Vic Mensa: The Chicago rap heavyweight talks 'Victor' album, going sober and key influences

Still learning about what fuels Vic Mensa and his style? Look no further than what he had to say pulling up to Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden to dish on everything from his new Victor album and sobriety to what key influences help him push forward.

Vic Mensa unloads and talks everything with Apple Music

From dishing on the late fashion icon Virgil Abloh to his new album’s artwork, it’s all big moments for Mensa. Peep some of the highlighted moments from the interview and head over to Apple Music for the full-fledged episode.

Vic Mensa on Getting Sober…

I definitely have a different sense of clarity and a different sense of focus than I've ever had before. And I think a lot of that came from sobriety for real. And so I'm two years sober, I just passed that milestone about a week ago. Alcohol, and weed, and pills, and all that type of s**t. I started practicing Islam in that same point in time. And above all, I made a decision to cut out all the shit in my life that was not actively serving a purpose, not actively bringing me towards my goals. And I come to realize that a lot of those things that created issues in my life were just ways of running from something, ways of masking some emotion, or hiding some insecurity, forgetting about it for a few minutes. And facing fear though is what takes you to another level.

Vic Mensa on Being Inspired by One of Virgil Abloh’s Last Videos While Making His Song “Strawberry Louis Vuitton”…

I was sampling a Virgil film when I made Strawberry Louis Vuitton. It was one of Virgil's last films, Louis Vuitton films. It's called Amen Break. It's like one of the most famous breaks in Hip-hop too, and it was featuring Saul Williams. And so I'm like, "Saul Williams on a Louis Vuitton Virgil film. I'm dialed in." And in Ableton, man, when you bring a video into it it keeps replaying the same piece as you play the audio. So I'm just looking at it and there's this dude during that part of the music wearing a bright red Louis Vuitton sweater with the hood up in the woods, and that's really what a strawberry Lou Vuitton thing came from, just chopping up the beat.

Vic Mensa Says The ‘Victor’ Album Artwork is a Life-Size Painting He Had Commissioned…

Yeah, it's massive. It's like six feet. The artist is named Terron Cooper Sorrells. He's from Virginia, but he paints out of Chicago. I had this concept of the story of Osiris. One of my big homies, shout out to Suave. He's currently locked up in Illinois, been locked up since the '90s, but he's one of the most brilliant people I've ever met. His intellect, his wealth of knowledge is so vast, so expansive. He introduced me to a lot of Egyptian mythology. Specifically, the Egyptian Book of the Dead. He was just telling me, "You need to tap in with this." I remember seeing it on a Tupac reading list. And so, I went, dove into it and I learned about the story of Osiris. Osiris was 28 years old when he was lured into his own sarcophagus by his brother. And once he got in there, they ripped his body to pieces, spread his limbs all across the planet. And then, he was sewed back together by Isis and he came to be the God of the afterlife. I was 28 reading that and I was like, "I got to use this for my album." You know what I mean? It's too hard. It's my favorite album cover I've ever done.

Vic Mensa on How His Aunt Skin Cancer Diagnosis Inspired His Song “Blue Eyes”…

The song “Blue Eyes,” where I'm dissecting the impacts of European beauty standards on myself and my family. That's one of my favorite songs that I've done. And I started making it so long ago, man. I started making that song in 2016 and I was doing ayahuasca for the first time. And I had this higher voice come to me and it was like, I used to want blue eyes, that is the root of my pain. And I was like, "I got to put that in a song." But it made sense, I didn't remember that. But having a white mother and just being different from her and my father, it made sense. And I started writing a song, but it wasn't until I learned that my aunt had been diagnosed with skin cancer directly related to a history of skin bleaching that the rest of the song came to me. Learning that, that was heavy for me because it's so much bigger than her or our family. It's painful to think that our people have been misled so deeply to believe that they should try to wash away the melanin in their skin in order to achieve some unattainable, unrealistic idea of beauty that's been brainwashed into us. And that would be the same thing that could ultimately kill you. 

Fridayy: The Philly crooner talks JAY-Z, putting out a fire self-titled debut and the music biz grind

Need more reasons to have Apple Music in your life? How about getting first dibs on super solid interviews like the one Philadelphia’s own Fridayy gave Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden?

Fridayy talks music biz, new album and JAY-Z with Apple Music 1

While the full-fledged interview is over on the streaming giant’s platform, some key quotes from the conversation between Fridayy and Ebro are definitely worth keeping tabs on.

Fridayy Tells Apple Music About Getting His Start in the Music Industry as a Songwriter...

I was an artist before a songwriter. I was pushing my music as an artist. But if you don't got no marketing and you don't got no plan, it's really not going to move. I remember I used to put hashtags on my posts. I don't know how he found me. He was like, "Bro, you hard. Send me some more records." And I sent him some more records. He was like, "Bro, if you song write it might be an easier way for you to get in. People need songs." If you meet an A&R right now and you say, "I'm an artist," and they go on your Instagram, or TikTok and you don't got nothing going on, they not really... Even if you talented, they don't really care, bro. That's most of the industry. But if you meet a A&R and say, "I got 20 hooks for your artist, I got 20 beats," he's going to call you in the studio the same night. Nowadays, they don't even care about the music. It's all the other stuff. Once he said that, all right, songwriting. But in my mind, I already had projects ready, bro. A lot of my music, I've been recording while I was writing. That's how I got in the game.

Fridayy Tells Apple Music Why He Self-Titled his Debut Album…

That's why I named the album Fridayy, bro. Because when people be asking me, "What genre are you?" I really can't put me in a box. I'm not R&B, I'm not gospel. You may hear the soulfulness, but it's not gospel. It's really just me though, all in one. And I'm putting everything I listen to and everything I've been through all in one song. Just like you said, I'm Haitian. Growing up Haitian, in Haitian parties, all we hear is Haitian music, Afrobeat and Jamaican. It's in me. Even when I talk to these Afro artists, I've been on them, you know what I'm saying? 2015. It's like second home to me type stuff. That song “Done For Me” is just, I look at it as a worldwide song, the way you say it, bro. Anybody could listen to it.

Fridayy Tells Apple Music About Performing “GOD DID” with Jay-Z at the Grammys…

That was special, bro. I remember Khaled told me we were going to be at the Grammys. He'd been telling me that, but it ain't really register yet. I think we got the call that I'm performing two weeks before the Grammys. My heart dropped, bro. I couldn't even sleep. I was just thinking, bro, I could mess up a Jay-Z performance. This could go bad. I was just thinking the wrong... The worst things, bro. I remember the week of the Grammys, I kept singing every day, that same hook, in the shower. And then right before, Khaled came, he came with his whole crew to me and put the instrumental in my ear and I just started singing. Everybody like, "You ready.” And I seen Hov, I just grabbed my mic and it was just history, bro. That was the first time the world got introduced to the face. Everybody knew the name, but that was the first time they got introduced to my face.

Fridayy Tells Apple Music About Picking His Artist Name…

When I was a youngin', I used to always see my cousins on Fridays. That was the day. I begged my mom, "When's Friday coming?" She just started calling me that. And then when I was started making music, I kind of stuck with that because at the time, The Weeknd and PartyNextDoor was my favorite artists. I just came up with the name, just so Drake could recognize me, when I was probably 15, 16.

Offset: Cardi B's ride or die dishes on new album, family importance and more with Apple Music

Atlanta rapper Offset has plenty to talk about these days. The hip-hop veteran has pulled through to dish on everything from putting out new music including a studio album this fall to making sure family comes first in a new Apple Music 1 discussion.

Offset pulls through for Apple Music 1 to dish on everything

While the full-fledged interview is streaming for Apple Music subscribers, check out some of the highlights with Offset’s conversation with Ebro Darden.

Offset Tells Apple Music His New Album is Coming in October...

Yeah, we coming in October but right now we just applying pressure. Creatively, content-wise, I'm going to just keep my rollout going. The rollout started from “Jealousy", so I'm going to just keep the rollout starting from right then. So with this album I'm definitely going to be showing way more personality, way more who Offset is, creatively. Taking to the next level. You know how we come in, Ebro.

Offset Tells Apple Music Fans Can Expect a New Single in About 3 Weeks…

Yes, sir. In about three weeks.

Offset Tells Apple Music How He Landed a Jamie Lee Curtis Cameo in His Music Video for “Jealousy"…

I didn't know her before we shot but I just simply DMed her about it. I had a great idea about the iconic interview I seen. I been had watched it five years ago. I just felt like it was related to the subject of jealousy. So I just DMed her, bro. And when I DMed her she DMed me right back. And then after that I got her number and she was like, "I got you, I'm going to pull up." And then she pulled up to the crib in LA. No security, just regular. Came in with her suit and just shot. She the GOAT, so that was nothing for her to just do that. She got it shot in like 10 minutes and then we was done.

Offset Tells Apple Music About His BET Performance, Choreography, and The Importance of Showmanship…

I just feel like with showmanship, especially nowadays, it's really none. Especially in rap. A lot of these cats, they got great songs and big songs and very successful. But the showmanship and being able to take it there and get outside of the box of doing something you really might not be comfortable with. Because dances for me right now might not be the coolest thing at this age and stuff like that. But I got the talent, so I'm going to do it, just because I can separate myself from the rest of the artists and actually give old show. So I'm standing on showmanship, man. And challenging myself and taking it to the next level for myself, instead of just walking with the mic. Getting paid all that money, walking with the mic back and forth. And standing. That ain't enough. That ain't cutting it. That's why them ticket sales low.

