How it connected was, she was an underdog just like myself.
Nobody really believed that this girl off of ‘Love And Hip Hop’ who used to be a
dancer could really come in and make any type of noise in this game.
How me and Cardi first met is a crazy story because literally it was a seed that I planted
years ago.
In 2005 when I moved to New York I met this guy by the name of Shaft.
Approached him, said I was a producer.
A lot of stuff went down from then to 2016 when I met Cardi.
2015, my mom, she was killed due to domestic violence.
So my life just took a crazy turn, man.
2016, I tried to commit suicide.
You know what I mean?
It was just crazy.
I come back to New York ‘cause I moved away.
So it was an 11 year journey.
I come to Brooklyn, and I call him.
I went to his crib.
Same crib where I met him at from 11 years ago, dust on the studio.
I pull up, and Cardi B is there is well.
So that’s how the Cardi B connection happened was I met this guy from 2005, he happens to
be managing Cardi B, then he became my manager again and that’s how this whole thing is
here today.
One thing about me is I love pianos.
I love just intense-sounding sounds so this piano is what I started with.
That right there is literally the whole record.
Just two little keys going up and down.
This is suspense.
Like, I’m coming.
That’s what it feels like.
It feels like some shark in the water.
What?
You know what I mean?
That piano just...it sets the tone for the mood.
Next what I did was I used…
Oh!
Y’all don’t know about that, do y’all?
I just went into my little Trap Boom.
Got a whole bunch of little sounds in it.
That’s all that was.
And I just came in.
Just hit…
A lot of times in my beats you’re gonna hear hand claps because that’s one of my
favorite things to use when it comes to drums, is a handclap.
‘Cause I feel like it’s a more organic feeling.
Hi-hats is my thing too.
Hi-hats is gon’ give you that movement.
The trick is to be simple.
As producers we wanna show our whole hand.
Nah, we don’t need to show our whole hand.
We just need to go with that vibe and just let it flow.
Just let the spirit use you.
You know what I mean?
Just fly!
I feel like the 808 is the heart and soul of every hip-hop record.
With me, it’s a trick of vibe with me because I don’t like a million 808s in my tracks
but I do at the same time.
I space my 808s out because i just don’t feel like riding in my car and hearing “boom
boom boom” the whole time.
I want the song to breathe and I feel like as producers we have to learn that the voice
is the main instrument.
I like using two 808s on my records.
It gives a different feeling.
With a simple track, you gotta add a couple switch-ups to it to make it less boring.
You don’t need a million things, you just need something else to keep it going and this
is it.
And can y’all believe that I played this with my hands?
I didn’t click it in.
I enjoyed feeling this music.
That’s why when people hear my beats, they be like, “Yo J. White."
"I feel your beats bro.”
I’m like yeah I know because I played it.
And this is what it sounds like all together.
Like I said, you don’t need to add a million sounds to get a million plays.
You just need to get the right vibe and let it out.
Don’t hold on the the vibe.
Don’t add too much sauce to the party.
Just let it fly, it don’t need much.
You know, I’m excited to work with Cardi & we’ve made history.
Hopefully this song right here, we can do it again.