R&B/Hip-Hop

Despite a resumé including hip-hop classics for Jay-Z, DMX, Drake and Lil Wayne, if you ask Swizz Beatz, he believes his music legacy is incomplete.
“I just feel like my music is the only thing in my life that doesn’t represent where I am today,” says Swizz inside New York City’s revered Jungle City Studios earlier this week. “Everything else is the level of where I’m at or how I live, where I travel, and everything I’m doing is at the level of me in 2023. Music is probably the only thing that’s 2010. I’m not satisfied at all.”

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In hopes of playing catch-up, Swizz partnered with Mass Appeal to release Hip-Hop 50 Vol. 2 last Friday (Apr. 23) — including marquee all-stars such as Nas, Lil Wayne, Jay Electronica, Lil Durk and A Boogie Wit da Hoodie. The six-track EP is a hearty appetizer with punchy verses, most notably from Bronx upstart Scar Lip on the standout record “Take ’em Out,” also featuring New York heavyweights Jadakiss and Benny The Butcher. After releasing his first body of work since 2018’s Poison, Swizz hopes to unload new projects with some of his old-time pals, Wayne and Jadakiss, later this year. 

“With this EP, I gotta do these entry points to get on the train and know what stop I want to get off at,” he says. “I don’t want to get off on Jackson Ave. I want to get off in Egypt. I want to get off at a different stop. If I can’t grow as a musician, I can’t inspire people. I don’t want to keep doing the nostalgia thing.” 

Billboard met with Swizz Beatz to speak about Hip-Hop 50 Vol. 2, wanting to create more music, fatherhood, upcoming projects and more.

How did we get here where you’re releasing your first body of work in five years?

Blame Nas! One day me and him were kicking it, and he told me Mass Appeal was going to have a lot to do with HipHop50. He said, “We got this concept with all the producers, and you gotta be the producer that represents New York.” I said, “What do you mean?” He said, “Premier is going to represent a different place, [along with] you, Hit-Boy and a couple other people.” I said, “OK. Cool.”

When he’s telling me this, this is like a year or two before the anniversary. So I’m like, “OK. Let’s do it.” I swear it feels like he told me this a month ago. I still remembering get the phone calls, like, “Yo. You’re up. It’s time for your Hip-Hop 50 [tape]. How we looking?” I said, “What? Damn.” I can’t lie.

They made it simple where it was like, “Just give us five tracks.” So I was thinking, “I can pull five tracks off my drive. That’s easy.” And then something hit me and was like, “Nah. Everything counts.” Everything counts at this point. Don’t just put some s–t that’s on the drive. Put the pressure out. Put how you want people to look at you today out.

And I started taking the project very seriously. Even with the promos and different things, I took it seriously, like it was my album — because technically, it is my album. It’s my EP. My name’s on it. The artists I messed with are on it. I produced it. I just don’t want to do anything, but the times that I did, I don’t like it when I look back like, “Damn. I was lazy on that.” 

I think you’re the only producer that can get Nas outside of his Hit-Boy bag and rap on their beat. 

I like Nas in his Hit-Boy bag. [Laughs.] Me and him got chemistry as well. We have a whole album together. It was a long time ago, but when I seen him and Hit-Boy get the chemistry and tapping into the younger generation — they was being nominated and getting Grammys. I told him, “Stay focused with Hit-Boy. We can come back to what we’re doing, but I like this for you right now, because I’m not a selfish person like that.”

When I see something that’s working, as a fan of the art, I want Hit-Boy and Nas to win. They just happened to stumble on the chemistry, and I gotta respect that. Me and [Nas’] chemistry is a little different. 

I feel like right now, we’re back in the era with the rapper/producer combo taking over the genre led by Nas and Hit-Boy, Curren$y and Jermaine Dupri…

Swizz and Jadakiss.

I mean that sounds good, but do we have a project? 

I wouldn’t say it to sound nice. [Laughs.] It’s sooner than you think.

How did this come about? 

It’s just natural. That’s another person I have the chemistry with. I did all of his first solo records. If you look at the first LOX album, I did a solo there. The We Are the Streets album, I did a solo there. Me and Kiss always had a chemistry. And seeing what he did on Verzuz, we should have came with these [records] at that time. But Kiss went and got the bag. [Laughs.]

Greatness is never late and quality is also going to be something that’s going to have value. So no matter what happens with this EP, I wanted to give people quality. Lik,e pull Jay Electronica out. Get Nas in his bag. Another one that people are looking for is the me and Wayne project. I’m just ready to work. 

What I enjoyed about the EP was that you have a knack for getting artists to speak candidly about certain topics — whether it’s Nas addressing being a bad father on “Runaway” or Jay Electronica talking about SZA blocking him on “Khalas.” Why do you feel artists feel comfortable with getting open on your records? 

