Where are you from? What was your upbringing like?

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Columbia, South Carolina. My mom was in the military, that's how we ended up down south. My family's from Queens, and every summer for school breaks, I would come up and be there all summer since I was a baby. My grandma's been in the same house since the ‘70s. I got introduced to hip-hop just being on the block, I was a fuckin’ kid, just seeing people rapping. I tried to do it, but I didn't know which words to use to rhyme, ‘cause I was so young. My uncle was like, You just need to write it down, you got it!

I always was into music. I think my uncle showed me how to download music when I was in elementary school. He told me, to find a beat, you just put “instrumental,” you put your favorite song, and you could download that shit. I think I grew up during the computer boom, when the shit just kept changing, getting better and better. I wanted to rap first, but I didn't know how to record myself professionally. When I'd record on those instrumentals I'd downloaded it didn't sound like the original song, and I would get frustrated. My first beats were terrible, but I didn't give up. My friends would be like, "Fuck is this?" I'd be like, "Shut the fuck up, I'ma get this shit right, I'm just starting, I'ma be the best. Fuck y'all."

What were you listening to during those Queens summers?

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Dipset, G-Unit, Dipset, G-Unit, Dipset, G-Unit. They was on fire! And they weren't even working together. Queens was lit. Belly, man. People might talk shit about Queens, but a lot of shit in hip-hop is Queens. Run DMC, LL Cool J, Salt-n-Pepa', shit, Stephen A. Smith, Hype Williams. All of these motherfuckers. Just knowing the history motivated me every time I would come up here. I would put myself in those shoes, like, Oh, we down the street, so we must be great too! I might be from down south, but I'm a Queens nigga. It's weird. I can't say I went to a certain school, or this church over here. But I learned so much, I even learned how to ride a bike up here.

How did you first start making beats?

My uncle Dwight, I was tryna be like him! He rapped, he drew, he did graphic design, he tried to make beats, he was fly, he had all the foams, all the J's. He had Fruity Loops on his computer. I thought he was playing a video game, ‘cause he's really into computers and shit, and I didn't know how he did that shit. I was like, lemme try. He usually just lets me go ahead, he knows I'll figure it out. He would go to work, and school — ‘cause when I'd come up here for summer break, everyone would still be in school for one more month. I really was just on that shit all day and he'd come back and hear it and be like, "You might be onto something." Maybe two summers later, he gave me his computer. He was like, Fuck it, you're better than me. Have this shit.

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I had an uncle, my grandma's brother, I don't know how big he is in Belize but he's popular out there, and he does reggae music. I've been watching his YouTube videos for the past two years. If I ever need inspiration I always watch his shit. I don't really listen to artists and stuff, since 2011. I wanted to just make sure I'm not making beats like anyone else.

What brought you to Atlanta?

I convinced my parents to let me go back to school, because I was going to school for graphic design, and I dropped out. I did a year, got in trouble, [got] suspended. I'm not a bad person, that was my first time ever getting in trouble in school. My mom was shocked. That's how I knew I needed to do this music shit. I tried to go back to school, I even went back with no music equipment. Still did bad. I was like Bro, why do I feel like a dummy in here?

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When I came up [to Queens after that], I was really just reckless. I just turned 18, smoking weed everyday, my grandparents were old as shit so I could just do whatever. I went to my dad's house in South Carolina and I worked at Walmart and Target. Shit was terrible. But I had enough time to think about what I really wanted to do with my life. I knew I wanted to do this music shit, but how the fuck was I gonna make it? I talked to my uncle and he said, "You already record yourself, just go to school for that shit. You can be in the studio all the time." I thought about it, after finishing school, where the fuck am I gonna work at, and who am I gonna work with in New York that's lit? Imma go to Atlanta. There's somebody blowin' up every six months. I felt like going to Atlanta would better my chances. Because I didn't know anyone, I felt more comfortable. Moved out there by myself, and did it. It was hard as fuck at first, but it was definitely worth it. I finished the program, but I didn't get my certificate. It was 9 months, and I even redid the last part because they said I didn't pass something.

What kind of sounds inform your own sound? Listening to your production, especially on Playboi Carti’s mixtape, I’m reminded a lot of old video game-type sounds.

I used to be a big Wiz Khalifa fan in high school. I started smoking weed when Kush & Orange Juice came out. Sledgren, he used to use video games sounds. I was tryna be like them niggas, smoke weed, make some smokin' music. After a while, I stopped sampling them.

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My friend sold me his Super Nintendo around senior or junior year [of high school]. He had Street Fighter, and me and my friends would play it all the time, so I downloaded the Street Fighter soundtrack first, and then I just started getting everything else, just to hear what they were doing, not even to use it. A lot of that shit is ahead of its time and gets unnoticed. When I was in high school, I downloaded a bunch of video game soundtracks and I would just listen to them and study them. That shit is really intricate. Most people don't notice because they're playing a game, but if you actually listen to that shit, most beat makers can't do that shit.

When I moved to Atlanta, I started working with DJ Burn One, and he was like, "Yo, you can't use samples." There's nothing wrong with samples, ‘cause that's where I started making beats. In New York, samples is necessary. But if you're trying to make money off that shit, it's like, don't even play yourself — make [a beat] from scratch. I'm really glad I made “Magnolia” from scratch because we would be having a bunch of different conversations right now.

