The conflict between Snoop Dogg and United States President Donald Trump over his appearance in BadBadNotGood’s “Lavender” remix video spilled over to other rappers this week. Bow Wow was caught threatening to push First Lady Melania Trump into prostitution in a since-deleted Tweet and T.I. came to the D-O-Double G’s defense in an Instagram post/roasting session.
Meanwhile, director of the visual adaptation, Jesse Wellens, came forth and assured the President that it’s just a joke.
As events unfolded, HipHopDX coincidentally got a chance to speak with the producer extraordinaire and Delaware native Sap, who is best known for producing Mac Miller’s platinum-selling breakout single “Donald Trump” from his Best Day Ever Mixtape.
Speaking with Mr. Jonathan King at his North Hollywood pad, HipHopDX asked about the awkwardness of “Donald Trump” being the first platinum plaque between the two.
AD LOADING...
“It’s so crazy because when we made that record, we had no idea this guy would run for president,” said Sap. “Not even win, we’re just saying run for president. It’s unreal. It’s so weird. I’m sure Mac Miller feels weird about it because that’s obvious the record is named after the guy. I don’t know. We did that record being genuine and being creative and having fun. It just happened to line up the way it did. I’m sure if we were in the studio now, we wouldn’t have made a record called ‘Donald Trump’ just because obviously, Mac expressed how he felt about him. I’m sure it’s weird for him, though. It’s weird for Mac for sure because a lot of people hearing that record and thinking it’s new. This dude made a song called ‘Donald Trump?’ That’s the craziest part, just the lyrics and content in the song is just weird how it goes along with what’s going on right now. It’s weird as hell man. We did that record five or six years ago. I don’t know.”
The Donald himself talked about the song on his campaign trail and has beefed with the Pittsburgh rapper on Twitter, further linking them together in the books of Hip Hop history.
“The fact that Donald Trump even knew about the record was crazy,” Sap continued. “He was posting on YouTube like this Mac Miller song has hit 100 million views and that was wild for us. It’s out of our control man. It was for some people whatever. I don’t look at it as we were trying to empower Donald Trump.”
Sap, who has also worked with everyone from Tyga and ScHoolboy Q to The Game, is getting a production credit on Rick Ross’s upcoming Rather You Than Me album, which drops tomorrow. He provided the soundscape for the track “Powers That Be” featuring Nas.Here’s what Sap had to say about that collaboration.
AD LOADING...
“How it happened was Young Legend is a business partner of mine in my camp,” he said. “He helps me move around and stuff. He hit up Sam Sneak and said we had records for Ross. I ended up sending some stuff to Sam Sneak and he called me like, ‘Yo, it’s some shit getting ready to happen.'”
He expressed his initial confusion at what Sneak was hinting at and explains how the pieces for the song came together.
“I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ He said he couldn’t tell me, but it’s crazy right now,” Sap shared. “I’m losing my mind trying to figure out who is on the record and what’s going on. Next thing you know, Ross was already on the record and Nas wasn’t on it yet. Then he was like Nas is on the album. Then I found out it was my beat. From there I’ve been glowing ever since making like 10 beats a day. I’ve been so excited. Just that energy. Just that alone to have that type of opportunity is a blessing. It’s crazy to me. It’s insane.”
The producer is also working on building himself up as a solo artist. Last year, he dropped his Self Employed mixtape, which is currently doing pretty well on various streaming outlets. For his follow-up project, With All Due Respect, Sap says to expect guest features from Freddie Gibbs and Domo Genesis as fans get real insight into his life.
AD LOADING...
“Next project, I’m not sure when it’s going to drop, but definitely the first single for sure should be out top of April,” he said. “I’m naming the project With All Due Respect. It’s basically like a true underdog story. Me coming from Delaware where a lot of people don’t make it out. It’s a city where it’s nothing. To get a regular job, you gotta work 10 times harder than somewhere else. That’s the story With All Due Respect. We gave so much shit to other stuff and help people build their brand and this time, it’s about us. I got the Pioneer Crew, which is my squad. I got producers Kick and Jay, Jayo Legend and a whole team outside of helping me make a beat or put together records. It’s more so like a direction, idea and timing because I think that’s important.”
Listen to Self Employed below.