Offset on the Importance of Family and Showing Up For His Children…

Nothing to be in the way of the family. Because, you know, the family is the foundation. And my foundation is my wife and my kids. When the cameras and everything is off, you're a real person. And your kids expect you to be there to take them to school, your kids expect you to be there for when they got their practices. Family just is... I just don't ever want to confuse the business with the family because at the end of the day the family is really my support system and what I got. And what I'm going hard for. I don't really have a lot of outside motivations outside of my family, because I want to make sure we good. I want to make sure I leave a legacy, and then financially my kids will be straight. Because I got five. So I got a lot so I got to work extra hard. And also the hardest thing with being a father and this job is time. You got a lot of time away because you got to go do a show. But we all, I always come back home after things said and done. But I just want to always keep that and push that narrative, man. Black man bro, they always on us. We don't take care of our kids and we really do. It's a lot of us that do. It's a lot of brothers go to work every day, 8, 10 hours to make sure they come back and feed the family. I just always, with my influence and with my platform, I always want to show that because it ain't shown enough. They just show the bad, like we don't do that. And there's a lot of Nlack fathers that take care of their kids and really take care of their household. And then me, I'm like the core of mine. No matter what's going on, I'm like the go-to guy.

Dave East: The Harlem native dishes on recording in Pablo Escobar's Medellin home

You have to admit - Dave East is staying super busy these days. From flexing his Hollywood acting chops to putting out fire tunes, he stays grinding. So it’s no surprise he’s making time to chop it up with Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden to dish on his endless ventures in 2023.

Dave East talks about his Hollywood flex, putting out new music and more

From dishing on turning into Method Man for Hulu’s recent ‘Wu-Tang: An American Saga’ series to getting the chance to work alongside the Wu’s Ghostface Killah, it’s all types of quotable moments. So peep some highlights and head over to Apple Music for the full-fledged interview.

Dave East on How He Thinks About The Difference Between a Mixtape and an Album...

With a mixtape, with me, I'm going to approach it like an album, but I know it's more street-driven. I just know kind of the fanbase that I'm doing it for. With the album, when I'm presenting to the label, and I know it's going to be one of them, it's going to be a couple dollars behind it and all..I want to kind of do more global or bigger type of records, you know what I mean?

Dave East Tells Apple Music He Recorded His Latest Album in One of Pablo Escobar’s Stash Houses…\

I always been a fan of Pablo Escobar, and I mean, not the destruction and all that or whatever, but just his mindset as far as hustling and him, I'm a big fan of Pablo. So me going out there, I felt like, I'm like, "Bro, why we don't just do some music out here? This is a different environment, different everything. It's not New York, it's not LA, it's not Miami, it's just different.”…We had the studio set up right in the crib. We actually stayed in one of Pablo's stash houses. Pool inside the crib, some flavor, flavor, flavor crib. In Medellin, facts. Word. But yeah, I did maybe 12, 13 records off the album in that house, right in the crib. They had the chefs in there making breakfast, wake up, Mike already be in there making beats. We'd get to that pool in the crib, jump in the pool. I met his brother, his brother got one eye, I guess they sent him some ... He was locked up, they sent him some mail or something in the jail, and when he opened it it blew up in his face. I met his brother though. His older brother, yeah. So that was just a dope experience, being that I watched all them documentaries and been in tune with that. And to go over there and be able to get close like that, and meet his family, and be in the crib he was in and all that was dope.

Dave East on Portraying Method Man in ‘Wu-Tang: An American Saga”…

An American Saga helped him get RZA on “Hallway Piss”: I gave him three seasons as Meth, I figured I could get a beat, right? I love you RZA, thank you for that. I had to be Method Man. I just was, I hinted. Like, "Yo, you know I rap too. I know I'm here playing Meth, but I got my own shit going on if you got something, you know what I mean?" He looked out, big shout out to RZA.

Dave East on Working with Ghostface Killah for the First Time…

It's family. But it's crazy, I bumped into Ghost. Me and Ghost been had a vibe, but we never worked. But I bump into Ghost ... Damn, one of them clubs, I can't think of the club. It's right here in the city though. But I'm walking in the club, he walking out the club. And I bumped into him, I'm like, "Ghost, what up?" He like, "Yo," he congratulated me on the Wu-Tang show and all that, just saluted me, "I love what you're doing out here." I'm like, "Bro, we got to work. I done worked with Meth, I done got with RZA, I done did the show, me and Rae. Me and you got to lock in." He said, "Send it to me, send it through, I got you immediately." I think he was headed to go overseas or something that next day, Ghost sent me that joint back in maybe two, three days. He sent it right back.

Dave East Says He’s Acting in a New Film Next Year But That He Prefers Not To Audition…

I'm actually starting a film top of '24. I'll tell you, but I don't really want to get into the details of it. But this is one of my ... Like with me, I'ma be real with you. I'm not big on the auditioning, you know what I mean? I'll do it, I'm cool with it, but you ain't going to have me in this room jumping and sweating and then for y'all to tell me nah. Because I came in like that, big shout out to Chris Robinson, the movie Beats with Anthony Anderson, my first film I ever did, he wanted me for that role. So even though they want to see some type of audition that you could do it, I prefer the director or whoever's putting that together like, "Nah, I like him, I want him for that." I'm out here just shopping and all that, I ain't got time for all that. I don't, I'ma be real with you. I ain't got the time, E.

Dave East Says His Daughters Helped Him Navigate Recent Personal Losses…

Honestly, my kids. Kairi and Kobi. My girls. They make me understand it all. You going to take losses, you going to ... And I mean, it's all for something. I'm not just taking losses for no reason. It's wack, but it's something there to be learnt, or it's something there that I could take from that situation that could better me or better my children, better my business, better my brand, better everything I got going on. And I still sit back and cry and it hit me, but I just kind of took the pain and was like, "I got to put this into something." Because I look at my daughters, and they don't know why I'm sad, or they don't know my friend that ... I mean they don't know the dynamics of it. And they in the best mood, you know what I mean? So I was like, "I got to kind of tuck that and be here with them." Life is still going on, there's things that I still got to water that. I still got to water that grass, so ... I'll get through it through working and being with my kids. As far as just the losses I done ... I'm getting emotional thinking about the shit. But work, I just work. Writing, it's therapeutic for me to really write. Because I'm not a person that really like to talk too much about what I'm going through, unless I really know you or we grew up together, shit like that. But writing is very, very therapeutic for me. It always has been, I always was able to write and it do something for me.

Dave East Says He Had to Write “Letter to Kobi” So That His Daughter Kobi Wouldn’t Get Jealous of His Daughter Kairi Having an Album Named After Her…

 Kai got an album. I'm like, "I don't want them to grow up and Kobi be like, 'Yo, bro, you ain't even give me a song?'" I love them equally, you know you can't love one more than the other. But Kairi was my first child, it happened at an ill time, I just got my deal. So at that time, it was before COVID, so everywhere I'm going I'm getting mad fan art of Kairi. Kobi was born 2020, that was COVID. That's a COVID baby at the end of the day. Everything was slowed up, I wasn't traveling. I wasn't really posting her, you know what I mean? So I feel like I didn't want that from them later. I know how I am, that's my kids, so I know Kobi would've came to me about that, like "Yo, bro, what's up, bro, you ain't even do a song for me? You gave Kairi a whole album." So yeah, that Letter 2 Kobi, that's my heart, that's my fighter. Kairi's the lover kid, I think, Kobi's going to be the fighter.

Lil Tjay: The rap heavyweight talks getting shot, Ice Spice connection and being adopted

Just keeping it 100? Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden really is in touch with the culture and proves it with some pretty solid conversations with everyone from Burna Boy to Lil Tjay in 2023. The Bronx rap star Lil Tjay chops it up with Ebro on everything from his connection to hip-hop heavyweight Ice Spice to reliving being shot a year ago in New Jersey.

Lil Tjay chops it up with Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden

While the conversation is, of course, an Apple Music 1 exclusive, there are some pretty solid key quotes from the discussion worth noting. Slide into the streaming giant to get the full-fledged conversation.

Lil Tjay on the night he was shot, not remembering anything, and how he had to invent details for his song “June 22nd”: 

Ebro Darden: In the song, I want to play June 22nd, the song. It's a dramatization. Clearly it's not based on facts, but is there anything in the song, like you say in the song you seen a car following you, is that facts? Like, y'all had seen that, or it was more sudden than that in real life?

Lil Tjay: Nah, in reality it's like I heard something like that. Somebody told me, this is a little bit about what happened, but I don't remember nothing.

Ebro Darden: Right.

Lil Tjay: I just remember waking up in the hospital and just not being able to move.

Lil Tjay on Ice Spice and growing up one street away from each other: 

Ebro Darden:  How close did y'all grow up together, both being from the Bronx?

Lil Tjay:  I'm from 183rd. She from 184th.

Ebro Darden:  Literally a block away?

