1 00:00:06,012 --> 00:00:09,432 [narrator] It's easy to forget today,< but before hip-hop had rappers,< 2 00:00:09,974 --> 00:00:10,850 it was just beats. 3 00:00:11,475 --> 00:00:13,060 In the beginning, what we call "hip-hop" 4 00:00:13,144 --> 00:00:16,313 was actually a collection of the biggest, hardest sounds 5 00:00:16,397 --> 00:00:19,400 from funk, soul, jazz, rock, and disco, 6 00:00:19,942 --> 00:00:21,402 with no MCs in sight. 7 00:00:22,194 --> 00:00:25,281 Over the years, producers were seen as solitary types, 8 00:00:25,614 --> 00:00:28,409 reclusive geniuses tucked away in basements, 9 00:00:28,492 --> 00:00:31,746 surrounded by esoteric equipment and mounds of records, 10 00:00:32,705 --> 00:00:36,709 but as techniques and technology improved, and regional barriers fell, 11 00:00:37,293 --> 00:00:39,045 a new breed of producer surfaced, 12 00:00:39,420 --> 00:00:42,548 determined to rock crowds just as hard as they rocked beats, 13 00:00:43,049 --> 00:00:45,134 and to be as famous as any MC. 14 00:00:51,432 --> 00:00:53,225 [record scratching] 15 00:00:53,309 --> 00:00:57,354 [rap beats playing] 16 00:00:57,438 --> 00:00:59,815 [narrator] If you want to talk super producers in hip-hop, 17 00:00:59,899 --> 00:01:00,733 a good place to start 18 00:01:00,816 --> 00:01:03,319 is with one of the genre's most unheralded board smiths, 19 00:01:03,986 --> 00:01:05,821 a producer whose influence was so deep 20 00:01:06,197 --> 00:01:09,075 that he'd inspire a whole constellation of super producers. 21 00:01:09,533 --> 00:01:10,618 But before he could do that, 22 00:01:11,077 --> 00:01:14,872 he'd become a star first by mastering both hip-hop and Randamp;B. 23 00:01:15,414 --> 00:01:17,374 The sound was "New Jack Swing." 24 00:01:18,209 --> 00:01:21,337 The producer was Harlem's own Teddy Riley. 25 00:01:21,420 --> 00:01:24,048 [hip-hop beats playing] 26 00:01:24,548 --> 00:01:29,011 [Teddy Riley] I grew up in Harlem, 129th Street, St. Nicholas projects, 27 00:01:29,512 --> 00:01:31,472 and just made music out of the first floor. 28 00:01:31,889 --> 00:01:33,224 I was just making beats. 29 00:01:33,891 --> 00:01:36,727 We used to go to this club called Harlem World. 30 00:01:36,852 --> 00:01:40,564 I would go there and see Crash Crew, Disco Four Plus One More, 31 00:01:40,731 --> 00:01:42,775 Busy Bee, Lovebug Starski. 32 00:01:43,692 --> 00:01:45,736 You know, at 14, 15, 33 00:01:45,820 --> 00:01:48,239 I'm making records for a bunch of rappers: 34 00:01:48,906 --> 00:01:52,368 Spoonie Gee, Kool Moe Dee, Big Daddy Kane. 35 00:01:52,743 --> 00:01:55,246 They would come up to my place and I would cook up a beat. 36 00:01:55,746 --> 00:01:57,373 [hip-hop beat playing] 37 00:01:58,124 --> 00:01:59,667 [A-Plus] We're both from the same projects. 38 00:02:00,167 --> 00:02:01,710 Teddy's music would just be... 39 00:02:01,794 --> 00:02:03,461 I mean, he had some speakers, man, 40 00:02:03,545 --> 00:02:05,798 that would go all the way up to at least... 41 00:02:06,215 --> 00:02:08,384 You was feeling it at least on the fifth floor. 42 00:02:08,467 --> 00:02:11,512 You know, you'd just kind of walk in, and Teddy's working on something. 43 00:02:11,595 --> 00:02:13,097 That was just the daily thing. 44 00:02:13,180 --> 00:02:15,474 The studio was set up right in the living room. 45 00:02:15,683 --> 00:02:17,685 -The bathroom was the mic booth. -[toilet flushing] 46 00:02:17,768 --> 00:02:19,520 Top to bottom, it didn't matter who you were. 47 00:02:19,603 --> 00:02:21,564 You going in that bathroom to do them vocals. 48 00:02:22,273 --> 00:02:24,233 [Tammy Lucas] I met Teddy at Uptown Records. 49 00:02:24,316 --> 00:02:25,943 He was already doing a bunch of hip-hop. 50 00:02:26,235 --> 00:02:27,862 He knew music, period. 51 00:02:28,028 --> 00:02:28,988 You know what I mean? 52 00:02:29,071 --> 00:02:31,907 So, it didn't really make a difference what the genre was. 53 00:02:32,491 --> 00:02:35,035 You gotta keep people on the dance floor. 54 00:02:35,119 --> 00:02:36,287 That was my formula. 55 00:02:36,704 --> 00:02:39,081 Randamp;B, fusion, pop, jazz. 56 00:02:39,165 --> 00:02:41,750 Put it all together and you get new jack swing. 57 00:02:41,959 --> 00:02:44,879 ["Now That We Found Love" playing] 58 00:02:45,963 --> 00:02:49,258 ♪Now that we found love What are we gonna do ♪ 59 00:02:49,341 --> 00:02:50,843 [Dre Lyon] He created a style of music. 60 00:02:51,302 --> 00:02:53,554 That's how influential Teddy Riley was. 61 00:02:53,846 --> 00:02:58,767 New jack swing was important because it merged hip-hop music and Randamp;B. 62 00:02:59,059 --> 00:03:02,062 He was sampling horns and sampling drum loops, 63 00:03:02,146 --> 00:03:03,397 and it was, like, 64 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:05,274 any rapper could get on the record as well. 65 00:03:06,192 --> 00:03:08,194 ♪One, Two, tell me what you got ♪ 66 00:03:08,277 --> 00:03:10,321 ♪Let me slip my quarters inside your slot and hit the jackpot ♪ 67 00:03:10,404 --> 00:03:12,072 ♪Rev me up, rev me up My little buttercup ♪ 68 00:03:12,156 --> 00:03:14,116 ♪We can tug sheets Snuggle up and get stuck ♪ 69 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:16,452 [A-Plus] New jack swing was energetic, 70 00:03:16,869 --> 00:03:20,539 and just commanding you to enjoy yourself when it comes on. 71 00:03:20,789 --> 00:03:23,250 Forget everything, just have a good time. 72 00:03:23,918 --> 00:03:25,628 His popularity was growing, 73 00:03:25,711 --> 00:03:27,171 he was doing it real big, 74 00:03:27,504 --> 00:03:30,633 and Teddy wanted a particular level of focus 75 00:03:31,008 --> 00:03:34,720 that was getting increasingly challenging in Harlem. 76 00:03:35,054 --> 00:03:37,056 [interviewer] The move to Virginia Beach. 77 00:03:37,139 --> 00:03:39,433 What prompted that and why Virginia Beach? 78 00:03:39,767 --> 00:03:41,435 [Teddy RIley] The move to Virginia Beach 79 00:03:41,518 --> 00:03:45,147 was because when I lost my little brother, Brandon, 80 00:03:45,606 --> 00:03:48,359 who got killed in Harlem, and when I got that call 81 00:03:49,902 --> 00:03:53,739 all that was in my mind, because I'm a real quick creator 82 00:03:53,822 --> 00:03:56,450 when it comes to thinking of anything, an idea. 83 00:03:56,533 --> 00:03:58,410 Right then and there I said, "I'm moving." 84 00:03:59,370 --> 00:04:01,372 [hip-hop beats playing] 85 00:04:01,538 --> 00:04:03,749 [narrator] At the height of his success and influence, 86 00:04:03,958 --> 00:04:05,793 Teddy Riley would leave his Harlem base 87 00:04:05,876 --> 00:04:08,170 for the unlikely location of Virginia Beach. 88 00:04:08,963 --> 00:04:10,589 At the time, it raised eyebrows, 89 00:04:10,839 --> 00:04:13,175 but no one would have predicted it'd start a chain of events 90 00:04:13,259 --> 00:04:14,969 that would change hip-hop forever, 91 00:04:15,552 --> 00:04:17,554 and still be felt on the charts decades later. 92 00:04:19,014 --> 00:04:22,643 [Mad Skillz] Virginia is right under DC and it's right over North Carolina, 93 00:04:22,726 --> 00:04:24,770 so you get a little bit of everything. 94 00:04:24,853 --> 00:04:26,146 It was like a melting pot. 95 00:04:26,230 --> 00:04:28,107 You would hear Southern music, 96 00:04:28,232 --> 00:04:30,401 and then you hear Baltimore club music, 97 00:04:30,484 --> 00:04:33,529 and then you hear bass music from Miami. 98 00:04:33,862 --> 00:04:35,155 There was no hip-hop scene. 99 00:04:35,239 --> 00:04:38,742 It was just going to parties and people DJing, 100 00:04:38,826 --> 00:04:40,411 and you go to parties and you just dance. 101 00:04:40,494 --> 00:04:41,704 Nobody was MCing. 102 00:04:41,787 --> 00:04:43,706 So you didn't think, "I can make a record, 103 00:04:43,831 --> 00:04:45,291 put it out, then it would blow up." 104 00:04:45,374 --> 00:04:46,917 Like, that was something you saw on TV. 105 00:04:47,001 --> 00:04:48,669 We knew we had something, 106 00:04:48,752 --> 00:04:51,171 I don't think we really knew how to cultivate it yet. 107 00:04:52,089 --> 00:04:54,049 Then Teddy Riley set up shop in Virginia 108 00:04:54,133 --> 00:04:57,594 and that opened up a whole door for a whole lot of people. 109 00:04:57,678 --> 00:05:01,348 ♪All I wanna do is zoom-a-zoom Zoom zoom and a boom boom ♪ 110 00:05:01,432 --> 00:05:04,143 [Mad Skillz] You might see a Lambo going down the highway. 111 00:05:04,226 --> 00:05:06,645 "Yo, you see Teddy's Lambo?" Like, "Teddy Who?" 112 00:05:06,729 --> 00:05:08,731 They like, "Teddy Riley. He got a studio here." 113 00:05:09,273 --> 00:05:11,150 You know, you could ride by his studio and, 114 00:05:12,318 --> 00:05:13,569 "That's Teddy Riley's studio." 115 00:05:13,652 --> 00:05:15,154 We used to stand out in front 116 00:05:15,237 --> 00:05:17,281 and you would see the people walking into the studio. 