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He humbly remarked that I might know who he was.
Hes a laid-back, spiritual presence inDoomsdays ?
But the optimism shifted in the 2020s after the death of his mother as well as his former collaborator.
Honestly, hes the same person you hear in the verses: earnest, funny, grounded, inspiring.
Its good to see Metalface Records attached to the new album.
Does it feel like a homecoming?Im marinating on how it feels.
Not like a homecoming, but like whats been established being manifested.
Its always been home to me.
Now its home outwardly.
Pitchfork is official, man.
I dont know any of this stuff, so I was just grateful.
The albums been a real slow burn.
Talk about the process.Theres one song on there, Barry Gibb, that was done in 2013.
That was right when I started working with Mono.
By 2016, I had relinked with DOOM, and Mono started sending me so much music.
I was like, Okay, Im comfortable with the sound.
Hes like, Lets start something from scratch.
I had Unknown Species, the first single off this project, in 2016 or 2017.
On my second trip out to Grenada to see DOOM, I played it and he loved it.
He wanted to license it.
He was like, Yo, Jorge, let me get that.
Ill use it for something.
I got a lot of stuff that we did thats in his files.
Hopefully itll see the light of day.
He brought up the idea of putting the album out on Metalface.
Through him, I could see a path to a reinvention.
It was just exciting.
It felt like I was 19 on Columbia Records again.
The records been done since 2019.
The bulk of it, I would say, was done from 2017 to 2019.
But because shes new to putting out records, it took a while.
What ever happened withMadvillainy 2?Only Vill knows that.
And I think Im on there somewhere.
I worked hard to get out of that box.
My work with Vill helps.
I dont have the luxury to live off Walk Like a Duck.
People like it, but thats not going to cut it.
A lot of the collabs I do are with dudes like 15 years younger.
I get more embraced by the younger people.
Hes a G. Coolest dude you want to know, man.
Make things happen punch in of person.
Theres a line on the new album that says Constipated Mobs Kadi brought Jay-Z to Loud.
They dont point out the great executive shit that he did.
Im letting them know.
People will always crack jokes.
When we see people in public: Oh, the ferret.
Oh, the ferret.
Hes a fucking brilliant mind too.
He was at Firehouse Studios.
I came through and met Method Man.
I didnt see RZA, but Prince Paul was there.
They had a song called Know Where to Run.
He said, Do a little something at the end of this shit.
I started with the Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, nowhere to run.
I sang that through the outro.
Shout to Prince Paul.
I met DOOM in the Def Jam offices.
We were hanging out that same night.
We were cool instantly.
It was immediate, and it never stopped.
Then we both went through the process.
Eventually, they got out of that contract.
I had momentum for a second album, but then I took one too many shrooms or something.
I found God, and my whole reality switched.
I was still writing, but I had to take a break.
It was like I was a baby walking again.
Like, Wait a minute.
I cant just rhyme the same way I rhyme.
The whole world looked different all of a sudden.
I experienced stuff that was not normal that sticks with me.
I had to get acclimated to that new reality.
It taught me to keep doing what I was doing anyway with more awareness.
I never quit rapping.
Thats where DOOM was able to get a verse from me.
He came with ?.
Jorge, I need you on this.Heknew it would be good.
I opened my book, and he kinda pushed me to work.
I read my rhyme, and he was like, That shit is dope.
What was it like having to keep that under wraps?That shit sucked, bro.
I didnt even tell my mom.
And my mom loved DOOM.
She was mad cool with DOOM.
I didnt tell anybody.
I told his wife I wasnt going to say anything.
I was just drinking a lot.
It continued when my mom passed.
That whole shit got dark: the pandemic, Vill passing, and then my mother passing.
I was probably lit every day.
I was thinking about it in my car the other day.
Just like, how much more fun it is when he was here.
How much more fun it was when we relinked.
Id be a hype man or whatever.
Not to take away from his man Big Benn, because thats my bro.
You sell yourself a little short sometimes.
You would have plenty to perform.
I want to ask about my favorite DOOM feature of yours.
He put that beat on.
What else you got on the page?
Hes looking at me like Im stupid because he didnt know exactly what I went through.
He got mad at me, like, You the illest, what the fuck?
I was overthinking it.
He coached me through it.
DOOM kinda had to walk me through my own notebook.
In retrospect, those are some of my best moments.
