Hit-Boy Says Kanye West Collaboration Made Him Nervous

Hit-Boy says he remembers the way working with Kanye West made him feel the first time he co-produced a selection with the Yeezus emcee/producer.

“The first time I sat down and made a beat with Kanye West, in 2011, that was like the most nerve-wrecking thing ever,” Hit-Boy says in an interview with BET’s 106 & Park. “He’s a perfectionist. I learned so much just from being in the studio, not even being super-hands-on, but just being around him, you learn a lot.”

In 2012, Hit-Boy discussed his meeting with Kanye West in 2007.

“I had originally met Kanye through Pharrell in ’07,” he said. “He introduced me to him and I played him some beats and he was fuckin’ with ’em but it just didn’t connect like it was supposed to. But then, I ended up meeting his cousin, Ricky Anderson, Kanye’s cousin, and I sent him beats and he said, ‘Kanye fucked with your shit but it just don’t match where he’s at right now.’ I thought he wast just talking bullshit. But then we did the song ‘Christmas in Harlem’ and that was our first collaboration, and from there, he flew me out. We did a bunch of Watch the Throne shit and that’s when ‘Niggas in Paris’ came from and all that shit.”

Hit-Boy also said he is working on his label, HS87, and that he has worked with Puff Daddy on a lot of music.