117 00:05:17,364 --> 00:05:19,366 Like, "One day I want to be able to walk in there 118 00:05:19,700 --> 00:05:22,119 and just be in there with Teddy and work with him," 119 00:05:22,202 --> 00:05:23,329 because he's a legend. 120 00:05:24,330 --> 00:05:27,583 [Teddy Riley] I was on a mission to build a music scene 121 00:05:27,666 --> 00:05:29,418 and Jimmy Buffett was the only one there. 122 00:05:29,501 --> 00:05:32,129 So I was like, "Wow, I can really do something here." 123 00:05:32,212 --> 00:05:35,174 So I say, "You know what? Let's develop talent shows, 124 00:05:35,257 --> 00:05:36,550 where we can find talent." 125 00:05:37,009 --> 00:05:38,844 How many of y'all think you got some talent? 126 00:05:40,763 --> 00:05:43,349 [Teddy Riley] Most of the singers that would sing Luther Vandross, 127 00:05:43,432 --> 00:05:46,060 you know, the whole high note, the "Apollo" high note, 128 00:05:46,685 --> 00:05:47,978 you know, and you win. 129 00:05:48,270 --> 00:05:51,899 I ended that. You're not going to pick the Luther Vandross guy. 130 00:05:52,483 --> 00:05:55,235 It's not gonna take the high note to win this talent show. 131 00:05:55,319 --> 00:05:58,238 It's gonna take talent. Hidden talent. 132 00:05:58,947 --> 00:06:00,908 It's time for our next performers. 133 00:06:00,991 --> 00:06:03,619 Give it up for Pharrell and Chad, The Neptunes. 134 00:06:03,702 --> 00:06:05,662 [hip-hop beats playing] 135 00:06:05,746 --> 00:06:07,623 [Teddy Riley] And I wrote down to the judges, 136 00:06:07,748 --> 00:06:09,583 "You're gonna pick these guys right over here, 137 00:06:10,084 --> 00:06:11,168 The Neptunes. 138 00:06:11,752 --> 00:06:12,753 This is the winner." 139 00:06:17,841 --> 00:06:19,051 [Chad] Pharrell Williams and I, 140 00:06:19,134 --> 00:06:22,429 we started out in the gifted and talented program at school. 141 00:06:23,013 --> 00:06:24,306 I was playing saxophone. 142 00:06:24,431 --> 00:06:26,517 There was a lot of tenor sax in pop music. 143 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:28,602 You'd turn on MTV, and you'd see the guy with the... 144 00:06:28,685 --> 00:06:30,062 [mimicking saxophone] 145 00:06:30,145 --> 00:06:31,730 and I wanted to be that guy. 146 00:06:31,814 --> 00:06:33,857 Pharrell Williams was playing drums. 147 00:06:34,108 --> 00:06:37,903 I remember Pharrell organizing the drum line to play "Bonita Applebum." 148 00:06:37,986 --> 00:06:40,614 [beatboxing] 149 00:06:40,697 --> 00:06:43,742 [Chad humming] 150 00:06:43,826 --> 00:06:46,286 I had to set up a lab at my parent's house. 151 00:06:46,370 --> 00:06:49,206 I had an SK-1, and a four-track studio 152 00:06:49,289 --> 00:06:50,874 and just started banging out beats, 153 00:06:51,250 --> 00:06:55,254 and Pharrell was rapping about, like, nature and science fiction. 154 00:06:55,337 --> 00:06:58,215 And we had, like, four songs that we played at the talent show. 155 00:06:58,507 --> 00:07:03,387 [indistinct rapping] 156 00:07:03,470 --> 00:07:04,972 [Tammy Lucas] They won the talent show, 157 00:07:05,055 --> 00:07:09,017 and the prize was to record a song with Teddy. 158 00:07:09,101 --> 00:07:11,103 Even though that was the prize, 159 00:07:11,478 --> 00:07:12,938 it wasn't really happening, you know? 160 00:07:13,021 --> 00:07:14,773 Teddy was a busy guy, you know? 161 00:07:14,940 --> 00:07:18,152 A lot of cute girls, a lot of fast cars. 162 00:07:18,235 --> 00:07:19,319 I kept telling him, 163 00:07:19,403 --> 00:07:21,447 "You gotta do something with these guys." 164 00:07:21,530 --> 00:07:24,116 And Teddy took it seriously and he signed them. 165 00:07:25,409 --> 00:07:27,035 [Chad] Teddy was definitely a mentor. 166 00:07:27,119 --> 00:07:28,537 Just to see him work was amazing, 167 00:07:28,620 --> 00:07:31,290 because he was an engineer and he would layer the drums. 168 00:07:31,707 --> 00:07:35,711 We got the chance to make music with some of the acts that were in there, 169 00:07:35,794 --> 00:07:38,338 and we had a chance to write for Wreckx-N-Effect. 170 00:07:38,422 --> 00:07:41,383 They knew how to just go right into the studio 171 00:07:41,467 --> 00:07:43,844 and just work on music, and they just kept making beats. 172 00:07:43,927 --> 00:07:45,929 That was the development. Hands-on. 173 00:07:46,597 --> 00:07:49,141 Pharrell was the guy to write my rap. 174 00:07:49,433 --> 00:07:51,977 Pharrell was like, "Yo, I could put something together, you know?" 175 00:07:52,519 --> 00:07:55,063 I was like, "Bet. Do it." 176 00:07:55,314 --> 00:07:57,149 That's how Rump Shaker was. 177 00:07:57,399 --> 00:07:59,776 So he went, "We're gonna do a little thing like this." 178 00:07:59,860 --> 00:08:03,280 ♪Ji-Ji-Jiggity Jiggity, yes, it's Teddy ♪ 179 00:08:03,572 --> 00:08:05,282 ♪Ready with the one-two checker ♪ 180 00:08:05,365 --> 00:08:07,993 ♪Wreckx-N-Effect is in effect but I'm the wrecker on this track ♪ 181 00:08:08,076 --> 00:08:09,828 ♪'Bout the honey shakin' rumps And they backs in ♪ 182 00:08:09,912 --> 00:08:12,247 ♪Booties of the cuties Steady shakin' but relaxin' ♪ 183 00:08:12,331 --> 00:08:14,333 ♪The action Is packed in a jam like a closet ♪ 184 00:08:14,416 --> 00:08:16,752 ♪Beats bound to get you up, Cold flowin' like a faucet ♪ 185 00:08:16,835 --> 00:08:18,670 "Rump Shaker" was a hit. 186 00:08:18,754 --> 00:08:20,380 That song ran, like... 187 00:08:20,464 --> 00:08:21,924 As soon as you hear that horn, man. 188 00:08:22,007 --> 00:08:24,426 [imitates saxophone] 189 00:08:24,635 --> 00:08:26,178 ♪Check baby, check baby One, two ♪ 190 00:08:26,260 --> 00:08:27,095 It was a rap. 191 00:08:27,179 --> 00:08:28,429 I had no clue that was Pharrell. 192 00:08:28,514 --> 00:08:31,517 I just found that out, like, within the last two years. 193 00:08:32,100 --> 00:08:34,937 [Chris Williams] You're talking about someone fresh out of high school, 194 00:08:35,020 --> 00:08:37,940 writing the anthem for the summer of 1992. 195 00:08:38,023 --> 00:08:40,734 ♪All I wanna do is zoom-a-zoom Zoom zoom and a boom boom ♪ 196 00:08:40,817 --> 00:08:42,444 ♪C'mon just shake your rump ♪ 197 00:08:42,569 --> 00:08:45,405 ♪All I wanna do is zoom-a-zoom Zoom zoom and a boom boom ♪ 198 00:08:45,489 --> 00:08:47,115 ♪C'mon just shake your rump ♪ 199 00:08:47,199 --> 00:08:48,450 [Chad] Yeah, it was pretty dope. 200 00:08:48,534 --> 00:08:49,743 It totally propelled us, 201 00:08:49,826 --> 00:08:53,205 and Pharrell as a songwriter and a producer, and it kind of-- 202 00:08:53,747 --> 00:08:55,749 We just wanted to build from there. 203 00:08:57,209 --> 00:09:00,754 [Tammy Lucas] Pharrell and Chad decided to part ways with Teddy. 204 00:09:01,129 --> 00:09:04,007 You know, they were ready to charter unknown territory. 205 00:09:04,841 --> 00:09:06,510 [Mad Skills] They were ahead of their time, 206 00:09:06,593 --> 00:09:12,140 so I understand Teddy Riley not knowing what to do with them in '92, 207 00:09:12,474 --> 00:09:16,645 because it already sounded like 2012. 208 00:09:16,979 --> 00:09:18,689 I remember Pharrell saying, "Yo, come here." 209 00:09:18,772 --> 00:09:20,774 He plays this joint that they in there working on, 210 00:09:20,857 --> 00:09:22,985 "Yeah, it's the great space coaster. 211 00:09:23,110 --> 00:09:25,362 You know, I got my laser in my holster." 212 00:09:26,029 --> 00:09:27,489 And I just remember listening, like, 213 00:09:27,990 --> 00:09:28,824 "Wow. 214 00:09:29,491 --> 00:09:32,953 They really believe this Neptune shit. Man, they really on this thing." 215 00:09:33,870 --> 00:09:37,291 [Chad] Our production style, it was really influenced by the '70s. 216 00:09:37,541 --> 00:09:40,669 We were recreating samples, or sampling ourselves. 217 00:09:41,128 --> 00:09:42,796 And we just wanted to be different. 218 00:09:43,213 --> 00:09:48,176 We aspired to make people feel like they were on drugs, or on substances, 219 00:09:48,594 --> 00:09:50,012 just from the music alone. 220 00:09:50,095 --> 00:09:51,763 Into the intergalactic. 221 00:09:53,807 --> 00:09:55,809 ["Superthug" playing] 222 00:09:56,184 --> 00:09:58,186 ♪What, what, what, what, what, What, what ♪ 223 00:09:58,353 --> 00:10:01,023 ♪What, what, what, what, what, What, what ♪ 224 00:10:01,106 --> 00:10:03,233 ♪What, what, what, what, what, What, what ♪ 225 00:10:03,317 --> 00:10:06,278 ♪Yo, we light a candle Run laps around the English channel ♪ 226 00:10:06,361 --> 00:10:08,363 ♪Neptunes, I got a cocker spaniel ♪ 227 00:10:08,447 --> 00:10:10,741 ♪We on the run now, You know it ain't no fun now ♪ 228 00:10:10,824 --> 00:10:12,951 ♪And where I go, Yo niggas can't even come now ♪ 229 00:10:13,035 --> 00:10:15,829 [Mad Skills] Ah, man, that shit... When people heard that song in the club, 230 00:10:15,912 --> 00:10:17,414 it sounded like an explosion. 231 00:10:17,497 --> 00:10:19,750 It was so futuristic. 232 00:10:19,833 --> 00:10:24,504 It just felt so fresh and strange and weird and, like, 233 00:10:24,588 --> 00:10:25,922 just completely new. 234 00:10:26,006 --> 00:10:29,092 And, at the time, everybody in New York was just like, 235 00:10:29,176 --> 00:10:32,095 these two weirdo dudes from Virginia, 236 00:10:32,179 --> 00:10:33,972 like, do these beats. 237 00:10:34,348 --> 00:10:37,893 And I just remember thinking, like, "Virginia Beach? Like, what?" 238 00:10:37,976 --> 00:10:39,978 ♪What, what, what, what, what, What, what ♪ 239 00:10:40,854 --> 00:10:44,024 ♪This is the life, y'all Of a superstar ♪ 240 00:10:45,651 --> 00:10:48,862 ♪Fly ass mansions and a million cars ♪ 241 00:10:50,572 --> 00:10:53,700 ♪Gotta get the cash yo And it's live or die ♪ 242 00:10:55,369 --> 00:10:58,872 ♪The Neptunes and Noreaga The limit is the sky ♪ 243 00:11:00,499 --> 00:11:03,794 [Williams] "Superthug" really put Pharrell and Chad on the map. 244 00:11:04,378 --> 00:11:07,089 That record kind of just, blew everyone back. 245 00:11:07,214 --> 00:11:09,049 Like, "Where did that sound come from?" 246 00:11:09,132 --> 00:11:11,593 And everybody started knocking at their door at that point. 247 00:11:12,344 --> 00:11:14,471 "Southern Hospitality" with Ludacris, 248 00:11:14,596 --> 00:11:16,390 "Shake That Ass" by Mystikal, 249 00:11:16,682 --> 00:11:19,267 "I Just Wanna Love U" by Jay-Z. 250 00:11:19,351 --> 00:11:21,061 They were producing for everybody. 251 00:11:21,687 --> 00:11:25,774 You think about how successful they were becoming during that time. 252 00:11:26,191 --> 00:11:30,278 But, to take two guys from Virginia Beach to national prominence? 253 00:11:30,487 --> 00:11:31,571 It changed everything. 254 00:11:32,197 --> 00:11:37,619 Like, "Grindin'" is one of those anthems for the state of Virginia. 255 00:11:38,036 --> 00:11:40,038 ♪The world Is about to feel ♪ 256 00:11:40,455 --> 00:11:43,792 ♪Something that they've never Felt before ♪ 257 00:11:45,877 --> 00:11:47,003 ♪C'mon ♪ 258 00:11:47,087 --> 00:11:49,631 ♪From ghetto to ghetto, To backyard to yard ♪ 259 00:11:49,715 --> 00:11:52,050 ♪I sell it whipped un-whipped, It's soft or hard ♪ 260 00:11:52,134 --> 00:11:53,927 ♪I'm the neighborhood pusha ♪ 261 00:11:54,010 --> 00:11:56,930 ♪Call me subwoofer, 'Cause I pump bass like that, Jack ♪ 262 00:11:57,013 --> 00:12:00,392 [Mad Skills] Virginia had another side that people hadn't seen yet. 263 00:12:00,475 --> 00:12:03,103 It was gritty, man. It was an inner city. It was rugged. 264 00:12:03,478 --> 00:12:07,232 The Neptunes came up with our answer for that hard shit. 265 00:12:07,315 --> 00:12:10,068 I think a rumor has it that Jay-Z actually wanted it. 266 00:12:10,152 --> 00:12:12,320 Pharrell was like, "Nah, I can't give you this one." 267 00:12:12,821 --> 00:12:15,282 The Clipse, they weren't trying to make New York hip-hop, 268 00:12:15,365 --> 00:12:19,244 but they were making hard street shit for street people. 269 00:12:19,327 --> 00:12:21,830 "Grindin'" was the hardest shit out. Period. 270 00:12:21,913 --> 00:12:23,081 ♪Grindin', cousin ♪ 271 00:12:23,165 --> 00:12:25,125 ♪I got wholes for a dozen Even eleven-5, ♪ 272 00:12:25,208 --> 00:12:26,752 ♪If I see ya keep it comin' ♪ 273 00:12:26,835 --> 00:12:29,296 [Teddy Riley] I got the opportunity to be in the "Grindin'" video, 274 00:12:29,379 --> 00:12:31,715 and it was just passing that torch. 275 00:12:31,798 --> 00:12:34,426 I brought new jack swing, they brought The Neptunes sound. 276 00:12:34,843 --> 00:12:37,637 [Dre Lyon] I mean, The Neptunes were already super on fire. 277 00:12:38,013 --> 00:12:40,640 What they showed was that you can create a sound 278 00:12:41,183 --> 00:12:43,518 that just crosses all genres. 279 00:12:44,519 --> 00:12:47,856 [Mimi Vald矇s] That's why the Neptunes, to me, are the first superstar producers, 280 00:12:47,939 --> 00:12:51,151 because they started out, you know, doing, like, hip-hop. 281 00:12:52,027 --> 00:12:56,239 They've worked with every kind of artist, every genre, 282 00:12:56,323 --> 00:13:00,911 and they were able to still go in there and make it distinctly "Neptunes." 283 00:13:01,203 --> 00:13:03,413 ["Grindin'" playing] 284 00:13:09,127 --> 00:13:12,297 [Magoo] I think it showed the legitimacy of hip-hop finally being accepted. 285 00:13:12,380 --> 00:13:14,216 You don't just get to work with Britney Spears. 286 00:13:14,382 --> 00:13:16,301 You don't just get to work with Justin Timberlake. 287 00:13:16,426 --> 00:13:20,597 They're going to get the best producers in the business to work on those projects. 288 00:13:21,056 --> 00:13:22,974 They wanted full-blown hip-hop. 289 00:13:23,099 --> 00:13:25,769 I think that's why it worked for Justin, why it worked for Britney, 290 00:13:25,852 --> 00:13:27,479 because they didn't try to water it down. 291 00:13:27,562 --> 00:13:28,980 "I want it like that." 292 00:13:29,648 --> 00:13:31,441 At one point, they had... 293 00:13:31,525 --> 00:13:34,027 I think it was 60% of all music 294 00:13:34,110 --> 00:13:36,530 that was being played on the radio was produced by them. 295 00:13:36,613 --> 00:13:38,698 So, you could listen to 20 songs, 296 00:13:39,032 --> 00:13:41,910 and 12 of those motherfuckers was produced by The Nep-- 297 00:13:42,118 --> 00:13:43,078 It was insane! 298 00:13:43,286 --> 00:13:45,121 I mean, they changed the face of music. 299 00:13:45,288 --> 00:13:47,457 It's not a lot of people that can say they did that. 300 00:13:47,541 --> 00:13:49,543 ♪Niggas better stay in line ♪ 301 00:13:49,626 --> 00:13:52,671 ♪When you see a nigga like me shinin' ♪ 302 00:13:52,754 --> 00:13:54,756 ♪Grindin', Grindin' ♪ 303 00:13:55,298 --> 00:13:57,467 [narrator] One of the hallmarks of being a super producer 304 00:13:57,551 --> 00:13:59,553 is having an unmistakable sound. 305 00:14:00,011 --> 00:14:01,763 And even as their beats ran the charts, 306 00:14:01,847 --> 00:14:04,599 a Neptunes beat always sounded like a Neptunes beat. 307 00:14:05,225 --> 00:14:06,726 They didn't cross over to go pop, 308 00:14:07,102 --> 00:14:09,312 they forced pop to cross over into hip-hop, 309 00:14:09,980 --> 00:14:11,273 and that was huge. 310 00:14:12,649 --> 00:14:15,777 But The Neptunes weren't the only ones in Virginia making freaked-out hip-hop 311 00:14:15,861 --> 00:14:17,571 that would change pop. 312 00:14:17,654 --> 00:14:20,115 Pharrell had other talented friends, 313 00:14:20,198 --> 00:14:21,741 and he pushed them to follow his path. 314 00:14:21,825 --> 00:14:23,827 ["Pony' by Ginuine playing] 315 00:14:28,498 --> 00:14:31,543 -Thank you so much. -Alright. Thank you. 316 00:14:31,626 --> 00:14:34,004 [interviewer] I'd love to start with some of your early days, 317 00:14:34,087 --> 00:14:35,463 when you made your first beat. 318 00:14:35,547 --> 00:14:38,341 When I made my first beat, I think the equipment I was using 319 00:14:38,425 --> 00:14:40,552 was my mouth, just me beatboxing. 320 00:14:40,635 --> 00:14:43,555 You know... [beatboxing] 321 00:14:43,638 --> 00:14:45,473 Pharrell and I grew up together, 322 00:14:45,557 --> 00:14:47,559 like, you know, his family, my family. 323 00:14:47,851 --> 00:14:49,853 Pharrell is like the big brother of us. 324 00:14:49,936 --> 00:14:51,271 He always been different. 325 00:14:51,354 --> 00:14:54,107 You know, he always had vision. 326 00:14:54,441 --> 00:14:56,860 I was fortunate to be a part of some of the vision. 327 00:14:57,569 --> 00:15:00,822 [Magoo] Me and Tim, we were in a group with our homeboy Larry together: 328 00:15:00,906 --> 00:15:02,490 SBI, Surrounded By Idiots. 329 00:15:02,741 --> 00:15:03,867 I came up with the name. 330 00:15:03,950 --> 00:15:05,952 Pharrell ended up joining the group for a while. 331 00:15:06,036 --> 00:15:09,122 "Magnum the Verb Lord, opening the door." 332 00:15:09,247 --> 00:15:11,499 ♪Magnum the verb lord Opening the door ♪ 333 00:15:11,583 --> 00:15:13,793 ♪My third eye's for thought travel Tickling the core ♪ 334 00:15:14,169 --> 00:15:15,837 [Timbaland] But, then, you know, Pharrell, 335 00:15:15,921 --> 00:15:18,340 he saw a different path, you know? 336 00:15:18,423 --> 00:15:20,508 He was always trying to move the world forward, 337 00:15:20,592 --> 00:15:21,927 as I was, with sound. 338 00:15:22,594 --> 00:15:25,347 [Magoo] At the time, Missy was in a great group called Fayze. 339 00:15:25,430 --> 00:15:27,390 They had a song on the radio, called "First Move." 340 00:15:27,474 --> 00:15:30,143 And I remember telling Tim, "We have to meet these girls." 341 00:15:30,769 --> 00:15:33,563 A week later, a friend of mine calls and says, 342 00:15:33,647 --> 00:15:35,941 "I got these girls I'm working with: Fayze." 343 00:15:36,441 --> 00:15:37,525 I said, "What?" 344 00:15:37,984 --> 00:15:41,237 I'm like, "Yo, y'all gotta meet this guy that I work with named Tim. He's dope." 345 00:15:41,404 --> 00:15:42,864 So we drive over to Virginia Beach. 346 00:15:42,948 --> 00:15:45,408 Missy hears Tim, and that's it. 347 00:15:45,492 --> 00:15:47,786 They worked with each other from that day on. 348 00:15:47,869 --> 00:15:51,957 [Missy Elliot rapping indistinctly] 349 00:16:00,131 --> 00:16:01,758 [interviewer] Tell me about meeting Missy, 350 00:16:01,967 --> 00:16:04,177 when you started to notice a chemistry, creatively. 351 00:16:04,260 --> 00:16:05,804 Was that right away with her? 352 00:16:05,887 --> 00:16:08,807 Chemistry is something that you can't pinpoint or talk about. 353 00:16:08,890 --> 00:16:11,059 You gotta feel it and see it for yourself. 354 00:16:11,226 --> 00:16:14,062 Music will always feel music. I am music. 355 00:16:14,688 --> 00:16:17,649 Music is going to feel its soulmate, 356 00:16:18,316 --> 00:16:19,442 and she was my soulmate. 357 00:16:20,485 --> 00:16:23,863 [Magoo] Missy and Tim were like Batman and Robin. 358 00:16:24,572 --> 00:16:27,867 Tim would be producing, Missy would be writing, 359 00:16:27,951 --> 00:16:29,369 and that would be like, all day. 360 00:16:29,452 --> 00:16:30,453 That was their good time. 361 00:16:30,537 --> 00:16:32,706 Tim didn't like leaving the studio. Missy didn't like-- 362 00:16:32,789 --> 00:16:34,374 They didn't like leaving the studio, man. 363 00:16:34,457 --> 00:16:38,128 Me and Timbaland are most definitely trying to put Virginia on the map. 364 00:16:38,753 --> 00:16:41,297 We just trying to take music somewhere else. 365 00:16:41,798 --> 00:16:44,217 Everything we do, we try to make it futuristic. 366 00:16:44,926 --> 00:16:47,595 [Timbaland] As a producer, I considered myself as different. 367 00:16:47,762 --> 00:16:49,764 I just... I fall in love with tones. 368 00:16:50,056 --> 00:16:52,392 The frequency of sound, and how I space it, 369 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:53,935 it's for my liking. 370 00:16:54,019 --> 00:16:55,520 At that time I was like, 371 00:16:55,603 --> 00:16:59,441 my music is maybe not ready to be presented to the world yet. 372 00:16:59,566 --> 00:17:01,358 Because I'm just a little guy from Virginia. 373 00:17:02,234 --> 00:17:03,987 You know, I don't know much, don't have much. 374 00:17:04,069 --> 00:17:07,156 Missy taught me how to fight and never give up on my gift. 375 00:17:07,323 --> 00:17:10,326 She was the one that gave me the voice to believe in myself, 376 00:17:10,410 --> 00:17:12,037 and told me how dope I was. 377 00:17:12,537 --> 00:17:13,997 Teddy Riley was a big influence. 378 00:17:14,122 --> 00:17:15,540 If sonics was food, 379 00:17:15,623 --> 00:17:17,959 he brought the ingredient, the flavor out. 380 00:17:18,042 --> 00:17:20,670 Just made me like, "Man, I gotta get my stuff to sound like that." 381 00:17:21,337 --> 00:17:24,716 You know, and as I'm trying to get my stuff to sound like that, 382 00:17:25,175 --> 00:17:26,718 I'm creating the sound. 383 00:17:27,260 --> 00:17:29,262 ♪I'm just a bachelor ♪ 384 00:17:30,430 --> 00:17:32,432 ♪I'm looking for a partner ♪ 385 00:17:33,558 --> 00:17:36,978 ♪Someone who knows how to ride ♪ 386 00:17:37,103 --> 00:17:39,647 ♪Without even falling off ♪ 387 00:17:41,274 --> 00:17:43,443 [mimicking "Pony" baseline] 388 00:17:43,526 --> 00:17:46,279 When I first heard "Pony," I lost my mind. 389 00:17:46,362 --> 00:17:50,450 [mimicking "Pony" baseline] 390 00:17:50,533 --> 00:17:51,910 "Pony" was insane. 391 00:17:52,327 --> 00:17:53,995 Like, insane. 392 00:17:54,287 --> 00:17:55,872 You never heard nothing like it. 393 00:17:56,498 --> 00:17:59,292 ♪If you're horny let's do it ♪ 394 00:18:00,168 --> 00:18:02,754 ♪Ride it, my pony ♪ 395 00:18:02,837 --> 00:18:05,799 [narrator] Built from stuttered drums, a beat-boxed bassline, 396 00:18:05,882 --> 00:18:07,342 and cartoonish sounds, 397 00:18:07,717 --> 00:18:11,262 "Pony" was the world's introduction to Timbaland's singular sonic palette, 398 00:18:12,305 --> 00:18:15,517 but Tim and Missy's unique alchemy was just coming into its own. 399 00:18:16,142 --> 00:18:18,978 This is Tim, right here. The man behind the music. 400 00:18:19,437 --> 00:18:21,314 He real quiet, he real shy. 401 00:18:21,940 --> 00:18:23,108 That mean he's a murderer. 402 00:18:23,399 --> 00:18:24,317 [Missy chuckles] 403 00:18:24,901 --> 00:18:26,402 [interviewer] Making "Supa Dupa Fly," 404 00:18:26,486 --> 00:18:29,072 did you guys know that you were going to make something 405 00:18:29,155 --> 00:18:30,573 as influential as it ended up being? 406 00:18:30,657 --> 00:18:33,368 We just knew it had to feel good. We young. 407 00:18:34,077 --> 00:18:35,995 We want to party, we want to make people dance. 408 00:18:36,079 --> 00:18:37,956 Missy was a dancer. She liked to move. 409 00:18:38,081 --> 00:18:40,542 We just needed to bake the right cake. 410 00:18:41,334 --> 00:18:43,336 Missy would make me go through a hundred beats, 411 00:18:43,419 --> 00:18:44,629 and, "No, we're gonna do it better." 412 00:18:44,712 --> 00:18:47,090 She knew how the music was supposed to sound, 413 00:18:47,549 --> 00:18:48,800 what she wanted to do. 414 00:18:48,883 --> 00:18:50,218 She had the whole vision. 415 00:18:50,301 --> 00:18:52,387 She always made me think forward, like, 416 00:18:53,054 --> 00:18:55,765 "Is this really what we got, or do we have more?" 417 00:19:00,728 --> 00:19:03,398 ♪I was looking for affection ♪ 418 00:19:03,481 --> 00:19:05,984 ♪So I decided to go, ♪ 419 00:19:06,526 --> 00:19:08,903 ♪Swing that *** in my direction ♪ 420 00:19:09,487 --> 00:19:11,990 ♪I'll be out of control ♪ 421 00:19:12,532 --> 00:19:14,868 ♪Let's take it to perfection ♪ 422 00:19:14,951 --> 00:19:17,579 ♪Just you and me ♪ 423 00:19:18,329 --> 00:19:22,458 ♪Let"s see if you can bring-bring-bring The nasty out of me ♪ 424 00:19:22,542 --> 00:19:25,128 [Mona Scott Young] What Tim provided for Missy, 425 00:19:25,211 --> 00:19:28,006 was a safe place to be herself. 426 00:19:28,381 --> 00:19:33,219 She found this partner who understood how to help her bring that out, 427 00:19:33,303 --> 00:19:36,181 because he was just as out there as she was. 428 00:19:36,264 --> 00:19:39,434 You know, they would talk about not listening to the radio 429 00:19:39,517 --> 00:19:42,061 and not being exposed to outside influences, 430 00:19:42,145 --> 00:19:45,356 and having to go inside their minds to find their sound. 431 00:19:45,773 --> 00:19:48,443 And "Supa Dupa Fly" was the result of that. 432 00:19:48,526 --> 00:19:51,321 ♪I be the B-R-A-T, her be Missy ♪ 433 00:19:51,404 --> 00:19:54,365 ♪And we some bad bitches Who be roughin' it up ♪ 434 00:19:54,449 --> 00:19:57,243 ♪I'm the B-R-A-T, her be Missy ♪ 435 00:19:57,327 --> 00:20:01,039 ♪And we some bad bitches Who be roughin' it up ♪ 436 00:20:01,122 --> 00:20:04,375 I mean, Missy was really like, a "What the fuck?" moment. 437 00:20:05,001 --> 00:20:06,252 Not only was she a dope MC, 438 00:20:06,336 --> 00:20:08,546 but she was so uniquely her own, 439 00:20:08,796 --> 00:20:13,426 and she was so smart, in terms of her visual representation. 440 00:20:13,509 --> 00:20:15,094 "I'm not gonna look like an Randamp;B diva. 441 00:20:15,178 --> 00:20:18,932 You know what? Put me in a fucking black garbage bag, 442 00:20:19,182 --> 00:20:22,185 and blow me up so I look like a space creature, 443 00:20:22,268 --> 00:20:23,645 and everybody's going to love it." 444 00:20:24,646 --> 00:20:26,564 She is singular and unique. 445 00:20:27,232 --> 00:20:30,944 I don't think there is an artist, then or now, 446 00:20:31,027 --> 00:20:34,739 who sounds like, feels like, Missy Elliott. 447 00:20:34,906 --> 00:20:38,368 ♪Sock it to me like you want to, ooh ♪ 448 00:20:38,451 --> 00:20:40,620 ♪I can take it like a pro you'll know ♪ 449 00:20:41,537 --> 00:20:43,957 ♪Do it long bro with a back stroke ♪ 450 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:47,126 ♪My hormones jumpin' like a disco ♪ 451 00:20:47,210 --> 00:20:49,295 ♪I be poppin' mats like some Crisco. ♪ 452 00:20:50,046 --> 00:20:52,465 ♪And all you gotta say is that Missy go ♪ 453 00:20:53,132 --> 00:20:55,093 ♪And when you say it though I want it moved slow ♪ 454 00:20:55,176 --> 00:20:58,680 [Magoo] Saying Missy and Tim are super producers is an understatement. 455 00:20:59,055 --> 00:21:02,892 Just their production style sounds like it's from another time. 456 00:21:02,976 --> 00:21:04,060 Almost as like... 457 00:21:04,644 --> 00:21:08,273 they went on a spaceship with Marty and Doc, 458 00:21:09,232 --> 00:21:12,443 and got the idea for how to produce the music from somewhere else. 459 00:21:12,944 --> 00:21:14,404 Maybe it's a VA thing. 460 00:21:15,405 --> 00:21:18,491 What came out of VA is creativity, 461 00:21:19,242 --> 00:21:21,995 a new way of music being heard, 462 00:21:22,078 --> 00:21:24,580 and it was the birth of what rhythm is today. 463 00:21:24,664 --> 00:21:25,707 ["Supa Dupa Fly" playing] 464 00:21:25,790 --> 00:21:29,043 ♪Sock it to me Sock it to me ♪ 465 00:21:29,127 --> 00:21:31,587 [narrator] It might be hip-hop's greatest strength as a genre, 466 00:21:31,671 --> 00:21:33,381 that it observes no real rules. 