I think they know the caliber of where I come from with artists. I’ve worked with a lot of the greats, and the bar that was just set with the Ruff Ryders alone make people wanna step up. It’s just a tone that was set a long time ago from all of the Hov music to LOX music to even the current music. And I just don’t accept anything from the artists, I push them. I’d be like, “Nah, we can do that verse over.”

Believe it or not, we did three other Nas songs before settling on the one that’s on the record. This was his least favorite. He wanted to get on something that was more — what I feel — something I think him and HitBoy would do. That’s his comfort zone. I got him on “Live at the BBQ” time. He even hit you with those ad-libs from Illmatic. I was like, “This is the Nas I want.” I want to be far away from what you and Hit’s doing. I wanna be doing what Nas and Swizz doing. That’s how we moving.

What I liked about the Nas record was him taking accountability as a bad father to his daughter Destiny. Then, I thought about what you’ve been able to do as a father. When you listen to that record, is there a moment where you thought in retrospect like, “Damn, I didn’t get the dad thing right?” 

Yeah, because there’s no real book on how to be a dad for our culture that I’ve seen or had available. We just young with money and freestyling it, and we thinking the gifts make you the dad — but the time makes you the dad, not the gifts. The gifts of time makes you the dad to that kid.

I’m happy to have a son who’s amazing to this day, and I’m still playing catch-up as we speak. The understanding is there, and if it’s not all the way there, the continuation of making it clear is there. The key is being in serious communication. I think it’s important for a lot of artists coming up to understand with your child that they don’t care about the money, they don’t care about the outfit, they don’t care about the materialistic things. 

When they born with it, it doesn’t mean as much as it did for me growing up in the streets. Things that I would feel are materialistic, they just think that’s how it i,s because of the hard work I put in. They’re on planes, boats, and on this. They’re like, “Okay, my family’s successful and this is what it is.” They aren’t looking at those types of things, so it means nothing to them. You wanna throw the craziest birthday parties to make up for the time and that s–t don’t count. We gotta put the time in. That’s one thing I had to get better at. I’m ultra-dad now. I’m a dad-dad now. I’m a dad with a cape. 

Your relationships as a producer always extended past New York like your bonds with Wayne and J. Cole. How are you able to look past New York and collaborate with other artists?

I always was New York at heart, but global-minded. I always felt bigger than New York, although hip-hop and myself started in New York. Like when I did “Down Bottom,” we wasn’t thinking about the South like that — but I was, because we had a great relationship with Cash Money. We was on tour with them and I just got to see a different excitement. And that’s why I tell people traveling is key. 

For me, traveling, I got to vibe with other music — and then I got to live in Atlanta as well when I got kicked out New York. How you get kicked out of New York? That’s like getting kicked out of jail! It was over for me. Then, I moved to Atlanta, which was a turning point for me, because the sound changed and then I started going to Pat Riley’s and hearing the chants. I made “Stop, Drop” influences from Atlanta, so when I came back to New York and presented it to [DMX], he ain’t like it. He ain’t like it because it felt different. We put them chants in it, and all of that is from Atlanta’s influence. That came from traveling.

What made my sound is the New York BDP era with the boom-bap, the Atlanta sound with the chants, and reggae music. That’s my gumbo. Those are the sounds I was around the most and that’s what made me understand different sides are gonna have different melodies. 

Also, vibing and mentoring the youth has been my thing. I speak to [Lil Durk] every day. Not about music — 99 percent real-life s–t and one percent music. That’s only if he’s got a project coming out or he’s working on my project coming out. That’s the same thing with 21 [Savage], that’s the same thing with [Travis Scott].

My peers don’t really take the time out that they should with the youth. I remember I was Durk, I was those young guys and wanted the big guys to take me in and give me some advice. I can’t say they ran to give me that advice. So I was like, “When I get in that position, I’m gonna give everybody the information.” You could call me about anything and I’m gonna give you the whole thing. Oh, what you tryna do? You want to build a car collection? You want to build a watch collection? You want to go back to school? We have real conversations about being fathers as well and being in relationships. I feel like we can’t ever get too big to talk to the youth. 

What is that characteristic or trait that Lil Durk has that’s so appealing to the older generation?

For me, going back to [DMX], just growing up with X — me and X was really battling in these streets for food. We would go to The Bronx and battle everybody and a couple of other things. The thing that I’m saying is when I hear Durk’s lyrics, I believe him. You could see that he’s been through what he’s telling you about. He’s an open book of what he’s going through. I just love that type of poetry coming from such a young artist being truthful to it. Some parts are street, some parts are things that went down with his relationship, and some part is real things about how he’s trying to heal and do better. I like when it’s believable to me. 

