I got a call from Ty Cannon, he’s the lead A&R at Aftermath. He asked if we wanted to come through and work on some production for Dr. Dre with DJ Dahi and DJ Khalil. I said “Let’s do it!” I was a big fan of both of those producers. I didn’t know how the Dr. Dre thing would pan out, because being around the city for so long, everybody says they have connects to Dre, Detox this-and-that. I didn’t know anything about the Compton album.

We went over there and the first two people I met were Dre and the D.O.C. They were real cool, super chill. We shook hands and I went into the studio and met some of the other producers and they said “We’ve been listening to your song ‘Suede’ and have been hooked on it for the last two or three weeks. We got some music and want to know if you hear anything in it and want to get you on it.” I was all about it.

They played the first beat, for “All In a Day’s Work,” and I was just hooked. I already had ideas in my head. Before I laid anything, they called Dre back in and wanted him to listen to my song because he hadn’t heard anything yet, so I was kind of nervous. They played the song for him and he was like “Okay. Run that back. Okay, run that back again.” They played it three times and after the third time he was like “Let’s work.” It was on after that.

“I got on the mic, closed my eyes and freestyled, and when I opened my eyes back up, the whole room was going crazy. After that we were just always working.”

The recording process took place over a few months. I came in at the top of last phase of the album. They were well into the album, but were still making music. Looking back on it now, it seems like I was the finishing piece for the album, the way they threw me in there. We only had a few months before it was out.

“Animals” was one of the tracks that I brought to Dre when I was working with him. I got the beat from DJ Premier and BMB Spacekid after a show we did in Russia with my group NxWorries. It was a Boiler Room show with DJ Premier and Spacekid on the track where I would be the vocalist. We did one track there and recorded it and it came out. They sent the other beat that they did and that was the beat for “Animals.” I told Premier when I got home I was going to write something to it. I had the line “These old sneakers / faded blue jeans” for some years now. When I heard that beat, I thought it was perfect for it. And this was before I had any intention of making it about the riots or anything that was going on. But all of these things were happening. I was laying that part that I had, and I remember seeing little shots of the riots and stuff. I was trying to write the verse and it just hit me that this is what it would be.

I cut it and went to the studio that night with Dre and my manager said “You should play him that Premier track.” I was kind of apprehensive at first, but I played it and he loved it. Right when I heard it, he was like “I gotta put a verse on this.” He threw a verse on there and called me the next day and said “I know this is your tune, but I want to know if I can use this for the album.” I got to see him develop the track. Premier flew out and they worked on the record together. I watched Premier pick out records to scratch for the hook. That whole moment was crazy, because I know they are big fans of each other. It was a special moment to be a part of something that these two longtime friends put out together.

After I brought him the Premier joint, Dre pulled me in the room and said “Yo, I fuck with you. I think you’re going to be great and I really appreciate your work on this.” He kind of broke it down that he was adamant about working with me and wanted me to be around and help with the process of the album. I was all for it. They would be working on tracks and would be like “Yo, can you write a hook for this?” I would just come in on sessions and would just jump in and help where I could. Some of the stuff I laid down just ended up staying. I had no clue what I was going to be on. It was definitely a decision that Dre saw through. I was just hoping to get one joint on the album. It was not until the pre-order was out that I knew all of these records were making it on the album. It was dope.

Sometimes it was a long rigorous process, like with “All In A Days Work.” We spent weeks finishing that up, mainly because the song was just outside of my vocal range. A lot of times, we’d be doing the track and I’d be losing my voice. So we’d come back a few days later and finish it up. Other than that, it was pretty quick. The way our relationship started, was me coming in with an idea and we’d fine tune it from there. I think that helped, rather than me just being a complete vessel where he is like the puppet master and I’m not having any input. It was more us building on something together. That process doesn’t take long to do, which got us excited about working together.

You hear people say “Dre’s a super perfectionist” and he is. He knows what he wants, he’s going to grind to get it, but I feel like he is in a different mode right now. It’s cool to be able to work with him and his level of artistry. He doesn’t seemed pressed for making that million dollar hook, or anything but making good music, creative music. It allows you to open yourself up to just do things that you might not normally do and push for something different. I definitely can see the difference in the vocal production working with him versus working by myself. When I listen to “Animals” or “All in a Days Work,” you can tell there’s a difference in the energy and that’s the main thing he likes to get across. I had never heard myself like that before.

I tell people a lot of times, if you want to be a part of something, you never know, you kind of just have to be around. A lot of people don’t really have the patience for it and they don’t stick around. Dre and I are still working together and we have plenty of music for the future.