Lil Tjay:  Yeah, but she from other side of the thing, but-

Ebro Darden:  From Grand-

Lil Tjay:  Yeah, she other side of the concourse.

Ebro Darden:  Grand Concourse, which is a whole quarter mile across the street, mad, mad lanes.

Lil Tjay:  Yeah. She from the other side.

Ebro Darden:  Word, but you never saw her in the neighborhood before?

Lil Tjay:  Nah, nah.

Lil Tjay on “Foster Baby” and the first time he’s opened up about being adopted:

Foster Baby, it talks about me being adopted. I never addressed that in none of my music. I be having so much stuff going on that it's like, you really think about it, I ain't even addressed that part of my life yet. You feel me? To a certain extent, it was like that, but it's also like, when do I do it? I felt like it was the right time, and I felt comfortable enough to say, because it's like, you young, you think some shit like that is embarrassing. So, on the song I say, I got to the point I feel like if I speak, it's all right, and I just talk about my living environment when I was younger, how my mom was, and things, how things was going…I feel like it came up easy. I would've never been able to record it with girls in the studio, just chilling, you feel me? I have to be alone, you feel me? But, it's easy to put together, because it's like, that's what I do, but it's more so me knowing that that type of record I wouldn't drop would be the reason why I wouldn't make it. I feel like I can't be scared to be vulnerable and maximize on telling my story, and just motivating people, and being regular. I can't be scared to be regular. I'm Tjay already, you know?

Coi Leray: It's all about new music, rap feuds and talking fave rappers with Apple Music 1

East Coast rapper Coi Leray has plenty to talk about these days. With new music officially brewing and ample activity happening in her life, it’s only right she takes a moment to chop it up with Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden for a must-see - and hear - ‘Rap Life Radio’ discussion.

Coi Leray joins Apple Music 1’s ‘Rap Life Radio’ to talk everyting

From her self-titled Coi studio effort to living in New Jersey, it’s more than 20 minutes of all eyes and ears on Miss Leray.

Coi Leray on Self Titling Her New Album…

I feel like even just self titling it Coi, I want people to understand everything that is just about me. At home they call me Coi, Coi Leray is my brand. But my mom, everybody, you or anybody here in the room, I would want you to call me Coi 'cause it's a personal thing.

Coi Leray on Receiving Backlash for her XXL Freestyle…

…with the whole XXL freestyle, I'm going to be honest, I'm not a freestyler. I sit down, I started writing on pen and paper first of course, and then elevated to my phone and then on laptop, just writing on the notes. But if I do freestyling, the most freestyle I'll do is melody passes where I'm not even thinking about…I do a lot of melody passes. I dropped out early. I was very smart but I could say that my vocabulary was not the best. And just metaphors and similes, that's why rap is very powerful because it is like a gift, a talent. And my process was just taking my time and actually really having to write it down, look at what I'm doing and being able to be like, "All right, this don't make sense. Might have to stop and define the word. Might have to look up RhymeZone real quick and see, yo, learn a new word while you're doing that.” So when I did XXL freestyle I'm like, "Yo, I'm going to just f***ing go out there and do whatever." 'Cause I know these people not freestyling like... I don't know, maybe they are, maybe they aren't. I don't, maybe they're writing it before. But I'm like, "I'm going to just go in there and just have fun.”

Coi Leray Reflects on The Controversy Following Latto Name-Dropping Her In a Song and Shares Her Thoughts on Rap Beefs…

It's not a sensitive conversation. I feel like it wasn't more about the body, it was more of mentioning my name. I feel like at the time of how everything went and just... I'm about positivity, you know what I mean? For real. And I wasn't sure where it was coming from. And not only that, I feel like the problem with our community today is we be so quick to trying to change things but we don't do nothing to actually change anything. You feel me? So if we're going to say we're going to stop talking about bodies, then don't mention anything about my body. Just period. Don't compare me to nothing, don't think about nothing. We not smoking on anything, it's disrespect. And where I come from I just don't like that. You know what I mean? And as a human being, as a person, I have every right to say what I feel. But as I learn, not every action needs a reaction. Sometimes no reaction is a reaction. And I just hope my advice to the girls out there just moving forward, find a better way to... I don't know, it's starting to get old. The rap beefs are for the guys. You know, I don't even think they should do it. Us artists, we kind of control the narrative. So if we just spend more time pushing that narrative we won't give these headlines and these blogs no reason to go ahead and push this negative narrative. That's something we got to come together on. 

Coi Leray on Being Entrepreneurial and Her Teen Years on the Streets of Jersey...

So my mom started working late in the bar and she would do three to one o'clock in the morning, three o'clock, two o'clock in the morning. My older brothers, I'm the only girl, my older brothers was out in the streets doing what they needed to do. Every man for themselves. And me, my mom trusted me so much I could do whatever. And it was at a point where my mom couldn't give me what I want, she couldn't give none of us what we wanted financially. So I felt like she was able to give us what we want by the freedom and just trusting us and letting us kind of figure it out. So yeah 13, I lost my virginity very young. Between 13 and 14 I started selling drugs. I dropped out of high school 16, didn't finish ninth grade. And I always worked, I worked at sales and I had my own apartments. I ended up working... I'm so smart, I feel like I was born a genius. I swear, I feel like if they test my IQ it's something high. Yeah, and I always just been on my own. I feel like that's what made me who I am today.

Coi Leray on Her Rap Trajectory and The Rappers She Looked Up To...

...growing up I've always loved music. Whether if it was Lil Wayne No Ceilings, every single one. Of course when Drake came on that was major. Drake, I feel like him singing and rapping and all this stuff... One of my favorite rappers, when I say like, it's Jadakiss… just pure bars. And even just Fab, French Montana. So those were like, just coming up, being from the East Coast, those are the rappers I would look up to. But I also had a voice. And I was also from, I guess, my childhood and being in a diverse world and school. And when I would watch Twilight I would go download the whole soundtrack as well. I was really, really musically inclined. I feel like that's something in my blood for sure.

Coi Leray on Addressing Her Father on the Track “Man’s World”...

I feel like I have to tap every subject. I go through so much, I always write through experience. So whether if it's about relationships, love. With Man's World, I get very vulnerable I feel like. I wouldn't say it's a letter to my dad, but it's more like an open journal. And just instead of social media and things like that, it's about putting it in the music. So I did that with Man's World. I feel like Man's World helped me find that balance for sure, 'cause I was always too afraid. You know, you don't want to hurt nobody. I don't want to hurt nobody. That was always my main thing. I always want to say what I want to say, what I want to feel. But I don't want to hurt nobody. I don't want this to be a bad business move and let my emotions get in the way, regardless if it was a song or not. But I'm 26 now. As I get older and you learn to forgive and you have a lot of great people around you... Like, I'm surrounded by a lot of older people too. I always been the youngest in my camp since a kid. So they just guide you and teach you and they're able to give you the advice. And now I could just talk about it and tell my truth without hurting anybody. I feel like I've mastered that. I mastered of telling my truth without hurting anybody and being able to just still be very positive while doing it. Yeah, it's not easy. But first step is forgiving. And I had to forgive my father regardless of what we've been through. I haven't told my story. A lot of people don't really know me for who I am. There's so much narratives online what these people make out to be, though they don't know what I've been through. And I'm fine with that 'cause they will know my story. And luckily I'll share more. And hopefully he loves the song, he hasn't heard it.

Coi Leray Reflects on Her Relationship with Her Father Growing Up…

Me and my dad ain't had that relationship. He was always so busy and on the road, he never sat down and told me how, you know what I mean, things were or whatever. What he was going through, how he was feeling. I had no clue. He was Mr. Cut-you-off-real-quick, break it. Yeah, I don't even know how it was gone, still to this day.

Coi Leray Tells Apple Music She’s "One of “Them Ones”...

I really feel like I'm one of those ones. I feel like I really am. There's like one Lil Wayne, there's one Drake, one Madonna, there's one Nikki, one Kim, there's one of ones. And these is icons. There's one Tupac, there's one Biggie, there's one Jay-Z, there's one Beyoncé, there's one Rihanna. And every single one of these artists got something in particular about themselves that stand out for them, each and every one of them. Not only that, they all got self-titled albums as well. So I feel like, yeah, this is mines. I'm one of them ones.

Coi Leray on Working with David Guetta…

Shout out David Guetta… he believes in me so much. He come to me he's like, "Yo, I got this crazy..." He goes, "I got this crazy idea." Pulls up his phone he's like, "Just listen." He's like, "Just listen." And then it's like he's showing me, (singing). What's so ironic is this same thing is trending right now on TikTok, the sound for some reason, it's the video of her actually on stage. It's crazy. So I'm like, "Yo, let's kill it. This is fire." He's like, "Yo, I know you will crush this." Him putting it in a beat, they add the drums, everything is happening right on the spot. Once it's made I go in and I just do my melody passes. And then after we... You hear a lot of the words and lyrics and stuff, 'cause I do be saying some shit while I'm doing my melody passes. But yeah, and we come out and we make those songs.

Coi Leray on Criticism For Using Too Many Samples

I feel like sampling, there's nothing wrong with sampling. For some reason a lot of people try to use me for the example of a lot of things. They try to make me an example out of things… I don't think sampling is bad at all. I feel like I get where people might say, "Yo, you're doing too much with the sample. It was good how it was originally." Right? That's what they said. They're saying that all over the internet recently. But I feel like the young generation needs to be taught that. So that's why I say I don't mind being an example. I don't mind having them records and really having amazing records, tapping in with history. 

