Album: Blackout

Label: Jive



Danja: "[I started producing for Britnety solo because] I didn't have a personal relationship with Justin so I was just a producer doing my job making music. I was left to my own devices. Even though it was just me by myself, we still had a lot of fun.I worked with Britney in Vegas, then we went to L.A. I was really working with her and that was another big project for me. Even though it didn't do what it could have done because she wasn't well at the time. That's the best way I can put it so... [Laughs.]. She didn't promote it and she didn't tour.

"I got Britney fans going crazy on my Twitter. I get hit up all the time about that album. I heard last year she had been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's crazy to know that I did something that just reached people like that. The Justin stuff and the Nelly stuff is all massive, but that was one of the ones I did on my own and was notarized, but it wasn't successful.

"So it's like a cult classic and that's great. That's awesome for me that it's still recognized even though financially it didn't take off. It just hit platinum last year and it was released in 2007, so it really goes to show you the power of an artist when they are able to endorse their own project and the power of good music. People still loved it and the record still did well.

"[I got used to playing a lot of my beats in my headphones] because I didn't have the luxury to hear it on the speakers since I was working with Tim. And obviously, it's Tim. He has seniority in the room so whatever he's working on, I had to retreat to headphones. I wish they had these pair of Beats headphones that I have back then. I had some Techniques or something like that that did the job, but I had no choice so the headphones became a comfort zone and it was easy.

"Now, I still retreat to headphones every now and then, but now I obviously have the luxury of big speakers. Back then, it was just all I had. With headphones I lock into my world. I did it because I had no choice. Tim did it because he didn't want nobody to hear what he was doing.

"I remember artists will be there and he'll play it super low and get pissed if somebody opened the door while the track was playing. He didn't want anybody to hear it. I understand why he did it. It was just the surprise and he wanted to present it right. He wanted to play it in the right way.

"For me, I want to get my idea out for myself. Let me get my full idea out and then I can take all the criticism in the world. Sometimes engineers are just sitting in there and not doing anything. So you're just like, 'Is it crazy or not?' So you start second guessing because you're not getting any reaction from anybody. That's a thing with producers and having headphones and privacy in the studio. You're just more in your own space."