467 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:35,300 No sound is heretical. 468 00:21:36,009 --> 00:21:37,051 Nothing is out of bounds. 469 00:21:37,677 --> 00:21:39,887 As long as it moves people and you can rhyme to it, 470 00:21:40,054 --> 00:21:40,888 you're good. 471 00:21:41,389 --> 00:21:44,517 Missy, Timbaland and The Neptunes leaned into that, 472 00:21:44,892 --> 00:21:46,936 and took over hip-hop, pop and Randamp;B 473 00:21:47,186 --> 00:21:48,688 by forgetting everything they knew. 474 00:21:50,857 --> 00:21:52,734 But, sometimes, hip-hop works the other way, too, 475 00:21:53,860 --> 00:21:55,028 and figures out the future, 476 00:21:55,445 --> 00:21:57,280 by obsessively studying the past. 477 00:21:57,655 --> 00:21:59,198 [techno music playing] 478 00:21:59,282 --> 00:22:02,076 No matter how distant and different its predecessors might seem. 479 00:22:05,872 --> 00:22:09,751 Early '80s Detroit is the techno capital of the world. 480 00:22:10,668 --> 00:22:14,505 We coming up with Juan Atkins, Cybotron, Clear. 481 00:22:14,881 --> 00:22:18,426 [techno music playing] 482 00:22:20,386 --> 00:22:22,680 I mean, that shit, that's our shit! 483 00:22:25,808 --> 00:22:29,062 That fucking techno is in the water, you know what I mean? 484 00:22:29,937 --> 00:22:34,942 Hip-hop in Detroit evolved with techno kind of in a linear way, 485 00:22:35,443 --> 00:22:39,614 as New York with hip-hop and punk, kind of at the same time. 486 00:22:39,697 --> 00:22:41,657 Same venues, same parties, even. 487 00:22:41,741 --> 00:22:44,535 It was just a mixture of incredible music. 488 00:22:44,619 --> 00:22:45,995 There were no barriers. 489 00:22:46,079 --> 00:22:49,999 And that, ultimately, helped us shape our musical point of view. 490 00:22:50,541 --> 00:22:51,376 Where it was like, 491 00:22:52,335 --> 00:22:54,087 "What genre? Like, is it funky?" 492 00:22:54,754 --> 00:22:57,006 Dilla encompasses all of these ideas. 493 00:22:57,090 --> 00:23:00,343 He incorporates techno, he incorporates Tony Allen, 494 00:23:00,635 --> 00:23:02,637 you know, a little bit of Clyde Stubblefield, 495 00:23:03,012 --> 00:23:04,389 and it's very Detroit. 496 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:06,140 Techno is a Detroit genre, 497 00:23:06,224 --> 00:23:07,183 as is Dilla. 498 00:23:09,435 --> 00:23:11,854 [narrator] Detroit's history as a center for both modern 499 00:23:11,938 --> 00:23:13,064 and traditional black music 500 00:23:13,147 --> 00:23:16,150 made it the perfect training ground for the musically curious. 501 00:23:17,026 --> 00:23:18,528 So, maybe it makes perfect sense 502 00:23:18,611 --> 00:23:21,155 that a musical omnivore with a tireless work ethic 503 00:23:21,239 --> 00:23:24,325 would emerge from the D to channel the canon of black music, 504 00:23:24,534 --> 00:23:26,244 via his mastery of machines. 505 00:23:28,454 --> 00:23:30,540 [interviewer] So, I want to ask you about the early days, 506 00:23:30,623 --> 00:23:31,749 when you first met Dilla. 507 00:23:31,833 --> 00:23:34,001 Even early on, Dilla was like, 508 00:23:34,919 --> 00:23:36,838 just different from the kids. 509 00:23:36,921 --> 00:23:39,257 Like, kids had backpacks, he had a briefcase. 510 00:23:39,465 --> 00:23:40,716 You know what I'm saying? 511 00:23:41,175 --> 00:23:44,804 He was super smart, and his talent was crazy. 512 00:23:45,179 --> 00:23:46,514 He'd go like, record shopping, 513 00:23:46,639 --> 00:23:49,016 and he'd get a lot of stuff like, I didn't know the names of. 514 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:51,519 [J Dilla] When I make music, it's straight from the heart. 515 00:23:51,602 --> 00:23:52,979 I want people to feel what I feel. 516 00:23:53,062 --> 00:23:55,440 I want them to feel that energy... 517 00:23:55,606 --> 00:23:56,858 [T3] I had heard about Dilla. 518 00:23:56,941 --> 00:23:58,359 Heard he had crazy beats. 519 00:23:58,443 --> 00:24:00,486 So, we met, we went to his house. 520 00:24:00,570 --> 00:24:02,113 He had a little, bitty drum machine, 521 00:24:02,447 --> 00:24:03,656 but those beats were crazy, 522 00:24:03,739 --> 00:24:05,283 and that's when we formed Slum Village. 523 00:24:07,618 --> 00:24:09,579 We grew up in Conant Gardens. 524 00:24:09,787 --> 00:24:12,999 It just so happened that we found a guy called Amp Fiddler. 525 00:24:13,082 --> 00:24:15,418 He stayed in Conant Gardens with us, 526 00:24:15,501 --> 00:24:16,711 which was even more insane. 527 00:24:16,878 --> 00:24:20,298 It's just like, how'd we find this one guy who lets us come to his house? 528 00:24:20,631 --> 00:24:22,049 Some kids he don't know, 529 00:24:22,842 --> 00:24:25,303 come to his house and record stuff. 530 00:24:26,262 --> 00:24:28,639 [Amp Fiddler] I was a musician for Parliament/Funkadelic, 531 00:24:28,764 --> 00:24:30,516 and I had my own studio downstairs, 532 00:24:30,683 --> 00:24:32,393 and these kids came to my house 533 00:24:32,518 --> 00:24:35,313 and asked me if I could help get some music done. 534 00:24:35,396 --> 00:24:38,024 And I was like, "Yo, so, what's up? What do y'all want to do? 535 00:24:38,107 --> 00:24:40,067 I'm down for helping y'all to make it happen, 536 00:24:40,318 --> 00:24:41,652 if you got skills. 537 00:24:42,361 --> 00:24:44,489 If you don't have skills, don't waste my time." 538 00:24:44,572 --> 00:24:46,199 And that's when I heard Dilla. 539 00:24:46,532 --> 00:24:49,160 [interviewer] What did you think of what he was putting together? 540 00:24:49,327 --> 00:24:51,370 [Amp Fiddler] The audio quality was horrible, 541 00:24:51,454 --> 00:24:54,415 but the skill set behind it and the ear? 542 00:24:54,874 --> 00:24:55,791 Amazing. 543 00:24:55,917 --> 00:24:57,877 He already knew what he wanted. 544 00:24:58,127 --> 00:24:59,378 He just needed tools. 545 00:25:00,379 --> 00:25:02,048 I showed Dilla the MPC. 546 00:25:02,215 --> 00:25:03,341 "This is how you use it." 547 00:25:03,424 --> 00:25:06,093 I said, you know, the sky is the limit what you can do with this shit. 548 00:25:06,177 --> 00:25:07,970 It's just what you could imagine. 549 00:25:08,054 --> 00:25:09,972 He did it all with that damn machine. 550 00:25:10,056 --> 00:25:14,435 [T3] Yo, we made this shit in a basement in like, 30 minutes. 551 00:25:14,519 --> 00:25:16,521 [hip-hop beats playing] 552 00:25:19,190 --> 00:25:21,984 [Baatin] Turn the mic up a little. Turn it up. 553 00:25:22,443 --> 00:25:24,153 [indistinct rapping] 554 00:25:36,415 --> 00:25:37,917 [T3] He always pushed the boundaries. 555 00:25:38,167 --> 00:25:40,836 The drums going off a little bit, you know what I'm saying? 556 00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:43,339 But, damn, that's what's making this funky, though, 557 00:25:43,422 --> 00:25:44,340 at the same time. 558 00:25:44,465 --> 00:25:47,468 It's on enough where it's not like, sloppy. 559 00:25:47,552 --> 00:25:50,054 In an era where you could make everything so perfect-- 560 00:25:50,137 --> 00:25:51,681 Yeah, you can quantize everything! 561 00:25:51,764 --> 00:25:53,891 [electronic drum sounds] 562 00:25:53,975 --> 00:25:56,811 [DJ Dez] Quantization is assistance of the drum machine. 563 00:25:57,019 --> 00:25:58,020 It just puts it on beat. 564 00:25:58,104 --> 00:26:02,358 The reality is when musicians and real people play, the timing shifts. 565 00:26:02,441 --> 00:26:08,281 There's little imperfections and nuances and expressions that take place, 566 00:26:08,364 --> 00:26:11,492 that you can't get with anything quantized. 567 00:26:12,243 --> 00:26:15,246 That's one thing I learned about J Dilla instantly 568 00:26:15,329 --> 00:26:19,333 from his production was, don't depend on quantization. 569 00:26:19,709 --> 00:26:21,252 Use your instinct. 570 00:26:22,336 --> 00:26:23,629 Don't stay in the box. 571 00:26:23,713 --> 00:26:26,841 [indistinct hip-hop playing] 572 00:26:30,344 --> 00:26:32,054 [Amp Fiddler] There was a distinct difference 573 00:26:32,138 --> 00:26:35,141 between that and everything else in hip-hop at the time. 574 00:26:35,224 --> 00:26:36,517 Deep in the back of his mind, 575 00:26:36,684 --> 00:26:39,812 there was a rhythm that God gave him that was like nobody else. 576 00:26:40,521 --> 00:26:41,981 He made me feel like reggae, 577 00:26:42,148 --> 00:26:43,482 because he was behind the beat. 578 00:26:45,443 --> 00:26:47,153 That made people excited. 579 00:26:47,236 --> 00:26:51,574 And, on the underground, it was like, "Oh, shit, this is dope." 580 00:26:53,492 --> 00:26:55,911 Say "Hell, yeah!" 581 00:26:57,747 --> 00:26:59,373 Word the fuck up. 582 00:26:59,749 --> 00:27:01,584 [Q-Tip] I was on a Lollapalooza tour, 583 00:27:01,667 --> 00:27:02,960 and Funkadelic was on there, 584 00:27:03,044 --> 00:27:05,296 and this guy Amp Fiddler was playing keyboards, 585 00:27:05,421 --> 00:27:07,757 and he was like, "Man, glad to meet you, bro. 586 00:27:08,049 --> 00:27:10,426 I got this brother, man, he's just like you. 587 00:27:10,509 --> 00:27:12,970 Like, he loves you, man. I can't wait till we get to Detroit, 588 00:27:13,137 --> 00:27:14,096 so you can meet him." 589 00:27:14,805 --> 00:27:17,850 So, then, we get to Detroit. Amp comes on the bus with Dilla, 590 00:27:18,059 --> 00:27:19,143 he brings him on, 591 00:27:19,226 --> 00:27:21,270 and he's smiling ear to ear, with glasses on, 592 00:27:21,687 --> 00:27:24,106 "Yo, here's our tape, man." 593 00:27:24,482 --> 00:27:26,525 He couldn't really talk. Amp was smiling. 594 00:27:26,609 --> 00:27:28,903 They gave me the tape. You know, it was, "Peace." 595 00:27:28,986 --> 00:27:30,154 [music playing] 596 00:27:30,237 --> 00:27:32,907 Then, later, I'm listening to this shit 597 00:27:32,990 --> 00:27:36,118 in the back of the bus with Trugoy, from De La. 598 00:27:36,202 --> 00:27:39,664 I'm like, "Listen to this shit! This shit is called Slum Village." 599 00:27:39,997 --> 00:27:42,500 So, he's like, "Yo, this shit is ill!" 600 00:27:43,250 --> 00:27:44,960 Song two, "Yo, what the fuck?" 601 00:27:45,044 --> 00:27:46,087 I'm like, "It's ill, right? 602 00:27:46,295 --> 00:27:48,297 I'm not buggin', right? This shit is crazy, right?" 603 00:27:48,589 --> 00:27:50,341 He's like, "Yo, dig it. This shit is ill. 604 00:27:50,424 --> 00:27:52,051 Who doing the beats?!" 605 00:27:52,134 --> 00:27:53,469 I was like, "I know, right? 606 00:27:53,552 --> 00:27:55,638 -[interviewer chuckling] -Them beats is crazy, right?" 607 00:27:55,721 --> 00:27:58,516 Like, this shit was kind of like, I guess, what I did, 608 00:27:58,599 --> 00:27:59,558 but way better. 609 00:27:59,975 --> 00:28:03,062 I played it for Questlove, Common. 610 00:28:03,145 --> 00:28:04,438 I played it for Pharcyde, 611 00:28:04,522 --> 00:28:07,692 and I was just talking about him to everybody, 612 00:28:07,775 --> 00:28:10,236 "You gotta hear, you gotta hear." 613 00:28:13,364 --> 00:28:15,366 [record scratching] 614 00:28:15,616 --> 00:28:17,118 [Bootie Brown] When we hear this tape, 615 00:28:17,243 --> 00:28:18,869 we're just like, "This is new shit! 616 00:28:18,953 --> 00:28:21,080 Like, there's no drum patterns, there's nothing." 617 00:28:21,163 --> 00:28:22,873 It's like, "What is this?" 618 00:28:22,957 --> 00:28:24,542 We're like, "That's it. 619 00:28:24,625 --> 00:28:25,751 That's our new sound." 620 00:28:25,835 --> 00:28:27,837 ["Drop" playing] 621 00:28:36,137 --> 00:28:37,138 ♪Let me freak the funk, ♪ 622 00:28:37,221 --> 00:28:40,224 ♪Obsolete is the punk that talk more junk than Sanford sells ♪ 623 00:28:40,307 --> 00:28:42,893 ♪I jet propel at a rate that complicate their mental state ♪ 624 00:28:42,977 --> 00:28:46,564 ♪As I invade their masquerade They couldn't fade with a clipper blade ♪ 625 00:28:46,647 --> 00:28:48,941 [interviewer] Can you talk about the significance of that beat? 626 00:28:49,024 --> 00:28:51,360 Because that, basically... I mean, it was a huge hit song. 627 00:28:51,444 --> 00:28:54,029 It also introduced this revolutionary artist, 628 00:28:54,113 --> 00:28:55,406 producer, to the world. 629 00:28:55,489 --> 00:28:56,657 We told this fool, like, 630 00:28:56,741 --> 00:28:58,868 "Dude, you're gonna get so big, you'll forget about us, 631 00:28:58,951 --> 00:29:01,078 and we'll never get a chance to fuck with you again, right?" 632 00:29:01,162 --> 00:29:03,581 -Wow. -Right? We told him all this shit. 633 00:29:03,998 --> 00:29:07,084 And, at the time, he was in the caterpillar stage, 634 00:29:07,168 --> 00:29:08,669 but he became a butterfly. 635 00:29:09,003 --> 00:29:12,506 ♪Yeah, you know what time is it Yeah, uh-huh ♪ 636 00:29:12,757 --> 00:29:15,968 Dilla had just completed work with Pharcyde on the West Coast. 637 00:29:16,051 --> 00:29:18,012 He went and bought a BMW cash, 638 00:29:18,596 --> 00:29:20,681 and he went from his parents car to that. 639 00:29:21,807 --> 00:29:22,641 Like, quick. 640 00:29:24,018 --> 00:29:25,853 Damn, man. We about to lose our homeboy. 641 00:29:26,145 --> 00:29:28,981 You know what I'm saying? He about to move to LA. 642 00:29:29,315 --> 00:29:30,733 What I do is, I make CDs. 643 00:29:30,858 --> 00:29:32,443 Twenty-four beats per CD. 644 00:29:32,526 --> 00:29:35,654 More beats, more exposure, you know? 645 00:29:35,863 --> 00:29:37,072 I'm trying to set it off. 646 00:29:37,740 --> 00:29:41,285 People would be crazy for his next beat CD, 647 00:29:41,619 --> 00:29:44,121 because you didn't know what you were gonna hear. 648 00:29:44,205 --> 00:29:46,207 You got Slum Village, we were trying to get beats. 649 00:29:46,290 --> 00:29:49,251 Then you have Q-Tip, Busta. You had De La Soul. 650 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:52,546 And people were attacking his beats CD like dogs. 651 00:29:52,713 --> 00:29:55,090 It would be gone, that quick. Like, just like that. 652 00:29:55,174 --> 00:29:57,968 [electronic samples playing] 653 00:29:58,052 --> 00:29:59,470 [Royce Da 5'9"] At Dilla's house, 654 00:29:59,553 --> 00:30:01,555 he had the basement done for the studio. 655 00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:02,765 We just down there, working. 656 00:30:02,848 --> 00:30:04,475 I asked him if I could get some water. 657 00:30:04,558 --> 00:30:07,186 He told me right up the stairs, he told me to go in the refrigerator. 658 00:30:07,269 --> 00:30:09,230 And I remember coming up the stairs, 659 00:30:09,563 --> 00:30:10,731 and I open up the door, 660 00:30:11,690 --> 00:30:12,942 and sitting on the couch, 661 00:30:13,234 --> 00:30:14,235 is Common. 662 00:30:14,985 --> 00:30:17,613 No shoes on, just totally relaxed. Just sitting there, chilling. 663 00:30:19,031 --> 00:30:20,533 I'm like, "What the fuck? 664 00:30:21,116 --> 00:30:22,159 What's up, Common?" 665 00:30:22,243 --> 00:30:23,619 You know what I'm saying? He's like, 666 00:30:23,911 --> 00:30:25,579 "Hey, what's up, man? How you doing?" 667 00:30:25,663 --> 00:30:26,539 So I shook his hand, 668 00:30:26,622 --> 00:30:28,332 and I just remember thinking to myself like, 669 00:30:28,415 --> 00:30:29,667 "This dude is a legend, man." 670 00:30:29,959 --> 00:30:31,043 He is Detroit, dude. 671 00:30:31,418 --> 00:30:34,547 And he just got guys like Common, just sitting on his couch. 672 00:30:34,630 --> 00:30:36,257 Like, with no shoes on. 673 00:30:36,340 --> 00:30:38,717 I saw Common's feet, like, as a kid. You know what I'm saying? 674 00:30:39,927 --> 00:30:41,929 -Oh, yeah. -Shit. 675 00:30:42,763 --> 00:30:44,765 Yeah, yeah. 676 00:30:44,974 --> 00:30:46,976 [Common] I want to take it somewhere else, too. 677 00:30:47,059 --> 00:30:49,812 Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I just want all this to be the atmosphere. 678 00:30:50,521 --> 00:30:53,399 [Waajeed] He had a tendency to downplay colossal things. 679 00:30:53,899 --> 00:30:55,943 "Erykah Badu's in the basement. What was you saying?" 680 00:30:56,026 --> 00:30:57,319 It's like, "What? 681 00:30:58,070 --> 00:31:00,823 Did you just drop a bomb like that and keep it moving?" 682 00:31:01,323 --> 00:31:03,659 So, I remember being one of the first people 683 00:31:03,742 --> 00:31:05,160 that was informed that he was sick. 684 00:31:05,494 --> 00:31:08,998 It was early on, but you know, we didn't take it that serious, 685 00:31:09,081 --> 00:31:09,957 to be frank. 686 00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:11,542 He downplayed it pretty well. 687 00:31:11,625 --> 00:31:14,295 Yeah, it wasn't 'till I saw him in the hospital, on his birthday, 688 00:31:14,837 --> 00:31:16,422 that I knew how it really was, yeah. 689 00:31:17,756 --> 00:31:19,633 [House Shoes] Phone rings, it's Waajeed. 690 00:31:19,717 --> 00:31:20,968 He's like, "He's gone." 691 00:31:22,303 --> 00:31:23,387 "What the fuck you mean? 692 00:31:23,470 --> 00:31:25,055 What are you talking about, 'He's gone?'" 693 00:31:25,222 --> 00:31:26,724 And his whole tone just got-- 694 00:31:26,974 --> 00:31:29,685 Probably some of the most urgent shit that I've ever heard in my life. 695 00:31:29,768 --> 00:31:31,103 He's like, "Shoes, he's gone." 696 00:31:34,773 --> 00:31:37,234 [Kahn] When he passed, that was a huge deal. 697 00:31:37,985 --> 00:31:38,819 "He's gone." 698 00:31:38,986 --> 00:31:39,820 Like, "Wait, what? 699 00:31:40,237 --> 00:31:41,071 What did he have?" 700 00:31:41,155 --> 00:31:43,657 Well, he had lupus, a blood disorder, he was going through this." 701 00:31:43,741 --> 00:31:46,952 And so, the story spilled out afterwards. 702 00:31:47,036 --> 00:31:50,247 And then, when it hit you... Like, okay, this guy... 703 00:31:50,331 --> 00:31:53,250 We're not gonna let this dude's legacy, what he stands for, die. 704 00:31:53,584 --> 00:31:56,253 He's your favorite producer's favorite producer. 