How do you feel the sound of Glory is different from Ignorant Art or The New Classic?
Well, it kind of experiments with the kind of feel that I think Ignorant Art and The New Classic are naturally. I just started working on a new project called Trap Gold, and that’s really experimental. But Glory is all about trying to make songs that have traditional song structure and exploring and collaborating with other artists. I wanted to try to see if I could write the kinds of songs that I always hear on the radio, and that’s not really what I usually do. It’s a little bit more mainstream than a traditional hip-hop record. It’s not really experimental with sound, but I had a lot of fun making it. I’m proud of it and I think I did a good job with it.
But I’m going fairly extreme in making Trap Gold. It’s kind of like I walk in the studio and start making crazy shit that sounds like nothing at all that’s on the radio, or that any kid would probably ever want to listen to. I feel like I’ve been all the way left and now I want to go all the way right. I just really want to be able to do that, and I really want to be able to explore the two extremes before releasing The New Classic, and hopefully I can find some kind of a middle ground.

So Trap Gold is going to come out before The New Classic?
Yeah, Trap Gold is coming out really soon. Like, way sooner than anybody would think. But we all decided I wasn’t going to say when it’s coming out, because I wanted some identity with Glory. Because of my label mishap situation, a lot of the music I recorded earlier in the year kind of got stuck. Stuck in a hole is what it felt like. There were so many people involved in the project production-wise, and people that I was working with label-wise kept pressuring me to try to get the music out. It became like I felt like this mixtape was held hostage.
Now with Trap Gold, we all said the only people working on it are me, my friend Christian who I do absolutely everything with, and Diplo and that’s it. Nobody else is working on it. We’re going to put it out, and nobody can fucking stop us. We have this timeline of when we’re getting it done, and it’s really quick, but it’s already August, so I’m working on it every single day. So all I can really think about is I just need to get it done. I loved Glory, but I didn’t feel the same creative kind of freedom as what I did with Trap Gold. With Trap Gold, I just kind of tried to make it, and I don’t want to think about who is expecting it or what anybody is going to think about it.
That’s what I did with Ignorant Art. I put it out when it was ready. There wasn’t a countdown or a release date, or collaboration with a website to put it out, or signing off, or any of that shit. I’m not doing it. I’m just going to put it out, and you’ll learn the date it’s out, but I’m not going to tell anybody until it’s just out.

Is that label pressure you mentioned part of why you switched from Interscope to Grand Hustle?
Yeah, definitely. I mean, even when I was with Interscope I was still with Grand Hustle, but that’s why I left the whole Interscope situation. Grand Hustle is more like a family. Eventually I will get a major distribution deal through Grand Hustle, and I will release my album like that.
(more…)