161 Posted on October 29, 2011 by vapidvee

Emile Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records

“Bigger Than You”

I found Cudi browsing MySpace one day. He had ‘Day ‘n’ Nite’ on his MySpace and it had like, a few hundred listens. And I’m like, ‘Who the fuck is this? This song is a smash.

“And I’m looking at his Top 8 friends, and I see Plain Pat. So I call Pat, and I’m like, ‘There’s this fucking guy, he has this amazing song, and you’re in his friends.’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah, he’s this new guy I got, I think I’m gonna manage him. That’s my dude, we’re just starting out. You should produce some shit for him.’

“The first song we ever did was ‘Bigger Than You,’ which leaked but it never came out. The title on the Internet is ‘Do It Alone,’ but it’s really called ‘Bigger Than You.’ That’s a cool song. I wish that song got more shine.

“It was supposed to be the intro for Man on the Moon. But Cudi left a CD in some dude’s car in Cleveland and dude put the whole thing on the Internet. So that ruined that song. But it’s a great song and the first thing we ever did.”

“Is There Any Love?” ft. Wale

“That was the second song ever I did with Cudi. I was listening to records with Cudi—that was our thing. Before I got into sitting at the piano and we would come up with songs, we would just listen to records, listening for samples and ideas.

“I had this Trevor Dandy record, which is like this rare Canadian gospel record. We were listening to it and there was no question that it was amazing. The drums were there, it was all there in the song.

“I tend to sometimes overproduce things and ruin the sparseness of what we started with. That’s where a guy like Plain Pat being in the studio is so critical, because Pat was like, ‘Just fucking loop it.’

“I was trying to add all these keys and make it my own thing, but the music was amazing, so he was like, ‘Stop fucking around.’ Pat’s got the ear to tell you when to stop or when to change. And he was like, ‘Just loop it and leave it be.’

“It’s a straight loop off a gospel record. That’s all it needed to be. I added some keys on the chorus and changed the timing on it a little bit. Pat was the one who had the ill idea to put the 808s off a little, like in weirder spots. The 808s come in unexpected.

“Cudi would be at the studio hanging out a lot and Wale was always around. They were boys. Wale just put out his mixtape. They were peers, so we had the idea like, ‘What about putting him on the record?’ We did that and it turned into this mixtape classic.

“We put it out and it leaked, and that’s when things were starting to pick up with Cudi. Everything we did and put out, we got a good response on. That was the first thing we ever did that came out and saw the light of day.”

“50 Ways to Make a Record”

“That was Plain Pat’s idea to use the Paul Simon thing. When I met them, they had been working a little but hadn’t recorded any of these ideas. So Pat had the Paul Simon ‘50 Ways to Leave Your Lover’ song looped up and Cudi had it written already.

“That’s the first time I ever heard Cudi sing. He always had this melody-driven way of rapping, but this was like singing! He’s perfectly in key and it’s just right. I didn’t know he could really sing, so I was like, ‘Wait a minute—this is great.’

“That’s the beauty of mixtapes. You can use songs like that and re-create these classic songs that you probably wouldn’t be able to put on an album. I don’t know if you could clear that record.

“Eminem used it for ‘Murder, Murder’—he used the drums. I guess it didn’t come out because Paul Simon didn’t clear it. But you can still use it, even if Eminem already flipped it, because it’s just a fun idea. Over time, that’s become one of my favorite songs on the [mixtape].”

“Soundtrack to my Life”

“That record started with me just kind of on the keyboard just playing shit. When he heard something he liked, he would be like, ‘That’s dope.’ It would just be like some chords, then we’d kind of build it around that. It wasn’t like, I’d have a beat done and be like, ‘What do you think?’ It would always just start with nothing and then build into a beat.

“That was [another] one of those records we cut all in one night, which is rare, because usually we would spend a few days or a few different sessions per song. That one we did in one night because he was just determined to get it done.

“Solo Dolo (Nightmare)”

“I’ve always liked Truth & Soul and the music they put out. They’re the best camp at capturing older-sounding music but still making it fresh. I’ve always bought their music as a fan, not to sample. Even though it’s so sample-able. It’s hard not to sample their shit. [Laughs.]

“We were listening to records, and the [Manahan Street Band album released on Truth & Soul was playing] as just background music, just hanging out with Cudi and a bunch of people in the studio just kicking it. Not like, ‘Let’s sample this.’ And that shit came on and we both stopped and were like, ‘What the fuck is that?’ I was like, ‘If I slowed that way down, that would be kind of ill.’

“I didn’t have a chance to over-produce it and fuck it up, because Cudi came up with the shit so fast. I just slowed it down and looped it and put the 808s in and a little bit of keys. Cudi was like, ‘Turn the mic on.’ I was like, ‘Already?’ And he was like, ‘Yup.’ And he just went in and bodied it. That’s probably my favorite Cudi song if I had to pick one.”

“Cudi Zone”

“He had the first verse forever and me and [Plain] Pat were like, ‘Cudi Zone,’ what’s up with it?’ And Cudi would just blow it off. So me and Pat were just like, ‘Fuck man, this record is so dope.’ But it went on so long that I started to wonder if this monster of a record was going to be on the shelf, just like if it was ever going to get finished.

“A long time went by and he just wasn’t going to force it. Cudi doesn’t force his stuff when he works. It’s either going to happen or it’s not going to happen. Eventually one day, it was real nonchalant, months and months after we had this record, and he was just like, ‘Oh yeah, I got the 'Cudi Zone’ verse.’

“I almost didn’t believe him. I was like, ‘Word?’ Not only did he come in forever after we did the first verse, but he did the second verse and it sounded like he did it the exact same day he did the first verse. The tone was cool, everything was cool about it. It was like, ‘Ok, shit. We’re done. Sweet.’

We did ‘Cudi Zone’ and ‘Solo Dolo’ back-to-back in like two days. It had to have been six months [after he wrote the first verse of ‘Cudi Zone’].”

“Mr. Rager”

“This was done before we went to Hawaii. He called me on the phone from L.A. I think he was in the studio with Snoop Dogg, doing ‘That Tree,’ and I was sitting in the studio by myself making a beat. I was playing it while I was talking to him, which normally drives people crazy, but he was just like, ‘Yo, what the fuck is that? Send it to me.’ I was like, ‘Aight, let me produce it up.’

“I’ll tend to completely over-produce shit so I didn’t want to send it to him yet, but he insisted. I did a quick bounce and sent it to him and then he called me back the next day, super-excited, and was like, ‘Yo dude, I just bodied this record. Wait ’til you hear it.’

“In the meantime, I had added a million things since I first sent him the beat, and we were going to Hawaii soon, so it was just like, ‘Aight, I’ll see you in Hawaii and we’ll fuck with it.’ We kept working on it in Hawaii; we’d just pull that song up every day and work on it for a little bit.”

“Every time I think of being out in Hawaii, it was always this record that was just so fucking fresh. From my end, that was what led to the sound of this album; it’s a pretty unique sounding record for hip-hop, and it was a different vibe that would be my blueprint for the production on this album. It was the first one that we really nailed.

“RZA was out there working with Kanye, and RZA happened to come in to the room that me and Cudi were in working on ‘Mr. Rager.’ Cudi was like, ‘Man, can I play you this record I’m working on?’

“And RZA was like, ‘Yeah, play it.’ And I’m like, ‘Fuck, this is RZA. This is my dude!’ I love RZA, he’s a super-big inspiration to my beats. And some of those sounds I put in there are very RZA-y sounds, like the synth thing and some of the other shit.

“So he heard it, and was like, ‘Who did the beat?!?’ And Cudi pointed at me. And RZA looked at me and said, ‘Your swords are sharp,’ And he walked out of the room, and that was it! He said it mad cool, and just bounced. I poured a drink and just savored the night after he said that shit. Fuckin’ RZA told me my swords are sharp. Incredible.”

“All Along”

“I was thinking about it today because today was this rainy fall day in New York where all the leaves were orange and it was rainy and cold. That’s kinda what ‘All Along’ is. It’s a very personal record for Cudi obviously and something he was dealing with at the time, and he just expressed it on the record.

“I had the drums and the piano for the beat, and we were just in the studio and played that and he was just into it. He sat and sort of freestyled it. I remember he did it quick, and as soon as he got in the booth and did the first line I was just like, ‘Oh shit, that’s going to be the shit.’

“It was classic Cudi delivery, the style on it was just classic, and I remember texting Pat because Pat wasn’t there, after one line. I was like, ‘Yo, we got a fucking banger right now.’ I don’t think Cudi likes to talk about that record that much because it’s a personal thing for him. It’s the real emotion that he had at the time and it’s just a really special record.

“Sonically it’s so good, Larry Gold did a fucking amazing job on the strings. I was talking to Larry when we were putting that one together, and wanted to capture some Beatles kind vibe on the strings, he just nailed that one.”

source: complex

(Source: yeacudders)