Coi Leray on Her Relationship with Saucy Santana…

Yeah, me and Saucy, that's someone who we have a genuine, nice relationship outside of music because we've met, obviously. I forgot where we met, probably two years ago, maybe a year ago when he first came out. But we had Fashion Week together, he was with me all with Fashion Week, sat next to each other all the time. I love him. He has amazing energy, he's so talented. And he's one of those people that, he'll get you a verse over. If he f**k with you and love the song, he going to get to the studio. And yeah, I'm in fashion. I'm a fashion girl, he's a fashion girl. So it's like, it's only right to have one of them runway songs with both of us on it and just going crazy. 

Coi Leray on Why She Loves Lola Brooke and Collaborating With Her on “No Angels"…

When Lola hopped on it, oh my God, you don't understand. I'm obsessed with Lola. I really am.And that's why I'm not worried about her at all. At all. I think she's going to be super big. I think she's also one of them ones, for real... I don't know, I love her. I can't wait to do more songs with her. I can't wait to shoot the video to this. I can't wait to just see her journey.

Don Toliver: Donny talks SZA, Kanye West and idolizing Pharrell with Apple Music

There’s no doubting how talented Don Toliver is - his hooks and hits all slap. So it’s no surprise there’s ample topics to dish on between himself and Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden including hot subjects like Kanye West, Pharrell Williams and Top Dawg Entertainment’s SZA.

Don Toliver talks SZA, Pharrell and Kanye West with Apple Music

Rather than transcribe the entire chop up session, Apple Music’s PR team has come through with highlights from the discussion. Kick back, read some juicy moments and experience the whole interview further down.

Don Toliver Tells Apple Music He’d Love To Model His Career After Pharrell’s...

I feel like Pharrell. Pharrell always seems to always understand what it is, you know? As far as how he carries himself. Past the music past everything else…the way he just seems to maintain. What Pharrell’s maintained all this years is amazing to me. So I definitely give kudos to P. 

Don Toliver Tells Apple Music About The Process of Creating ‘Love Sick’...

It’s crazy to see it out in the world, definitely a good feeling. I started working on this project late April 2022 and I just haven’t stopped working on it since. Even to this day.. it’s crazy. It’s been an ongoing process and it’s been very tedious. Every single day. I definitely need a vacation. I’m not gonna lie to you. 

Don Toliver Tells Apple Music How Michael Jackson and Studio 54 Inspired ‘Love Sick’… 

When I found out Michael Jackson was at Studio 54, that was it. That sent me. When I realized that Mike was in there, that really what did it, because I was like, yo, I'm loving the disco culture. I'm loving how they was just getting down dancing. You had to be a certain type of fly to get in. I seen Mike in there. I was like, I'm done.

Don Toliver Tells Apple Music About Being Introduced to James Blake by Kanye West...

I was actually, this is way back when I was working with Ye on Donda. I don't know which Donda he was working on, one of them. And he was at this chateau type place randomly in California. And I had to drive over there and it was just James in there with some random equipment and Ye. I pulled up on Ye in search of help for Love Sick, like, yo, what should I do? And Ye listening to all the music. And he's just like, he look at James Blake. He was like, "There's nothing I can really tell you, bro.” He's like, you need chords. And he's just like, James Blake has all the chords. And after that, bro, me and James been rocking crazy ever since. But that was a really crazy surreal moment for me.

Don Toliver Tells Apple Music He Wants To Open His Own Diner…

Honestly, I had this popup the other day, and just to see all the fans pull up to this—I had a popup at this burger spot called Monty's in LA, and to see all the fans pull up and not only do they want to pull up, they wanted, I had like a chocolate shake, a special chocolate shake made. They wanted the food, you know what I'm saying? So it definitely inspired me to want to open a diner one day or do something like that, back home or something.

Don Toliver Tells Apple Music About Collaborating with SZA on Her Song “Used”...

We was just working. Just creating. We both really like the song. I knew she’d possibly be using it. Definitely happy when I got the call. Shoutout SZA for sure. 

Fireboy DML tells Apple Music why 'Peru' is doing numbers, linking with pop icon Madonna and making hits with Ed Sheeran

There’s no slowing down Fireboy DML in 2022. Instead, the hip-hop star is going extra hard with the music-making and finally has time to dish on it with Apple Music 1. From talking about the viral success of ‘Peru’ to rubbing elbows alongside iconic musicians like Madonna and Ed Sheeran - there’s ample talking points for Fireboy.

DML chops it up with Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden and doesn’t hold back. To make life easier, check out some of the key quotes below and keep scrolling to see them talk it up.

Fireboy DML on the numerous remixes of “Peru,” and working with Ed Sheeran…

It was the Ed Sheeran version first, that's the one that matters, that's the first. That's the one. Everything else was about strategic stuff and all that, but the collaboration was the Ed Sheeran one. My team reached out to me like, "Yo." Jamal Edwards, rest his soul, very close to Ed Sheeran, played the song to him, sent it to him and he loved the song. He took his stance to write a verse, and then he sent me a DM, and sent me VM of his verse. I'm like, "Yo, Ed Sheeran in this record, this is it." Ed Sheeran is someone I sonically connect to, I've looked up to this man for a long time, for as long as I can remember. He actually made me fall in love with the acoustic guitar, and it really meant a lot to me, not just for me, but for the culture as well, because I knew what it would mean for Afrobeats when the record came out. I'm glad to be at the forefront pushing the culture, pushing the genre, this is a record that will stand the test of time. Years later they'll say, "Oh, Afrobeats opened up in the United States worldwide, internationally, and Peru by Fireboy is one of those records that made it happen.” I'm just really glad, that's what we want, to open opportunities and build bridges.

Fireboy DML on how the song “Peru” has nothing to do with the country, and what it’s actually about...

[The word “peru” is] also an allusion to a friend of mine, also an artist, Peruzzi. He has uses this tagline in his songs, so I just use it as... it was like a pun, wordplay kind of thing…I was just really telling the story of a young boy who would find himself in a place that he's never been before. I recorded that song because it was my first time in the United States and I just got off a writer's block. I just come back from Miami where I had the most beautiful time at a strip club. I think I was near depressed, and I just got to the United States and I just was like, "Wow." I just made that song out of that feeling, so I think that's my most spontaneous song I ever made. It was like a 45-minute freestyle.

Fireboy DML on Connecting with Madonna for the remix of her track “Frozen”…

She reached out to me first in 2019 when my first album came out. She was like, "Yo, I love your album, amazing." "Is this the Madonna? Wow, thank you so much, this means a lot to me," blah, blah blah, and that was it. Fast forward to 2022, she hit me up on Instagram. "Yo, hey." I'm like, "Hey, it's her again, wow!" And she's like, "I want you to be a part of my classic, one of my classics." I'm like, "Of course." Then she sends to me, I'm like, "Of course I know this song!" She was like, yeah, she's trying to do a remix. I'm like, "Of course, let's do this," and then went back and forth on WhatsApp. She's a perfectionist just like me. Sort of like a control freak in a way too, I like that about her. We went back and forth and did that, and then we linked up to shoot the video. I think the Madonna record and Peru are easily my favorite collaborations, just because of the vibes that was around when we shot the video. Amazing, organic, natural, that is why I never force collaborations, just for moments like that. Some people force collaborations and the video shoot's always awkward. Nah, nah. It was never like that with Madonna, she's amazing.

Fireboy DML kicking back. Photo credit Apple Music 1.

Fireboy DML on why he chose the title ‘Playboy’…

Playboy, because over the years I've been a very reclusive superstar. You would never run into Fireboy randomly. I only ever got out the house when I had to leave the house, and back home, that's not how superstars do. You're supposed to see superstars everywhere in the club randomly like, "Yo, yo, yo." I've always been a homebody, I've always been this reclusive, chill person. But I decided that I needed to come out of my shell and actually face the reality that is my life right now. I'm a superstar, I need to enjoy my superstardom. I need to embrace the reality that is my life right now. That's what it's about, I'm coming out to play, Playboy.

Fireboy DML pn performing at Wembley Arena later this year…

It's a really big deal. It was a ballsy move for me to be honest. But I just thought, "It's now or never, man. Just do it." …the tickets are selling out fast. I'm not sold out yet, but it's been positive.

Fireboy DML and Ebro Darden linked up. Photo credit Apple Music 1.

Fireboy DML on Working with Rema on “Compromise,” and having more collabs ready to drop…

Myself and Rema are like the two leading artists of our generation, without a doubt. We came together and realized that, "Yo, instead of giving these fans what they want, which is beef, let's collaborate." We don't want to repeat any mistakes from the past, we just want to make money. the fans are still doing their stuff, they're relentless, but we will continue to show love because that's the only way. We are too advanced for this stuff, so we came together and we want to really give them the obvious club banger that they want. We will come together and make proper, proper music, and that's what we did. We have other songs that are immediate club bangers, but they did not fit into the vision that I had for this album. There's like five more records, like five more Fireboy DML and Rema records. I don't know about this year, but I'll be getting it, definitely.

