Ep. 267: YG Opens Up. Bad Deals, Hit Records, and a Midlife Crisis

Today’s guest is a multi-platinum rapper and songwriter who took Compton to the charts and gave the world “My Hitta,” “Who Do You Love?” and “Big Bank.”

From his debut album My Krazy Life to collaborations with Drake, Nipsey Hussle, and Nicki Minaj, he’s built a catalog that’s done serious damage to club speakers. Now, with The Gentlemen’s Club, he’s getting personal and reminding everyone there’s a storyteller behind the hits.

And The Writer Is…

YG!

In this episode we go deep on:
- The inspiration behind his new album
- The Def Jam singles deal with five album options: "I could have sued everybody"
- What he'd tell an 18-year-old holding a label offer
- Why having a catalog doesn't mean you own it
- What a YG session looks like: tequila, "next beat," and a BPM in his head
- How "FDT" got made with Nipsey, and why Def Jam wouldn't release it
- The night Nicki said "don't put this out without me"
- "Who Do You Love?": three months, hook writers, and Drake telling him to do it himself
And much more...

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Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:32 Hiring a "Hitman"
8:07 "Were you ever suicidal?" and the homies who said "same"
9:10 Chin up, chest out: what the streets never let you say
10:28 "2004," the song he cut from the album
24:31 Turning himself in while his song blew up, and the label that called his mom
27:31 Signing young: "I could have sued everybody"
28:24 Ross: athletes get rookie orientation, artists get "good luck"
34:57 What he'd tell an 18-year-old holding a label offer
39:40 The masters trap: you have a catalog, but you don't own it
41:30 What a session with YG actually looks like
47:39 Why he made Gentleman's Club: "they were playing with my name"
50:10 How "Hollywood" with Shoreline Mafia got made
53:51 How "FDT" happened with Nipsey, and why Def Jam passed
59:40 Meeting Nipsey: two different gangs, one mission
1:05:56 How do you stay brave when the people around you get killed?
1:10:59 The night "My Hitta" got made
1:13:03 "Big Bank": Nicki says don't put it out without me
1:18:15 What he knows at 36 that he didn't at 20: the streets don't love you back
1:27:20 "Who Do You Love?": three months and Drake's "you do the hook"
1:30:02 What makes a Mustard beat different

Credits Hosted by Ross Golan
Produced by Joe London and Jad Saad
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