh,
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: this is nice, but it's still in tune with the
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: six songs before. It's sonically absolutely, it feels like it's
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: when it comes up in the project. There's no feeling
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: of what's this. It feels completely intertwined with the rest,
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: and it's you get to you get to breathe a
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: bit and just nod your head and like, yeah, I
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: like it. Yeah, me too. It's really interesting to me
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: that that you've been making music as long as you have,
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: and it feels like it keeps getting better and it's
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: very rare. Feels like so many artists best work is
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: their first or first or second, and then more often
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: than not, there's a decline and it feels like listening
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: to your work, it's the opposite. And any idea how
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: or why that is the case because I don't get stuck.
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: I like new shit. I get inspired by stuff, and
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: I hate the word inspire, but I get in this
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: ship and I dive head first into it like I
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: am if I had that cupcakeg Magnolia bro and I
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: went back every like. I fall in love with shit,
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: whether it's a color palette and a step like, I
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: get into it. And I think, because me being so
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: potent in something that's so different from the last, that's
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: why you could differentiate my albums or errors or the
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: way I was dressing at the time, or the approach
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: to music. And I want to get better. Some people
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: think they know it all. I want to get better.
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: I've yet to make my great rap album like rap,
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: I'm still like, I got to relearn how to rap.
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: I'm teaching myself how to rap again, because I don't
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: think I'm that good at it. That's not my favorite.
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: What was the first record that you sang on? The
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: first thing I sung on was Wolf the intro. The
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: intro for Wolf was the first time. I do you
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: remember feeling either like it felt dangerous because you hadn't
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: done it before, or that you were particularly excited about
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: it or particularly inspired by something to make you do it. Well,
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: I've always wanted to sing, but my voice doesn't allow
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: me to sing the way I want. And everyone's like, oh,
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: deep voice, like you pitch it up as an excuse,
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: but I don't want to sing like Barry White or
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: fucking Johnny Cash or whoever else had a deep voice.
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: I don't want to sound like that. That's not the
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: tone of voice that I want to put on the
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: music bad that I'm laying for it. So it's something
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: I always wanted to do, but I just never went
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: for it until I needed vocals on songs. So I
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: would laid out refs for people, and when they wouldn't
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: sing it or didn't work out, I would be like,
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: I like this idea so much that I'm okay with
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: putting it out like this. I perfect it as much
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: as I can, but I want this out in the world.
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: So the intro to Wolf answer off Wolf, that's number
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: six forty eight. I sung a bit campfire things like that,
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: like and it felt great. It was cool ideas, and
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: I just kept doing it and kept doing it because
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: I loved it. I would trade to be able to
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: sing well over wrapping any day. So good, thank you
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: for this, thank you for the music, thank you for
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: making great music. Thank you, and you're welcome. It's good.
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: I'm happy that I can put something out like this
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: in the climate right now and people are responsive to
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: it in a positive way, and I love it. I
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: absolutely adore this album. So when people are like, hey,
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: what do you do? I will give them this first. Yeah.
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: If I couldn't just say hey, I make stuff, they're like, no,
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: I need specifics, I would give them this. Beautiful Thanks
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: to Tyler the Creator for hanging out with Rick in
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: Italy for a few days to talk about the album.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: Also special thanks to Leonardo Beccafici aka Fresco for engineering.
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: On the next episode, Bruce had them talks with Yola
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: about her new album walk Through Fire and being produced
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: by Dan Arbach of The Black Keys. Broken record is
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: produced with help from Jason Gambrell and Mel Lavelle for
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: Pushkin Industries. Visit Broken Record podcast dot com for playlists
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: from every episode, and follow us on Instagram at The
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: Broken Record pod Our theme music is by Kenny Beats.
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: I'm Justin Richard.