D-Roc and Kaine — collectively known as the Ying Yang Twins — recently sat down for an interview with Hot 107.9’s B High where they talked about their 2002 song “Say I Yi Yi,” a bona fide hit for the hardworking Atlanta duo and one that ultimately caught the attention of JAY-Z.
At the start of the clip, Kaine explains they were looking for another record deal after Universal Music Group deemed them a one-hit wonder “novelty” act and dropped them around 1999.
Kaine said they tried to give “Say I Yi Yi” to Universal, but they didn’t want it, so they eventually ended up at Koch Records who gave them a one-year, one album deal.
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“This is where it’s finna get juicy,” Kaine says. “Man, we dropped ‘I Yi Yi’ and it fucked the planet up. ‘I Yi Yi’ was getting 66,000 spins a week … ‘I Yi Yi’ sold muthafuckin’ hard, we in the house mailing out CDs.
“Phone rings … ‘Yo, this JAY-Z. You n-ggas is fuckin’ up my money. I gotta sell the fuckin’ Motorola Sidekick to settle my fade to The Black Album. You n-ggas is fuckin’ up money.’
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“We didn’t know how to take it. We tryin’ to get a name of our own. There was no hard feelings. So ‘I Yi Yi’ had went gold in that one year. 465,000 units. Alan [Grunblatt] wanted us to come back, but he didn’t want to pay us for what we did, so we left. Boom.”
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After that, Ying Yang Twins needed another hit, one that would prove they could rap. While taking a shower one day, Kaine came up with the beat for “By Myself” featuring Goodie Mob vet Big Gipp, another track off their sophomore album Alley: The Return of the Ying Yang Twins. Although it wasn’t necessarily a commercial success for the group, the co-sign from the Dirty South legend still helped solidify their status in Hip Hop culture.
Check out the interview below.