JID dishes on The Forever Story album, Lil Wayne collaborations and more on Apple Music

JID has a lot to talk about these days. The Southern hip-hop star steps forward to dish on everything from his music-making habits and putting out a new The Forever Story to doing more than just rubbing elbows with hip-hop icons like Lil Wayne in a new Apple Music 1 feature.

JID has lots and lots and lots to talk about with Apple Music’s Ebro Darden

There’s way too many things to list out from JID’s solid conversation with Apple Music’s Ebro Darden. So of course everything’s been made bite-sized with quotes from the conversation. Tap in and scroll on.

JID Tells Apple Music About Paying Homage To The Rappers That Came Before Him and Representing Atlanta…

“I ain't always want to be a rapper or artist or nothing like this. This wasn't my dream. It was my first love, but you don't always marry first love. This was just, I'm really fire at this, I'm really gifted at this. It kind of came to me in a time of craziness, turmoil, bad (censored) was going on and the music kind of saved me from that. Yeah. I always wanted to be a football player. That was my whole (censored). I try to do my due diligence when checking off those little hip hop purest boxes - When I'm making a song, whatever. I always want to show love back to where it came from, the origin of it. That's why we sample certain songs. That's why we try to pay that homage back and even try to rap with some of the older OGs that's still kicking flavor. I know father time is a (censored), but there's still some (censored) out there kicking flavor. I don't know. I just love it, and I love all the sub genres of hip hop, all the new stuff. I love the NY drill scene right now. I love them sampling these big ass pop songs. Love that (censored), and then I just be trying to represent my city. Georgia, Atlanta. I just try and put that on the map and make sure I pull somebody up along with it because that's how Atlanta is Doing well, because we help everybody.We help each other.”

JID Tells Apple Music About Collaborating With Mos Def (Yasiin Bey) and His Influence on Him…

“He's just been a big inspiration for forever. One of my favorite artists of all time and he stands for something so I always took heed to that. Just him even saying he wanted to do it, him respecting the art and just showing love to the future generation, that's what I got to do. This is where I want to be, in that light and I just respect it. That (censored) crazy to me too, bro. Him even being on the album.”

JID Tells Apple Music About Collaborating With Lil Wayne…

“Insane. I can't even listen to it. I'm waiting for the album to drop. I don't want to. I've heard it. I made it good to go through mix and mastering with it…But I don't want to hear it until the people hear it. Just because it's a big moment for me. It's an out of body thing. I don't even want to touch it just yet. I want to celebrate it with everybody else.”

JID Tells Apple Music About The Optimistic Tone of the Album…

“That's what ‘Forever’ essentially means. It's definitely that light at the end of the tunnel. That silver lining and it just going to lead me into becoming more of a man, stepping into it. Stepping into who I am for real, the man of God I'm trying to be, you feel me?”

JID Tells Apple Music How ‘The Forever Story’ and ‘The Never Story’ Go Together…

“Never came from a very humble mindset. It was coming from a never had (censored). That was the main song. A few people may know that song. The Forever Story is just the evolved origin story. It really just gave you a more tapped in to who I am.Telling more family stories, where I'm from, why I am kind of how I am, and it is just a full circle moment because it was a time I wouldn't even imagine that I would even be here. Being able to buy this. Now I'm thinking about the future. Never was just like, "Damn, this might not even be a real thing." It's just a dream. But, of course, with all the hard work and stuff I put in, it's just a blessing to still be able to do this (censored).”

JID Tells Apple Music About Featuring Audio From His Grandmother’s Funeral On The Song "Kody Blu 31”…

“The way it starts is actually at my grandma's funeral. I have the actual footage. I'm sitting there crying, holding the phone, recording this, because I know it's a big moment. A couple years before that we lost my other grandma on my mother's side. This is my dad's mother we lost. Recording this, my dad is singing his heart out on this recording. At the beginning of the song, if you listen to it, the first 15, 20 seconds, you could hear my whole family singing. You could hear my mama say, "Thank you, Lord." It's super powerful, and it's just literally about keep pushing through. The song is saying, "Swing on, swing on." It's a choir type feel. My family is all over the album.”

JID Tells Apple Music About Purchasing His Grandparent’s House and Honoring His Family’s Legacy…

“Legacy is just family. I'm trying to add to the legacy of my family so I had to purchase this land, purchase this house, because they're very important to the future generations, my kids, the kids after them.This is my grandmother and my grandfather's old house. I just bought it. This is the jukebox. We used to have family gatherings or whatever. This is probably the first time I ever put my lips to a microphone, not even knowing this had become a profession. The next few years I just want everybody to be closer in my family, essentially. For real, my granny passed. They were the owners for a minute. It's some family land, so my granny passed, and not a lot of people take care of it, so I just copped it. I had to buy it, keep it in the family. Legacy type. 100%. Just being able to leave something. For my kids, for the kids after them. Keeping it in the family, starting the foundation, you feel me?”

JID’s Family on Why They’re Proud of Him…

Ebro: Now, did you ever think that we'd be doing an interview for your album with your family?

JID: Nah, I ain't even think about it, but it's intentional because it makes more sense. Because that's what the whole project was about, essentially.

Ebro Darden: We call him JID or J-I-D. What do y'all call him?

Group: Destin.

JID's Mom: Destin to be here.

Ebro Darden: Destin to be here, that's right. He's Grammy nominated. He bought this property back for the family. Dad, we'll start with you. What words describe your feeling right now?

JID's Dad: I've always known there was greatness in him, but I didn't know that greatness would be shown during my lifetime.

Ebro Darden: What about you, mom?

JIDs Mom: We're just so proud of him. It's just beyond words when he can reach inside of himself, as we always have encouraged him to do so, because we speak greatness over all of our children and he manifested that greatness from his words. He is a wordsmith and he is a G.O.A.T. We're just proud of him.

Fivio Foreign decodes B.I.B.L.E., keeps Pop Smoke's legacy alive and talks Alicia Keys advice

New York rapper Fivio Foreign can finally exhale. Fresh from dropping his B.I.B.L.E. album to the masses, the hip-hop star breaks down the studio debut, reflects on late Brooklyn icon Pop Smoke and plenty more in a full-fledged sit-down with Apple Music’s Ebro Darden.

The nearly 60-minute chop up session is packed with gems, so kick back with these pulled key quotes and watch Fivio reflect on his grind to the Big Apple mountaintop.

Fivio Foreign Tells Apple Music There’s More To Come From Him and Kanye and Tells The Story Of How They Met...

I got some more Kanye. Oh yeah. Me and Kanye, we work together. We work together good. But right now, he taking a break right now. The freestyle I did on Funk Flex, I said a line, he was watching it, he had watched it. I had said a line on there, I said, "I got a question for the reverend. If you kill a killer, do you go to heaven?" I'm saying he was like, "Yo, I need bars like that on my album." So, he reached out to whoever he reached out to, they called me and said, "Kanye want to holler at you." I'm like, "You lying." I'm saying Kanye don't want to holler at me, stop telling me that. I'm saying he like, "Nah, he want your number. Do I give Kanye your number?" I'm like, “N***a, yeah you give Kanye my number." You know what I'm saying? He text me like, "Yo," real polite, know what I'm saying, "May I call you?" So he text me. "This is Ye, man. I'll call you." I'm like, "Yeah," like I'm saying, "call me." And he like, "Yo, I want you to fly down to Atlanta, I'm saying come to the stadium, get on this album. Like I like that bar you said, I got this song." He said, "I don't want to just do music. I want to build a relationship." Know what I'm saying? That's what he was telling me. I'm saying, so I'm like, "All right, bet." Flew me out there, jet of course, got the jet for me. I'm saying went to the stadium, I stayed in the stadium for like…He had got me a hotel, too, but I just did it for the experience.

Fivio Foreign Tells Apple Music How Kanye West Got Involved With ‘B.I.B.L.E.'…

Before any song was even done on Donda 2, he had heard my whole album. He was like, "Yo, this is what Donda 2 should sound like." He heard the whole album and he was like, "Yo, this is what it sound like." He wanted the “Off The Grid,” the “Hurricane.” The top songs from Donda 1, he wanted that more to sound like Donda 2. You know what I'm saying? He was telling the team and all that. But he was like, "Yo, I want to be a part of your album. I want to be a part of it. I want to perfect it. I want to make it into a masterpiece." He be having these little visions.

Fivio Foreign Tells Apple Music About Kanye’s Role as An Executive Producer on the Album…

What he do, how his help is like, he's a producer. He's a person who can call a feature in. It was like he already heard the songs. He heard the songs. Like, "Yo, let's take away the drums here. Let's call this person to add this. Let's change these words to make it more mainstream." It's certain little things. He do little perfections.

