2 Chainz has rapped alongside many of the game’s most influential artists including Kanye West, Gucci Mane, E-40 and Jadakiss. However, of all the people he’s worked with, he chose to honor Lil Wayne with his recently released Collegrove album. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the Atlanta rapper details how Lil Wayne has forced him to step his game up.
“At the end of the day, that is Lil Wayne,” 2 Chainz says. “It just raises the bar for competition, like sharpening up your steel, for both of us.”
He uses the example of the song “Bounce,” which was recorded in Miami over a 12 hour span. Because both rappers have a similar creative process, it heightened the competition to see who could rap more.
“Neither one of us writes,” 2 Chainz explains, “so our process of recording music is very similar, yet very different. He has a skate ramp in the booth so he goes skating — I don’t know he’s skatin’ or fuckin’ thinking of the verse…. I go in there and do the [chorus]. I come out the booth and this motherfucker goes back in and raps again! My chef, is just like, ‘Ohhhhhh, whatcha going to do now?’ So I had to go back in. This process was probably one of the best rap processes that I’ve ever been a part of. Straight up.”
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Collegrove was released the same day as Kendrick Lamar‘s surprise untitled unmastered. project, which was the top-selling album that week. 2 Chainz is asked if he was frustrated at the Compton, California rapper’s move.
“I wasn’t pissed off,” he says. “I knew Kendrick was coming out the same day. I had the opportunity to change. That’s what the game needs. I know what this project is to anyone who listens to it. I’m actually a fan of the boy too.”
2 Chainz says he is planning to release another album this year, which will be his most personal work yet. The rapper showed a piece of his heart last year when he took the proceeds from his Dabbing Santa Christmas sweaters to support families in need. He also recently dealt with the death of his friend Bankroll Fresh in March. He explains that he feels this is the right time in his career to give listeners a deeper look into his life.
“I got a things that are hard for me to communicate about, but music is very therapeutic for me,” 2 Chainz says. “I have some things that I just really, really need to get off my chest, and by me not actually having a counselor — the booth is that for me. It’s time for me to unlock my heart, it’s time for to release all these emotions I’ve been through, from my days of 13, 14, 15, to now my thirties, it’s just time for me… to spread my wings and let them know this me, this is the reason why I am this way. That’s what it is.”
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To read the entire interview, visit Rolling Stone.
For additional 2 Chainz coverage, watch the following DX Daily:
