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Quotes
I decided not to do it because I didn’t think it would be fair to all
the artists that I want to work with. I’m really hard on myself when
it comes to my own record, so it would have taken nine or ten months of
my time. I could get two or three artists’ albums done in that amount
of time, so I decided just to back off of it. I cut a couple of songs,
and I was digging the way I was sounding on the mic. There’s always
something to write about.
That’s it, you got to come in and go to work, man. I open the door,
like I said, you’re not going to work harder than me. The harder you
work, the harder I’m going to work. At least I’m going to try to
make sure that’s happening.
I don’t think it’s a young man’s game. It’s all in how you’re
putting it together, and how you’re carrying yourself. If you feel
old, it’s going to turn out like that. I don’t even think about
that. I feel like I could turn 50 and still make a hot hip-hop record.
I mean if I didn’t have a label to run, and a lot of artists to put
out, it would be a different story, then I could just totally
concentrate on self. Building my company and getting these artists out
is my main priority right now. I spread out the tracks that I did for
the record to the other artists I’m working with. I don’t think
anybody’s going to be mad about it after they hear what I’m doing.
I don’t think I’m really inspired by anything that’s going on out
there right now. I’m not really mad at it, but there’s nothing
that’s really motivating me right now except for the artists I’m
working with. I’m not just saying that because they’re with my
label.
I try to reinvent myself. If you keep doing the same thing, people are
going to get tired of it, that’s when it becomes old. So, I gotta keep
reinventing myself. Plus, when I put a record out, I think a lot of
people are influenced by my music, and I think there’s a lot of shit
that comes out that sounds similar to mine. That makes the sound become
old a little bit faster, so I definitely have to keep reinventing myself
and trying new things.
Just music in general, man. I love making music. This is what I was put
here to do, to make music. I love doing this, man, it’s almost like a
high for me. If I’m out of the studio too long, it feels funny. I got
this feeling like, “Damn, this could have been the day I came up with
fucking ‘Billie Jean’ or some shit.” If I’m not in the studio,
it always crosses my mind.
I would love to do a rock album. I would love to do a Black rock album.
Ghetto Metal. It’s just a matter of the right lead singer coming
along. Once that happens I’m off and running. That’s all I need is a
singer, we’ll put the band together later. If I get the right front
man, I’m going to try that.
These artists are coming in with some hot new ideas so it’s just the
stuff that I’m working with that’s inspiring. There’s nothing out
there that’s really different. There’s nobody doing or saying
anything that I haven’t heard before.
I don't care if he's purple, as long as he can rap! (On if Eminem being
white affected his choice on signing him to Aftermath.)
Hopefully, I’ll have my music theory down and I can score a movie or
two at that time. I’ll definitely be making hip-hop records, looking
for new hot artists. I’m really trying to score some movies though,
that’s what I’m working on. That’s a big challenge. To conduct a
big ass string section doing something that I wrote would be ridiculous.
That’s the dream right now.
I think we just need producers who are willing to stick their necks out
there and try new and different things. I love Outkast and what
they’re doing because they’re trying some new and different things,
and it’s working for them. They stick their necks out there, and it
works and I love that. That’s what we have to get more of.
No matter how hard you work to bring yourself up, there's someone out there working just as hard, to put you down.
I got Ice Cube his start. I also launched Eazy-E. There ain't no
question that N.W.A. became what it was in large part because of my
music and my producing. Me and Eazy had agreed from Jump Street that we
was to be partners. Now Eazy says he's the owner of the record company,
Ruthless. Well, let him own it then. But I was never supposed to be
signed to him or owned by him.
No matter how hard you work to bring yourself up, there's someone out there working just as hard, to put you down.
My thing is just coming in here and making records, and hopefully people
will go out and buy it and bump it. I’m just trying to come in and
better myself when I’m in here. If I had to give an answer to that
I’d say that I’d like to be remembered as a person who really cared
about his music, and really entertained people with my talent. I just
want to be remembered as being the shit.
I use the same engineer every day. I work with the same player or
players every day. Once I find something that’s working for me, and I
dig it, that’s it. I work with a player named Mike Elizondo, it’s
usually just me and him. He’s a bassist, and he’s learning keys and
guitar right now. So it’s pretty much just me, him, and my engineer
Veto (Mauricio Iragorri) in the studio every day just grinding out the
tracks; we just go. Every day I come in the studio I try to lay at least
two or three tracks down, at least that, before we start working on
vocals.
I don’t go out to clubs and party like I used to. I just get up, go to
the gym, come to the studio. Usually I get to the studio around 3 PM,
and my hours can vary anywhere from two hours to, I mean, my record is
79 hours non stop. As long as the ideas are flowing, I’m in here. I
feel when I come to the studio, I have the same energy today as I did 20
years ago when I started. I still feel it, I love music.
Black women are the strongest most hardworking people on earth. The shit
I talk on records about black women is just that: shit."
It’s a feeling I get when it’s right, so I just keep going until I
get that feeling. It’s like a butterfly type feeling. When I hit it,
and it’s right, and the mix is right, that’s when it’s time to
come out. Nothing leaves this studio until I get that feeling.
And even when I was close to defeat, I rose to my feet... Still D.R.E.
The only two things that scare me are God and the IRS.
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