705 00:31:59,214 --> 00:32:01,008 ["Find a Way" playing] 706 00:32:06,347 --> 00:32:08,140 ♪Now you caught my heart for the evening ♪ 707 00:32:08,724 --> 00:32:11,393 ♪Kissed my cheek, moved in you confused things ♪ 708 00:32:11,477 --> 00:32:15,064 ♪Should I just sit out or come harder? Help me find my way ♪ 709 00:32:16,565 --> 00:32:18,359 ♪Now you caught my heart for the evening ♪ 710 00:32:18,943 --> 00:32:21,612 ♪Kissed my cheek, moved in you confused things ♪ 711 00:32:21,695 --> 00:32:25,282 ♪Should I just sit out of come harder? Help me find my way ♪ 712 00:32:26,075 --> 00:32:27,618 [Will.I.Am] We all looked up to Dilla. 713 00:32:27,952 --> 00:32:29,244 He's a puzzlemaker. 714 00:32:29,536 --> 00:32:30,913 He breaks it all up, 715 00:32:31,580 --> 00:32:35,876 and then reforms the puzzle in ways you never thought possible. 716 00:32:36,710 --> 00:32:37,544 That's Dilla. 717 00:32:38,504 --> 00:32:41,382 [Q-Tip] You know, the "behind the beat" thing, with him. 718 00:32:41,465 --> 00:32:43,050 The switch-up shit, with him. 719 00:32:43,384 --> 00:32:46,637 How this shit hit at the right time, just perfect. 720 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:49,348 It was like Michelin star hip-hop. 721 00:32:49,682 --> 00:32:52,893 The motherfucker has just such an incredible feel. 722 00:32:53,727 --> 00:32:57,022 ♪I'm on my J.O. Bullshitting hoping that the day go slow ♪ 723 00:32:57,398 --> 00:32:59,400 ♪Got like a friend, What confuses me though ♪ 724 00:32:59,858 --> 00:33:02,152 ♪Is kisses when we breeze, Tell me what's the deal yo? ♪ 725 00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:07,408 [interviewer] What do you think the music world lost with him passing so young? 726 00:33:08,117 --> 00:33:11,620 [Waajeed] Dilla was a leader for styles and points of view. 727 00:33:11,996 --> 00:33:13,455 But, I'll tell you what they gained. 728 00:33:13,539 --> 00:33:15,249 What they gained was the cornerstone 729 00:33:15,332 --> 00:33:17,334 to be able to take it to the next level themselves. 730 00:33:17,835 --> 00:33:18,919 We got to keep it moving. 731 00:33:19,003 --> 00:33:21,714 We got to focus on, "What's the next sound, the new thing? 732 00:33:23,048 --> 00:33:25,759 [Amp Fiddler] Most of our geniuses leave early. 733 00:33:26,427 --> 00:33:29,763 They leave us their legacy, and they leave us their music. 734 00:33:30,389 --> 00:33:32,558 And I think the music will live on forever. 735 00:33:32,766 --> 00:33:34,768 ♪Help me find my way Now talk it out ♪ 736 00:33:35,269 --> 00:33:37,730 ♪Now you caught my heart for the evening ♪ 737 00:33:38,439 --> 00:33:42,234 [narrator] While the soft-spoken J Dilla was admired by his peers during his life, 738 00:33:42,526 --> 00:33:44,361 it was in death that his legacy grew. 739 00:33:45,362 --> 00:33:47,114 Today, Dilla is globally recognized 740 00:33:47,197 --> 00:33:50,034 as one of hip-hop's greatest innovators and geniuses. 741 00:33:50,534 --> 00:33:52,536 A man who put the soul back into sampling. 742 00:33:52,703 --> 00:33:53,537 [door closes] 743 00:33:53,620 --> 00:33:56,165 [sampled drum beat playing] 744 00:33:56,248 --> 00:33:58,500 [narrator] But, not far from Dilla, in Chicago, 745 00:33:58,834 --> 00:34:00,753 another sampling savant was at work. 746 00:34:01,253 --> 00:34:04,047 And this soon-to-be super producer was never going to wait for a eulogy 747 00:34:04,130 --> 00:34:05,466 to be crowned a genius. 748 00:34:05,549 --> 00:34:09,136 He was determined to let the world know he was one from the get-go. 749 00:34:14,433 --> 00:34:16,226 ?杵erve base heads by the streets accordin'♪ 750 00:34:16,310 --> 00:34:18,603 ♪Kanye more important than Michael Jordan. ♪ 751 00:34:18,687 --> 00:34:20,981 ♪Got this rap game locked, you can call the warden ♪ 752 00:34:21,065 --> 00:34:22,858 ♪Give hoes cock, then I'm gone by mornin' ♪ 753 00:34:22,940 --> 00:34:23,775 ♪I'm gone ♪ 754 00:34:23,859 --> 00:34:27,696 [Coodie Simmons] He was probably 15, 16, when I first got wind of him. 755 00:34:27,780 --> 00:34:30,866 He was super confident, but he still had them other sides 756 00:34:30,949 --> 00:34:35,036 that was like a kid just trying to figure it out, trying to make it. 757 00:34:35,661 --> 00:34:37,956 Of course, he was producing people out in Chicago, 758 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:41,001 and started doing beats for Jermaine Dupri and them peoples. 759 00:34:41,502 --> 00:34:43,337 Samples was, you know, maybe in the beginning 760 00:34:43,420 --> 00:34:44,713 more loops than chops, 761 00:34:44,963 --> 00:34:47,007 but they always had this feel. 762 00:34:47,091 --> 00:34:50,552 The drums. His programming was really... 763 00:34:51,595 --> 00:34:53,806 You know, nothing was gonna be loose. 764 00:34:53,889 --> 00:34:55,557 Everything sounded good, 765 00:34:56,558 --> 00:34:57,726 and he was still a kid. 766 00:34:58,060 --> 00:35:00,938 For a long time, people were telling me, "Man, if you go out to New York, 767 00:35:01,396 --> 00:35:04,900 you could really get your music on, you could really kill the game out there." 768 00:35:06,276 --> 00:35:08,987 I packed up all my stuff, packed up all my decks, 769 00:35:09,196 --> 00:35:11,824 threw it in a U-Haul, and I just drove to New York. 770 00:35:13,325 --> 00:35:15,911 [John Monopoly] We were going around trying to sell beats in the city. 771 00:35:15,994 --> 00:35:18,330 We were just trying to rub elbows with the hottest. 772 00:35:18,455 --> 00:35:21,333 At least, that's kind of what the strategy was, back then. 773 00:35:21,416 --> 00:35:25,087 But he always rapped and he made it so you knew that he rapped. 774 00:35:25,170 --> 00:35:26,213 You know what I mean? 775 00:35:26,588 --> 00:35:29,758 In Aandamp;R meetings, with CEOs of labels that he... 776 00:35:30,717 --> 00:35:32,886 He would hop up on tables. 777 00:35:32,970 --> 00:35:33,887 He'd let you know, 778 00:35:34,012 --> 00:35:37,182 "Yo, I got hot beats, but I got them lines." 779 00:35:37,891 --> 00:35:39,143 [interviewer] Kanye as a rapper. 780 00:35:39,434 --> 00:35:41,395 What did you think of him initially, as a rapper? 781 00:35:42,604 --> 00:35:44,189 I didn't... [laughs] 782 00:35:44,314 --> 00:35:47,568 It took a while for Kanye to find an identity. 783 00:35:47,651 --> 00:35:49,987 Nobody at the labels believed in him. 784 00:35:50,612 --> 00:35:54,241 But, as a producer... Oh, man, people respected. 785 00:35:54,366 --> 00:35:56,827 Once he had the respect, he wanted the win. 786 00:35:57,494 --> 00:35:59,037 [Kyambo Joshua] I was an Aandamp;R for Jay-Z. 787 00:35:59,246 --> 00:36:01,165 Kanye, he would constantly send me stuff. 788 00:36:01,248 --> 00:36:02,749 He was just like, "What do I need to do? 789 00:36:02,833 --> 00:36:05,335 Like, what type of music? What type of sound? 790 00:36:05,419 --> 00:36:06,378 What do Jay need?" 791 00:36:06,461 --> 00:36:08,463 I tried to give him advice, what we were working on 792 00:36:08,547 --> 00:36:09,548 for The Blueprint album, 793 00:36:09,631 --> 00:36:14,178 when we were kind of shifting into more of a soulful vibe. 794 00:36:14,469 --> 00:36:16,805 And the next day, he was like, 795 00:36:16,889 --> 00:36:17,764 "Check this beat out." 796 00:36:17,848 --> 00:36:19,391 He's playing "H to the Izzo." 797 00:36:19,474 --> 00:36:21,685 I said, "Send me this beat, Jay gotta use it" you know? 798 00:36:21,768 --> 00:36:22,603 Wow. 799 00:36:22,686 --> 00:36:23,896 He was like, "You sure?" 800 00:36:23,979 --> 00:36:26,148 I was like, "Send me that right away." And Jay used it. 801 00:36:27,357 --> 00:36:29,151 [Kanye] HOV done bobbing his head to it. 802 00:36:29,276 --> 00:36:31,945 ♪H to the Izz-O, V to the Izz-A ♪ 803 00:36:32,029 --> 00:36:34,990 ♪For shizzle , my nizzle, Used to dribble down in VA ♪ 804 00:36:35,073 --> 00:36:37,075 [giggles] 805 00:36:37,492 --> 00:36:40,162 I called my Mom, I said, "Mom, we about to make it!" 806 00:36:40,245 --> 00:36:43,123 ♪H to the Izz-O, V to the Izz-A ♪ 807 00:36:43,207 --> 00:36:45,209 ♪For shizzle, my nizzle, Used to dribble down in VA ♪ 808 00:36:45,292 --> 00:36:48,170 It was like a vibe was set for that first Kanye record. 809 00:36:49,004 --> 00:36:51,632 'Ye ended up producing six songs for the album: 810 00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:54,801 "Never Change," "Ain? No Love," "Song Cry." 811 00:36:55,260 --> 00:36:58,388 Jay went around playing it for Timbaland, Pharrell, 812 00:36:58,472 --> 00:36:59,973 and people were just tripping. 813 00:37:00,057 --> 00:37:01,767 Every time they came, it was like, "Whoa." 814 00:37:02,142 --> 00:37:03,894 [Monopoly] The sped-up soul sample... 815 00:37:03,977 --> 00:37:07,564 That sound, man... It was progressive, new. 816 00:37:07,814 --> 00:37:09,316 He championed that lane. 817 00:37:09,566 --> 00:37:11,068 That was his staple sound. 818 00:37:12,194 --> 00:37:14,321 [Damon Dash] Kanye had showed me this tattoo with like, 819 00:37:14,446 --> 00:37:16,323 you know, these records that he had done. 820 00:37:16,907 --> 00:37:18,700 I was like, "Man, you better get longer arms." 821 00:37:18,784 --> 00:37:20,619 You know? Like, "You just started." 