Fivio Foreign Tells Apple Music Jay-Z Was Originally Supposed To Be on “City of Gods” Instead of Kanye and Working with Alicia Keys…

When I went to LA, I played it for Ye. He was like, "This s**t is fire. We got to get Hov on this shit." I'm like, "What? We got to get Hov?" He said, "Watch this. Tomorrow." But then tomorrow, next day came, he doing a thousand things. He like, "Yo, Alicia Keys on her way. I want to make her sing it." I'm like, "What? Are you serious?" Then we going to give it to Hov. I'm like, "Yo, I ain't going to lie I want this s**t to come out now." He like, "You right. We got to come out now before Donda 2 come out. So I'm going to just throw a verse on it." So what happened was, we made Alicia Keys sing, and I met her. It's the first time I ever met her, I was like damn. I'm glad that she was mad cool. She like, "I'll do it. I don't care." We did it right in the room. It wasn't a studio. It was a room with a mic. She was singing that b**ch, and it was fire. Then we removed the whole sample off because her voice was crazy. Then Ye threw his verse on. The song was like fake-done already. It was like my verse, that part, my verse again in that part, and then ye threw the rest of the verse on it. It was like that. That's how it was like.

Fivio Foreign Tells Apple Music Beyoncé Likes “What’s My Name” and Asked Him To Clean Up The Content Before Offering Him Permission To Sample Destiny Child’s “Say My Name”…

Beyonce said she liked the song. She heard that. She had to clear it. Know what I'm saying? She heard it, so she liked the respectfully part. You know what I'm saying? So, that's one for the ladies, know what I'm saying? She made sure it wasn't too vulgar, I'm saying. Had to be respectful to the ladies. Know what I'm saying? "You know, don't say that." I'm like, "All right. Say no more." You know what I'm saying? "Say no more, whatever you want." You know what I'm saying? Got it done, so shout out to that. I appreciate that.

Fivio Foreign Tells Apple Music About Being Surprised By The Success of “Big Drip” and Releasing It Without a Plan…

I had shot the video to it, probably like two, three months after it was already out and people was going crazy, and that's late in street time. In street time, things like a video, you do that s**t the next day. I shot this like two, three months later. No strategy. That s**t was like god's plan. What happened was my first time ever, because I ain't have no song by myself really, so I had mad songs with people in the hood. As I'm getting real lit, it's people in the hood, that n***a from another hood, and n***as like, "Yo, Fivio, you got to do s**t by yourself. You lit. You nice." So I'm like, "All right. F**k it." I put together a four song EP. I called it EP, because I see people do EPs. I don't really know nothing. I just put it out, boom, just the audio. But then it was like the “Big Drip” song, it was just going views. I'm like what's happening? I'm looking at the YouTube, I'm like what's happening? I'm like I've got to shoot the video to this. They like it. You know what I'm saying? But I'm already semi lit in Brooklyn. Around the hood, I'm semi lit. N****s like, "You nice, killing s**t." And then I shot the video and it was crazy. It hit the radio.

Fivio Foreign Tells Apple Music What He Learned From Pop Smoke…

I ain't going to front one thing about Pop. He was smart beyond. The was bent. He was here already before. I don't know. I remember because he was signed before I was signed. So I used to go to the labels with him. We was going to label, running around Universal, in the building.And I used to be like, "You crazy." Yeah. He used to be like, "Yeah, this is what we do." I was like, "Oh, you've been doing this?" But he just got there too. But that's how he move. That's just how he moves. So he just had a certain type of confidence with him. Know what I'm saying? It taught me a lot too, just watching it, even though he was younger than me. Taught me some shit.

Fivio Foreign Tells Apple Music About Being Hesitant To Make More Mainstream Music…

I used to be hesitant, because I didn't know that people would still accept the music, if it sound too much like … N****s like, "Yo, what's up Fivi? You a gangster though." But it's like, all gangsters go through all type of emotions. But I just feel like n****s, a lot of people don't be wanting to show those sides of them. And it wasn't easy. It took a lot for me to be like, "You know what? F**k it. I'm just going to do it." It took a lot. It gets scary. It gets scary because you want to be that n***a. You want to be accepted. But you've got to know, you've got to be comfortable and you got to be less stressed, clear minded. You get one life. You know what I'm saying? We losing people. Life is short. So it's like have fun. Have fun with this s**T. Be yourself. Be true to yourself.
Fivio Foreign Tells Apple Music About The Experience of Recording with Kanye West on ‘Donda’…

I did all the songs. He had sent me all the songs on Donda. Like to rap to, to reference, rap over. I'm saying, just catch a vibe. What would it sound like? He had me fly one of my producers out, the one that be doing a drill sound, add some drill drums on there. He ain't use every one. Because he's like a type of person to take everybody's opinion. So he made everybody do every song, everybody there. And then he's like, "All right, this is nice. This is nice. This is going to work.”

Fivio Foreign Tells Apple Music About Getting Clean and Asking For Help From Eve…

If I wanted it how I say I wanted it, I had to focus up. I had to because I'm doing long term. I feel like them type with that lifestyle, and I used to talk to people. I did a show. I was on the show Queens, with Eve. Right? Spoke to Eve. I used to be asking everybody because I used to be dealing with so much. Even at the show, I had to take a shot of liquor. I'm like, "You have to get a shot of liquor." Could take the edge off. N****s get nervous in front of them cameras, all them people watching. You don't know how to do it. So I asked. I said, "Yo, how you deal with this shit? She been in the life forever. She said, "Yo." She told me she dealt with the same thing. Alcohol... Drugs... Just to cope. But when she said... She was like, "Yo, I don't do it no more. You can't let it take over you where it's like you depending on this to be who you could already be." I used to be in interviews. Before an interview, I'd take a shot, take a perc. First time doing interviews on national radio... news. I'm on the news talking to mayors. And it's like you talking to people like I don't want to f**k up what I'm saying. I don't want to seem nervous. So you got to take something, take the edge off. That's what I was fighting. That's what I was dealing with. But I had to get out of that because it wasn't good for me. I had to depend on it, and then sometimes you run out of percs. But then what am I going to do now. What, you can't do interview because you run out of percs?

Fivio Foreign Tells Apple Music About Finding Peace While He Was in Prison…

To be honest with you, I think that couple months might have been most of the easiest months of my life as far as being in the industry. I had n****s in there in my ear, "Yo bro, you bugging. You shouldn't be in here with us." You get that type of motivation, too, in there. But then you kind of get to escape a lot of s**t in a way. You never want to be there. You never want to go there. You want to get away from that. But it is like... This s**t come with so much phone ringing all day. People handing out, people pulling on your pocket, pulling on your arm. They want everything from you. You finally get the chance to go. I could speak to nobody today if I want to. I call now, know what I'm saying? Obviously, eventually you be like, "Get the f**k up out of here." But sometimes you need that little clear thought because I don't get alone time. I ain't get alone time, man. It's probably two, three years, now. So you need that. I feel like when you get alone time, you get to think more. You think more, you master yourself. You focus. You could work out. You could focus on yourself, but you don't want do more than two, three months of that. But I feel like that helps. I feel like that's why I came out sharp, ready to go. Because I just was like, "Nah," like I could do more. I had music dropping when I was locked up, so that motivated me too. I had music dropping, and I wasn't even working as hard as I really could.

Fivio Foreign Tells Apple Music About Expanding The Scope of Drill Music and His Unreleased Collabs…

Expand drill. Just more to it. More to it than just beefing on the song. Tell your story on the song. Talk about some b*****s on the song, some females on the song. It's just all type of ways to drill, to do drill music, and that's what I'm trying to show n****s. I got a song with Popcaan. I got reggae drill. It ain’t on the album it’s on the deluxe, but it's there. I got s**t with 24kGoldn. Got pop drill. Just expand it. Expanding to show people like, "Listen, we don't got to talk about this all the time." I'm saying it so that way, maybe it won't be happening a lot. I'm saying maybe it get people an opportunity to get up out the hood for real.

Fivio Foreign Tells Apple Music About Linking with Quavo…

Me and Quavo, I think me and Quavo been talking forever on the Instagram s**t. I think I finally saw him at Bobby Shmurda welcome home party. He was there. I was like, "Yo, we got to get one." He's, "Hell yeah, for sure." But so Quavo, he be in tune with everything with all of us. But I was in LA, he was in LA. "Yo, come to the studio tonight." Because every time I ask him for a song, but then I see him, but I know how it is. You know what I'm saying. Because he explains to me like, "yo bro, I want to do a song, but you know how it is, I forget." I forget we got a song, and then I don't remember when I'm in the studio. That happened to me, too. I do that to artists, not on purpose, but it's so much s**t going on, you be forgetting, you be like, "damn, I forgot to do the feature." And they think you move funny, but he explained it to me the best way he can. I'm like, it makes sense, know what I'm saying? But we was both working on Donda, like, "I got my own studio, too, pull up." Pulled up, we did the two joints. Those are two joints.

Fivio Foreign Tells Apple Music About Collabing With A$AP Rocky…

Me and A$AP, honestly, we got some mutual friends. We know some of the same people. So it was that link up automatically was going to happen. We did that song probably a year ago, two. Mm. Yeah, probably like a year ago we did that joint. It was crazy. He went first, just heard the beat and went crazy. I didn't even hear what he was saying. It was like quiet. I'm like, "A$AP Rocky on drill beat." We all like, "how this s**t going to sound?" When he came out that s**t, and we heard that s**t, I'm like, "oh, shit." He really got some, man. He ain't write, either. He went in there and straight went off. And I don't think he punched in that much. He probably punched in like, two, three times, like freestyle. Crazy.

