How did “Foreign Exchange” come into fruition?

I’ve been listening to Rx Papi’s music since last summer. I had DM'ed him about a song of his he had on his Instagram story, and asked if I could send him some beats. His manager told Papi about me and what, and he was excited to do something, so I was like, “Let’s just do a whole album.” I sent him beats for 6 months, and we chose the 8 best songs.

What was the recording process like for “Foreign Exchange”

I would send him beats and he would record in Garageband and send tracks back to me as demos, but then he lost his computer, so we just ran with the demos. I did my best to polish and master the demos, and it is what it is now. It sounds good though, it has a unique sound to it. He has a sound to him already.

I mostly listen for flows and sounds, so it kind of took me a while to hear the lyrics properly. I’d say after a couple months of revisiting the tracks I actually heard what he was saying. I’m not a lyrics person at all, really. I just listen to flows and cadences and stuff. It kind of takes me a while to process the words and the meaning behind it. Lean actually was the one to sequence the tracks, so when he did that and I just started listening to the demos in sequence, I started to hear it, hearing all the pain and the emotions.

So how would you describe "Foreign Exchange" to someone who’s never heard of Sad Boys or Papi?

It’s emotional dopeboy music. Like Martin Scorsese music.

“The beats [we use] are very heavy and already have a story,” Thaiboy once told me. How do you put your own story into your beats?

I kind of stress myself out over that -- because it’s important. I think when I’m not making the music I should be making I get really pissed about it, I get really antsy. I just can’t make any type of shit. Picking the sounds out, everything has to be right about it and if it’s not, and if I can’t make it right, I get really frustrated and I just don’t make music for, like, 6 months. [Oftentimes] because the story is not right or the emotion isn’t clear enough behind it.

Say you are making a beat and it’s going really well, what’s the process like?

It’s usually melodies and chords for me first. Or it’s the sounds, the whole idea getting the right melody with the right sound. There’s a point where they become one thing. I feel with myself, [it’s] grasping something in my head, a foggy thought or an unclear emotion I know I want to reach. It could also be a scene from a movie i’ve seen or some sequence in my head that has emotional weight or clarity to it. Then you kind of make the music. You know, you try to get it where its got to go. Sometimes you actually get it there and you’re convinced. So when it’s a successful session for me, its like im fully convinced by the sounds and melodies. It comes together as one piece and you don’t hear the individual parts, you don’t focus on, “Oh I like the kick drum or the snare” or “I like this part,” it’s just this is a whole thing that is completely in itself, if that makes sense.

You working with new crowds and finding new creative partners is interesting, since that’s something you’re not really known for.

Nah, I wanted to work with very specific people, and I’m still like that. I’m not willing to work with anyone on just anything. Just when it comes to influences and ideas and shit, you need to be in the same space. And it’s kind of hard to find people who share that -- if you like the same shit you might not like it for the same reason. You need to see the same things in the same things for it to work.