822 00:37:20,702 --> 00:37:22,996 What did you think of his rhymes, his skills as an MC? 823 00:37:23,580 --> 00:37:26,041 I wasn't thinking of him as a rapper. Look who I was around. 824 00:37:26,124 --> 00:37:28,043 JAY-Z, Cam'ron. 825 00:37:28,252 --> 00:37:29,544 I thought he had guts, 826 00:37:29,628 --> 00:37:32,631 because he would walk into Baseline, and I'd be wanting to hear music. 827 00:37:32,881 --> 00:37:34,758 He would just play shit, like, with him rapping, 828 00:37:34,841 --> 00:37:35,842 in the mix of all of us. 829 00:37:35,926 --> 00:37:37,761 And I'm like, "You got a lot of fucking nerve," 830 00:37:38,220 --> 00:37:39,054 and I liked that. 831 00:37:39,805 --> 00:37:43,517 [Kanye] If I could rap anywhere near the caliber of my beats, 832 00:37:44,226 --> 00:37:45,477 I would kill the game. 833 00:37:46,603 --> 00:37:47,854 Murder the game. 834 00:37:47,938 --> 00:37:50,816 He would play a beat for Jay, and then he would jump on the table, 835 00:37:51,233 --> 00:37:52,985 and rap to everybody in the studio. 836 00:37:53,652 --> 00:37:56,196 He was very animated. He was driven. 837 00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:58,240 I remember walking in the studio one day, 838 00:37:58,323 --> 00:38:01,285 and Kanye was rapping his heart out for Jay-Z. 839 00:38:01,785 --> 00:38:04,663 Jay was on his two-way, Jay was making calls, 840 00:38:04,746 --> 00:38:05,872 Kanye just kept rapping. 841 00:38:05,956 --> 00:38:07,040 Jay was filing his nails. 842 00:38:07,916 --> 00:38:10,294 He was doing everything but listen to this kid rap. 843 00:38:11,128 --> 00:38:12,713 And I was, like, "Yo, he's alright. 844 00:38:12,796 --> 00:38:14,131 A little weird, but he's alright. 845 00:38:14,214 --> 00:38:15,090 He can rap." 846 00:38:15,173 --> 00:38:17,843 I think the thought was just, "Give him what he needs, 847 00:38:17,926 --> 00:38:18,802 get him in-house, 848 00:38:19,177 --> 00:38:20,762 he'll make music for everybody, 849 00:38:21,179 --> 00:38:22,597 and he'll do his thing, too. 850 00:38:23,015 --> 00:38:23,849 Whatever. 851 00:38:24,641 --> 00:38:27,728 [Damon] I told him to make an album and make it a compilation, 852 00:38:27,811 --> 00:38:30,814 because you know, with your beats and all of us on it, it's gonna go gold. 853 00:38:30,897 --> 00:38:33,358 And I'm the newest member of the Roc-A-Fella team. 854 00:38:34,318 --> 00:38:35,944 [Kyambo] When 'Ye got signed, 855 00:38:36,069 --> 00:38:39,740 it was a struggle of trying to make people believe 856 00:38:39,823 --> 00:38:42,701 he was a real artist and not a producer-rapper. 857 00:38:43,327 --> 00:38:46,747 That was, like, the stigma, but he was doing a lot of production. 858 00:38:46,830 --> 00:38:48,915 He was kind of overworking himself. 859 00:38:49,833 --> 00:38:53,086 [Will.I.Am] First time I ever met Kanye, he was working on College Dropout, 860 00:38:53,462 --> 00:38:55,714 and he was like, "Yo, Will.I.Am, Black Eyed Peas!" 861 00:38:56,214 --> 00:38:58,008 I'm like, "Yo, let's collaborate." 862 00:38:58,342 --> 00:39:00,344 And he left the studio that day, 863 00:39:00,427 --> 00:39:02,262 and that's the day he got in a car accident. 864 00:39:02,846 --> 00:39:03,764 [Kanye] My whole life changed. 865 00:39:03,847 --> 00:39:06,516 I remember looking in the rear-view mirror, 866 00:39:06,600 --> 00:39:08,935 and seeing my jaw cracked in three places. 867 00:39:09,436 --> 00:39:11,104 [John Monopoly] He breaks half his face, 868 00:39:11,188 --> 00:39:15,108 but he was just so determined to get his music out, 869 00:39:15,317 --> 00:39:18,278 he recorded a record while his mouth was wired shut. 870 00:39:18,362 --> 00:39:20,155 [Coodie Simmons] You know, I'm talking to him, 871 00:39:20,238 --> 00:39:22,282 He like, "Yeah, man, I got this song." 872 00:39:22,366 --> 00:39:24,326 He can't even barely talk, like, "I got this song." 873 00:39:24,409 --> 00:39:25,994 I'm like, "What are you talking about?" 874 00:39:26,078 --> 00:39:27,287 He's like, "You gotta hear it." 875 00:39:27,371 --> 00:39:30,916 I'm like, "You're mouth is wired like, ain't your jaw broken?" 876 00:39:31,416 --> 00:39:32,959 But, he was rapping through the wire. 877 00:39:33,043 --> 00:39:35,170 ♪Bad night right place wrong time ♪ 878 00:39:35,253 --> 00:39:38,673 ♪In the blink of an eye His whole life changed ♪ 879 00:39:38,799 --> 00:39:41,843 [No I.D.] He immediately knew the path he wanted to take as a rapper. 880 00:39:41,927 --> 00:39:45,180 You know, he gave up that ambition to fit in. 881 00:39:45,722 --> 00:39:48,141 I think it was when he found out who he was, 882 00:39:48,683 --> 00:39:50,268 and began to tell his story, 883 00:39:51,061 --> 00:39:52,437 that it became magical. 884 00:39:52,646 --> 00:39:54,106 Who does that? You know what I mean? 885 00:39:54,189 --> 00:39:55,982 Goes through that trauma, 886 00:39:56,566 --> 00:39:57,567 mouth wired, 887 00:39:58,193 --> 00:39:59,569 makes Through the Wire, 888 00:40:00,237 --> 00:40:02,572 and gave Roc-A-Fella a different look. 889 00:40:02,656 --> 00:40:05,409 You know, it wasn't just about one way or one style. 890 00:40:05,826 --> 00:40:08,495 After the accident, he did that record and released that record, 891 00:40:08,578 --> 00:40:11,498 and he couldn't leave LA, because of the pressure. 892 00:40:11,581 --> 00:40:13,041 He couldn't fly for a long time. 893 00:40:13,208 --> 00:40:16,586 So, we got a big corner room in the W hotel. 894 00:40:16,670 --> 00:40:20,757 We set up the studio there, went full mode and finished College Dropout. 895 00:40:21,716 --> 00:40:26,054 [John Monopoly] College Dropout really represents a shift in the culture. 896 00:40:26,179 --> 00:40:30,976 You could actually be articulate and intellectual, and not be a gangster, 897 00:40:31,351 --> 00:40:33,520 but still be fly and have jewelry. 898 00:40:33,603 --> 00:40:36,606 He used to say, "I'm the first guy with a Benz and a backpack." 899 00:40:36,815 --> 00:40:39,776 It showed the individuality of somebody saying, 900 00:40:39,860 --> 00:40:42,821 "Look, I'm not compromising or doing anything what's out there, 901 00:40:43,155 --> 00:40:45,115 I'm doing what's true to me." 902 00:40:45,449 --> 00:40:46,992 That's what he did with "Jesus Walks." 903 00:40:47,075 --> 00:40:49,035 That was something that broke barriers as well 904 00:40:49,119 --> 00:40:52,622 because nobody of that magnitude has every released a song like that. 905 00:40:52,706 --> 00:40:54,416 I believe in Jesus, you know what I mean? 906 00:40:54,499 --> 00:40:56,668 So, I'm like, "Oh, this is cold." 907 00:40:56,751 --> 00:40:58,712 The delivery, how he put it together. 908 00:40:58,795 --> 00:41:01,006 ♪So here go my single, dawg, Radio needs this ♪ 909 00:41:01,089 --> 00:41:03,592 ♪They say you can rap about anything Except for Jesus ♪ 910 00:41:03,675 --> 00:41:06,678 Everything that Kanye was doing was important because no one had done it, 911 00:41:06,761 --> 00:41:09,264 and it was just gutsy to step into hip-hop in that moment, 912 00:41:09,347 --> 00:41:11,391 and to be that way, and to have that point of view. 913 00:41:11,475 --> 00:41:12,517 And he had us behind him. 914 00:41:12,934 --> 00:41:15,145 The whole thing is, y'all people out there, 915 00:41:15,228 --> 00:41:17,355 they're saying, yo, they like the way I rap. 916 00:41:17,439 --> 00:41:19,524 Man, y'all done messed up, boy. 917 00:41:20,150 --> 00:41:21,818 Because, it's over with, now. 918 00:41:22,235 --> 00:41:24,905 Now we in another era where anything goes. 919 00:41:25,155 --> 00:41:26,740 I'm gonna give Kanye that credit. 920 00:41:26,823 --> 00:41:28,825 Anybody can be anything to me now. 921 00:41:29,326 --> 00:41:31,328 [crowd cheers] 922 00:41:34,664 --> 00:41:38,418 [narrator] For years, the attitude in hip-hop towards rapper-producers was, 923 00:41:38,502 --> 00:41:40,879 "Pick a lane, because no one is good at both," 924 00:41:41,463 --> 00:41:43,173 but super producers ended that. 925 00:41:44,007 --> 00:41:47,677 Kanye, Missy, Timbaland, The Neptunes, and Dilla, 926 00:41:47,969 --> 00:41:50,847 didn't share a sound, but they did share an approach. 927 00:41:51,556 --> 00:41:53,058 They were hip-hop auteurs. 928 00:41:53,141 --> 00:41:57,103 Songwriters, beat makers and performers, all rolled into one. 929 00:41:57,729 --> 00:41:59,648 It was an empowering shift in hip-hop, 930 00:41:59,731 --> 00:42:02,567 that allowed these auteurs to spread their sound across hip-hop, 931 00:42:02,859 --> 00:42:03,985 across genres, 932 00:42:04,236 --> 00:42:05,403 and across the charts. 933 00:42:06,321 --> 00:42:09,824 And, for a while, the super producers became hip-hop's new king makers. 934 00:42:10,116 --> 00:42:13,662 That is, until the new breed of rappers came in, 935 00:42:13,870 --> 00:42:15,830 and flipped the whole game on its head.