Fivio Foreign Tells Apple Music About Working With Nicki Minaj on “We Go Up”…

That s**t different. Her s**t different. Yeah, she made me change my s**t up 1,000. That's why I was trying to put some, I tried to keep up with her. Her s**t different. She's different. She got real talent for real. And she got a real fan And she a real person to me a little bit. We just did one. I sent the one song that day before album. She was heard it. She was like, "Yo, what's that song?" Because I putting up snippets and s**t. She's like, "What's that song? This s**t sound crazy. Send me that." I'm saying one verse on that thing for nothing. One verse on that s**t. She like, "You got to put two verses on that s**t.” I'm like, "You put a verse." She like, "I don't care. I'll put a verse if you want me to put a verse, but I feel like your fans want to hear you." She fell in love with it.

Fivio Foreign Tells Apple Music About His Goal For His Music…

I feel like right now, and the way the atmosphere is, it's a lot of pain out there. A lot of people going through a lot of depression. There's a lot of shit niggas is going through without speaking about it. So I just feel like this is the type of music I want to give them. I want to give them some real substance, not just old gang banging on the songs. I feel like n****s want to hear some pain. N****s want to feel something.

Benny The Butcher talks new 'Tana Talk 4' album, linking with J. Cole, Griselda status and more

Griselda’s Benny The Butcher has a lot on his mind these days. To help unload a bunch, he chops it up with hip-hop personality Ebro Darden on Apple Music 1 to run through his new album Tana Talk 4.

Benny tells Apple Music about past criticism of his lyrics, getting J. Cole on the project, being looked at like the Griselda underdog and having to prove himself. He also discusses being compared to Conway The Machine and him leaving the label, misconceptions over who owns Griselda, working with Kanye West and plenty more.

Check out some of the conversation highlights and keep scrolling for the full chop up session.

Benny The Butcher Tells Apple Music About Criticism of His Lyrics…

Man, society or the fans or supporters, they glorify rappers too much. I am not Dr. Martin Luther King. I am not Malcolm X. I'm nobody like that. I'm not like a revolutionist or one of them type of dudes. I'm a rapper. I'm a guy out the hood who made it. You feel what I'm saying? I'm not a role model. I'm an example. I be hearing dudes say, man, I got more money than rappers. Get more money than Jeff Bezos. It's like, I dress better than rappers. Dress better than the fashion model. Why everything is compared to rappers? People are obsessed with rappers.

Benny The Butcher Tells Apple Music About Getting J. Cole on Album Opener “Johnny P’s Caddy” and That It Almost Ended Up on ‘Revenge of the Dreamers III’…

I met him when they was doing the Dreamville thing in Atlanta. I tried to get a slot on there. I laid something crazy. I don't know how I ain't make that album. But no, I mean, he made it right. He made it right. But that's when I first met him. When I was on tour, he was on tour. I went to go chop it up with him. I let my manager Chase know, yo, I need Cole on his record. He got a relationship with his manager and they put that the together. And when me and Cole kicked it, he like a guy who I feel like he had to feel me out. We sat down and we chopped it. Because he been in this for so long and he really don't like doing features, I don't think. Or he's selective when he do them. So I kind of feel like he felt me out and was like, you know, that guy is all right. He one of the members. He's always, every time we sit and kick it, he always like seemed genuine. So I feel like it's something that he wanted to do. And I feel like it was something that he could get off his chest.

Benny The Butcher Tells Apple Music About The Reaction To His Last Album ‘Burden of Proof’…

When that album came out, people loved that album. But the Griselda fans is like, "He's going commercial. He's getting too lit for us. It's not underground no more. Nah." But if you ask the casual listener, they’ll know that, and won’t know the Tana Talks. And they'll be like, "Yo Benny, oh man, that Burden of Proof album." So it was like, that was a gift and a curse too. But it was more about me showing that I'm capable of doing anything. And it was more about Hit-Boy showing that, “I could work with these type of artists too.” So it was like, we both had a lot to prove on that record.

Benny The Butcher Tells Apple Music About Being Looked At Like The Griselda Underdog and Having To Prove Himself…

I be feeling like people look at me as like the Griselda underdog. I'm the mascot or the hanger on or something. When I came in this, there was a lot of situations. I couldn't get a lot of dudes, I asked dudes for beats, dudes who I knew was giving the beats, they try to charge me. When it was time to come do a rap on radio shows, they're like, "Oh, you got Conway with you?" I'm like, "No, man, Conway not with me. It's just me." So I went through a lot of that and this is a business. So I never get caught up on it. I just had to prove myself.

Benny The Butcher Tells Apple Music About Conway The Machine Leaving Griselda and Says Westside Gunn Is the Exclusive Owner of the Label…

"I’m gonna break something down for you… We’re going to always be crew…I don't think Conway is still signed to Griselda, but that's “signed" to Griselda. He's going to always be Griselda. And no, West is the sole owner of that. I think that's one of the big misconceptions is that they own it together. But that's West's baby. Like Conway tell you if West own a building, he did the construction type of thing…”

Benny The Butcher Tells Apple Music About The Track “Tyson Vs. Ali” and Being Compared To Conway The Machine…

Everybody try to compare me to Conway. They do. They try to put us together. You know, these people are devious. That's what they do. It's the same thing. I am of this cloth. It's like comparing your left shoe to your right shoe. It's like, it's a pair. I come up under Westside and Conway. So with that, one of my lines, is like, "While I'm killing it, Conway's rooting for me.”…But I named it Tyson vs. Ali, because you would never see Tyson vs. Ali. We all talk about it. You would never get to see it though. Keep comparing it. Keep imagining, you know what I'm saying?

Benny The Butcher Tells Apple Music About Making His Biggie Tribute “10 More Crack Commandments” As Authentic As Possible…

I got Diddy on the record because I wanted to make it authentic. So I got Diddy speaking his piece on the record and tying it in to where it would land today. Man, shout out Primo. Primo came and got in the video. None of you rappers try to recreate no Biggie stuff. Leave it up to the real guys. So it's like, I had to make this as authentic as I could make it. So I had to send it to Primo like, "What you think?" I had to send it to Diddy like, "Yo, what you think?" Because if I wouldn't have got their blessing on it, you would've heard this record.

Joey Bada$$ talks Nipsey Hussle, new music and Hollywood with Apple Music 1

New York rapper Joey Bada$$ has plenty to talk about these days. The hip-hop veteran chops it up with Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden to dish on everything from his new ‘Head High’ single getting inspired by the late Nipsey Hussle and piecing together a new album to what’s brewing in the acting world.

Check out a few key topics from the interview and check out the full chop up session toward the bottom.

Joey Bada$$ Tells Apple Music His Introspective New Song “Head High” Was Inspired by Nipsey Hussle …

This is one of the best records I've ever made. This is an important, special record near and dear to my heart. I started writing it the day after Nipsey passed. And I didn't have an actual friendship or relationship with Nipsey. I met him a couple times and everything and it was always good vibes, but I was definitely moved by just who he was in this world and in this game. And when he passed, it was extremely unfortunate. And like I usually do with channeling pain, I put it into the music, you know what I'm saying? So this joint is definitely inspired by him.

Joey Bada$$ Tells Apple Music A New Album Is Coming and That He’s Striving For Consistency and Quality...

We back. The album's coming soon…Listen, once we drop, we going to continue, you know what I'm saying? In this era, what I'm focused on is consistency. Consistency and the quality of my product, so you could definitely expect a lot more Joey Bada$$ in this new time right here. I look forward to the summertime, man. I feel like it's something about the music that I make that just resonates over the summertime

Joey Bada$$ Tells Apple Music He Was Originally Supposed To Play The Role of Jim Beckwourth in the Netflix Film ’The Harder They Fall’…

So shout out to my man Jeymes Samuel. I met him at the Roc Nation Brunch at the top of 2020, right before the world met its demise. We just kind of connected. It was just one of those moments. You know you meet some of those people in life and it's just like, yo, this is somebody you're going to know for a long time. It was one of those vibes. A few months later he hit me up. He actually put the bug in my ear at the brunch. He said he was working on this crazy film, which was The Harder They Fall. He had this role for me. Like you see dude with the pistols and shit? That's supposed to be me. Shout to my man RJ though who actually got the role. The young dude with the two pistols and everything. So Jeymes wanted me to play that role.

Joey Bada$$ Tells Apple Music About Taking The Role in 50 Cent’s Starz Series 'Power Book III: Raising Kanan’…

When I first approached acting I made it a thing to not play like a drug dealer or to play a street cat, or anything that was stereotypical because I really wanted to show people that I could act. You know what I mean? Or a rapper. So this role I was like, "All right, I'm ready for something like that now. I think I proved my point. People know that I can act." I could play these different roles. Then Two Distant Strangers came out before Power, which is also good. It's like, "All right, now they can see my range.”

5 things we learned from David Banner's new Apple Music 1 Q&A

Legendary Southern rapper David Banner has plenty to talk about these days. The hip-hop veteran links up with Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden in a special Black History Month edition of ‘The Message’ to talk about Black liberation, investing into the community and fueling new political champions.

We’ve pieced together five key things we learned from his ‘The Message with Ebro Darden’ chat on Apple Music 1.