Another person might write better lyrics and might be in a category where it’s a lot of cap to me. You’re not really moving the way you say you’re moving. You not really doing what you’re saying, so although you can project it well, I’ma give Durk more points, because even if he’s not projecting it on a level where people feel that is top this or top that, I have to rank that higher — because he’s actually living what he’s saying. So that gets a lot of points with me, when it’s authentic. 

Knowing that he calls himself Chicago’s Jay-Z, do you see any similarities between him and Hov?

I don’t think anybody’s like Hov, but I like that people are inspired by Hov. I’m inspired by Hov, because Hov has everything. He has the longevity, he has his ups and downs which is real life, he lost things and got them back and came back stronger. So I understand why Durk would say he’s that. And he’s allowed to say that, because you should feel like that — and that means that Hov is a big inspiration to him and that’s a great inspiration of someone to be an inspiration towards. He’s an inspiration for me as well.

I think Durk is the Durk. He’s the first of his kind doing things the way he’s doing it. I understand why he would give it to Hov, but I would feel like he’s the first him from Chicago. 

In hip-hop, we’ve seen Big Threes define eras, with Kendrick, Drake and J. Cole being that of the 2010s. Which three artists have the potential to hold that mantle next for the new generation?

I think it’s unpredictable in the future. It’s all gonna be based on who’s working the hardest and who wants it the most. The thing that made us want it the most was being hot and cold. It’s something that you have to experience for longevity. I’ve been hot and cold 10 times. Hov, Eminem, [DMX], all the names that people compare themselves to, they’ve been hot and cold a lot of times, which made them great. 

A lot of these artists gotta give themselves time to go through a rough period and then come up out of that and reinvent. The key to longevity is reinventing yourself. That’s why the conversation when I came out in ’98 is different in 2023. I changed up the conversation to where we’re talking about camels now. You gotta know how to continue reinventing yourself, because people gon’ want a different sauce. It’s just natural. 

You posted the Lil Wayne snippet and I saw a fan try to clap at you saying, “Swizz, are we gon’ use the same f–king drums?” Competitively, did that pinch a nerve? Because you did respond back.

Of course: I’m a wolf at heart. I’m with all smoke and I’m not too big for it. Do something about it then. I know that person is right too, though. It’s called a “signature sound,” and we don’t have really too much of that today. Everybody’s just doing the same thing, and you can’t really tell their identity if that person’s name wasn’t on that record. You could tell a Swizz track if I’m not on it, or a Timbaland if he’s not talking or a Pharrell track if he’s not on it. You could tell a Kanye or Dre track. Today, there’s very few producers you could tell their music if they take their stamp off it. Those sounds and those drums were made to be repetitive as a signature, but I’m tired of it. I’ma change it quick too, though. 

When you talk about changing it quick are we gonna hear that on this Jadakiss or Lil Wayne project?

Maybe not too much on a Jada project because there’s a certain feeling that I want to hear. It gives you that rush and you don’t even know it’s a part of the reason. I’m probably gonna stick more to the core, and then the next one we do, I’m gonna flip it — but I gotta give him the uncut first. That’s just like with the EP, I had to give ’em uncut vibes for me to get to my next vibe. My next project, I let another person produce me for the first time. 

How was that?

It was amazing. I don’t think I’m letting go of power, because I just think I want to take myself seriously as an artist more than I ever did. 

Even back 15 years ago when you were dropping “It’s Me B–ches?”

I was bugging. I wasn’t taking myself serious. Those are records I gave to people that they took too long to put out, or didn’t wanna do. Like “It’s Me B–ches” was for Cassidy. I remember doing that on my birthday at Sony studio, and he was just like, “I don’t want that.” I said, “All right, cool.” And I put it out for fun. That went. “Money in the Bank,” all them and that was for Eve. 

This Jada project is coming this year? 

Inshallah. 

Is this Wayne project real?

It’s all on him. I’m ready. He’s on tour, so inshallah with all of that. There’s not gonna be no more blank spots for a minute. Even if those two projects don’t come out, I already got the clip lined up so crazy. Either way, it’s gonna feel like it’s coming fast because other stuff is gonna take up the time.

What I really want to do, I want to put out 50 tracks for the 50th anniversary. I want to use that as my goal to give back to 50 years of hip-hop. I want to give people 50 tracks. Knowing I’m almost there for all the music I produced for Godfather of Harlem. But right now, I’m not even counting that. I need to have that bar like that so I can just stay in my zone. I’m ready to have fun and rock-and-roll.

Twenty-five years of Swizz Beatz — has that resonated with you?

I don’t even feel like I started yet. And the reason why is because when I came in it, I came so young and I didn’t even have enough time to process what I was doing. Going back to school and having the information I have now, I actually know what I’m doing. I feel like now I’m just starting because I know what I’m doing. Before I was just in the moment and riding the wave. Now, it’s a different mission for me.