Did you send J. Cole the song first?



Yes, but I had actually sent Cole another track I wanted him on. After some thinking, we decided it wasn’t the right one. So I kept working on all the songs and when it got closer towards the end of the album, that’s when I sent Cole the “Family & Loyalty” track. I actually texted him and he replied in like five minutes saying, I got the chills right now! How did you get Guru to sound like this? He said it was a done deal and that’s how that song happened.



How important was it to have all the members of Gang Starr Foundation on this album? These are friends and family but you guys haven’t worked together much since, right?



After I was able to make three good solid tracks for this new one, I felt like it was on. So I wanted to reunite everyone. I wanted to put all of our longstanding differences aside. I mean, we all had fist fights and stuff but we all were cool, especially after Guru passed. One of the last times we were all together was at his funeral. We had a big dinner and all made amends and hugged it out. We just haven’t recorded together in a while, but that was more reason to get everyone onboard. Everyone flew into town. Jeru flew in from Chile and wrote his verse on the plane. Group Home and Big Shug, that’s the Gang Starr Foundation, but it also extends to M.O.P., Bahamadia, and so many more Gang Starr extensions.



Were the beats from this album unfinished or unused Gang Starr songs? Or were they new ones you made after securing the vocals?



My formula from day one has always been to make the beat on the spot. In the era I was raised, everybody did it that way. You come to the studio with a sampler and records and make it on the spot. Plus, with these tracks, I had the vocals first, so my job was to match the beats to Guru. And I think they do match.



How did Q-Tip end up on "Hit Man"



Guru is so good at telling stories, so much so that you can vision everything he’s saying. So with that track, I knew I wanted someone like Tip on it to make it better, but not necessarily drop a verse. I actually just wanted him to do a hook. It worked out well because Tip recently had throat surgery so his voice was fucked up. But he wanted to hear the song anyways and when he did, he said, “The track is pretty grimy! Maybe my fucked up voice might work with this one!” And he sent a little hook he had did live on his phone for me to check out and I thought it was perfectly weird and fits.



As a producer, what are some of the things you would take into account when making a beat for Guru?



I take a lot of things into account. Guru had such a different voice from most people. Plus he had a Boston accent! So, I always made sure the beats were tailored to him. I mean, with any rapper I work with, I do my best to match as much as possible. But with Guru, he knew me so well we could make something out of nothing if we wanted. But the pressure was on me to do it right this time. And for Guru, I felt like in order for it to come out right, I had to find the right textures to make his voice sound prominent and keep it above the beats. Guru used to always call me a beat tailor because I’d make things fit tighter [laughs].



So, without giving too much away, will there be one more Gang Starr album after this?



You never know.