1. David Banner’s all about giving back

I don’t think it should be revolutionary for us to support our own. I think it’s something we should do every day. I think it should be more normalized in our community. That’s just what we’re supposed to do. I feel like as an artist I’ve taken so much from the culture… enough of us don’t admit what we’ve taken from the culture. What I do now is I’m trying to give back to the culture the same way I took away from it. I hope to live to see a time where us supporting us is just what we do.

2. David Banner considers himself a rapper over activist

Conscious people didn't put me in this position. Hustlers, pimps, strippers, they put me in this position. Drug dealers put me in the position to be able to speak what I speak. And in most cases, conscious people don't support and help me. It's just the truth. I'm being real with you. And when I needed help in Katrina, I'm going to tell you who came and helped me. T.I. helped me, 50, Jeezy. Jeezy actually even told me, he said, "Banner, I don't even want to tell you." He donated 30,000. And he was like, "I don't even want people to know, because I'm not doing it for that reason, but I know you're going to make sure that this money goes where it needs to go." I just want people to know that some of the people who we look at as the most lost are actually some of the people who want to help the most, but in a lot of cases, don't know how to. That's one of the reasons why I'll never call myself an activist. People call me an activist, I still call myself a rapper.

3. David Banner has a feeling about the new generation of hip-hop artists

When the Migos first blew up and Offset had got into a little trouble. I saw him like a couple days after he had got out, and I pulled over and he said something that was so powerful to me. He was like, "OG, I want to do better. I just don't know how to." And I was like, "Damn." Because if you really think of that Kendrick Lamar, Big K.R.I.T, J. Cole era, there's only about three or four more artists that came out of that generation. That generation of music was jumped over. And we really spent so much time trying to maintain the game, that we didn't usher in a new generation of artists. A few slipped through, but what ended up happening is kids found their way on their own. So once they found their way on their own, it ain't time to listen then… its too late. So one thing that I want to say about these children is that they’re open.

4. David Banner believes American culture programs Black youth

Our people were programed for three full generations, and I think people have the math wrong. We haven't been out of slavery longer than we were in, and the trauma never stopped. If you look at TV, you look at music, you look at just life in America period, the programming never stops… In radio, they call it radio what? Programming. In television they call it programming. So we don't have enough information, we don't have enough things to download to our kids' CPU that would make them be proud and happy, so if they see power in other races of people… If they see Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, all of these godlike figures are somebody that doesn't look like them, they'll start wanting to be them. And I think personally, that's the bigger problem. We have to get the minds of our children back again. And I can honestly say that I've been watching the New York public school system, and some things are happening there that may change some things.

5. David Banner believes supporting political champions can create serious change

It would be a little bit easier for our people if we built our politicians from the day that they step on the block. We see a young kid that's articulate, we get around them, we take care of them. We teach them. Bill Clinton and the Bush family, they were building their children to be what they were from 6, 7, 8, 9. You know what I'm saying? I think what happens in a lot of cases is that we don't engage in politics until it's time to run, and it's too late then. So we usually have to, again, deal with those politicians. Because personally, bro… Politicians and preachers, man, something that have never really set right in my spirit, bro.

Muni Long dishes on Drake, songwriting goals, new music rollout and more with Apple Music

R&B newcomer Muni Long has plenty to talk about these days. From gearing up to bless the world with a studio effort to getting Drake’s attention, the popular crooner links with Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden to dig deep into her music grind.

Muni Long talk Drake, songwriting and new music with Apple Music’s R&B Now Radio

According to Long, she used the Internet to really crack into the music biz. She credits writing her own music and teaching herself how to play online as the root of her career taking off.

“I started writing my own stuff, taught myself how to play using the internet. There was a couple websites that I would go to, to learn. And I started writing and posting my own songs. And that's when I really started becoming viral. My first song that I wrote on the guitar was just plucking the top string, because I didn't know how to play yet. That video got me a million hits. And then the next one I did singing dictionary. Like I sang the first five pages of dictionary over the Glamorous beat. Fergie, Glamorous. That got a million hits. And then I recorded a cover of Best I Ever Had where I like played it on guitar, sang it instead of rapped it. That went viral so much. So that Drake reached out to me. And he was like, "Yo, I love what you did with the song." He gave me his number, we're talking. Mind you now, I'm just out of high school. You know? And I was watching him on Degrassi when I was in middle school and high school. So I'm like, "Oh my God, this is Aubrey Graham. This is amazing! Wheelchair Jimmy." And so, I remember talking to him back then. And he's like, "Yeah, I'm an actor. I'm trying to get into music. I did this mix tape for Valentine's Day. Didn't really take it serious. People love it. I'm singing. Lil Wayne wants to sign me.” So, I mean, and not just him. Fantasia, Pharrell ... So many people because my videos were spreading all over the internet. And from there, I fast forward a couple years, I got signed to Capitol Records about 18 years old.” (R&B Now Radio on Apple Music 1)

More than anything, Muni is determined to remain successful as both in front of the camera and behind the scenes.

“At a certain point, there were things that I just wanted to say, and I wanted to express. When you are providing a service for somebody else, it's like ... Imagine if you went to McDonald's right, and you said you wanted a Quarter Pounder with cheese. And they were like, "Nah, I think you should get the nuggets." Throw some lettuce and some tomato in there with the nuggets, get you some onion rings." Like, "But I want fries." You know? So you would be very frustrated. Right? So that's what it's like when you're a songwriter. They want to Quarter Pounder with cheese, do your best to give them a Quarter Pounder with cheese. Don't remix the recipe. Don't throw some extra seasoning in there that you feel like ... It's not about you. It's about them. If I would've written Hrs And Hrs and [inaudible], nobody would have cut that song. Or they would ask me to change the lyrics. ”” (R&B Now Radio on Apple Music 1)

The Hrs and Hrs she put in

Long also talked to Darden about her ‘Hrs and Hrs’ anthem blowing up. Specifically, she focused on the state of R&B in 2022.

“So let's just think about the landscape of the business right now. The R&B girls, SZA, Jhene Aiko, Kehlani, Summer Walker, they all write their own stuff. And Beyoncé. Those are the ones who probably were worthy of a record like this. I understand the value of the songs that I write, and that they write. They really can change someone's life. Like, what it has done for me. You know? So you can't just go giving it away to everybody. Especially since people don't want to pay. So now I'm going to have to go out here and pitch, and pitch, and pitch, and pitch. And you end up becoming frustrated and angsty. Like, "I know this is an incredible record. Why is nobody taking a bait?" Even Jazmine, she writes her own stuff. So who? Who Would I have given it to? And then I would've had to go over to the pop side, and maybe try to give it to an Ariana Grande. Somebody who can actually really sing it, you know? And then there's that cultural conflict, right? Where I'm like, "Why can't my brown and black musicians have a crossover hit? Why does it always have to feel like in order for this R&B sounding thing to be pop, it has to be sang by somebody who's light or white? Why? ”” (R&B Now Radio on Apple Music 1)

It’s all about the money

While fans might want her to rush and drop greatness, Long acknowledged the importance of keeping financial factors on the radar.

“I think I mean, I'm playing both sides of the fence here. I'm the artist and the creative, but I'm also paying for it. I have to think about cost of the whole thing. And I think this is actually the third EP that I put out on Supergiant. The first one is called, Black Like This. The second one is called, Nobody Knows. Then this one is called Public Display of Affection. Put them all out in the space of a year. Those were like the warmups. It was getting people used to my aesthetic. Getting people used to the sound that I was bringing. Slowly introducing ... Because one thing that I did understand is that I couldn't come out the gate being too good, too fast. Because there's something called the uncanny valley. Right? Let's let them ingest it. Let's let them feel like they was with me shooting in the gym. You'll see people saying, "I'm responsible for at least a million of those streams," you know? ”” (R&B Now Radio on Apple Music 1)

If all the stars align, Muni will have huge collaborations in the books. These guest features include everyone from Doja Cat and The Weeknd to legends like Quincy Jones.

“So I want to take my time on the album. I want it to be really good. What I hoped, is that I would attract enough attention, and the right kind of attention, they would see an artist and not a songwriter, and want to work with Muni Long. On Muni Long stuff. Not- Don't come over and be like, "Oh yeah, I want to work with you on your album." And then next thing, I'm getting a call saying, "Oh, Rihanna wants to cut it." You know? So I've been asking. There's a lot of people who I'm like, "Hey, I'm doing something, I would love for you to come through." No response, putting me off. "Okay, cool." A lot of them have come I'm back since- Like, "Yo, oh my God. We got to get in." And I'm just like, "I don't know. I don't know how I feel about that." Because everything I'm doing is it's all about the intent. It's all about the intent. It's the reason why I'm talking to you. Is because when I hit you up, you answer. And it has nothing to do about what it looks like on the outside. But yeah, I would love to work with like, Doja, The Weekend, Drake, Beyonce, Pharrell, Quincy Jones, that would be incredible. There's just so many, there's literally so many. And I do have a couple that I'm working on right now. But just in case nothing comes of it, I wouldn't want to put pressure on those people by saying anything about who they are. But there's a lot of genuine interest. Which, after sort some of the tidal wave sort of dies down from this song, I'll be able to take my time and get back in the studio and be creative. But it doesn't take me a long time. I mean, you saw how fast I could write.”” (R&B Now Radio on Apple Music 1)