The producers behind 6 songs on Jay-Z's up-coming album "American Gangster" talk to HHNLive.com about being in the studio with Hov, their production style, why Jay-Z's new album may be his best since "Reasonable Doubt" and much more.

Sean C. on Jay's new album - "He went crazy on this. Mad deep lyrics...you going to listen to it and be like oh ok he meant that."

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Jay Rose: What’s good fellaz where you guys calling me from?

Sean C.: Harlem. We got our individual spots. We had 1 spot but we got separated.

LV: wait wait wait. Separated what? We don’t live together. Like we work in the same studio together. Haha

SC: (laughs)

JR: It's just a business thing then...

LV: You a college student so maybe you don’t know how this studio thing go. We just business partners. We be in the studio, but we don’t live together. We in the studio then we good. Go home I’ll see you tomorrow.

JR: Thanks for clearing that shit up for me (laughs). So you ain’t trying to see your boy at night...

SC: Ey yo

LV: Ey

JR: haha aight I’m gonna pause myself after that comment.

(laughs)

JR: Aight let's get this shit started. What made you guys want to become producers? And what is each of your musical backgrounds?

SC: Well we went from DJing to producing. You know we both started out as DJ’s and then from there it was just a natural progression. You know from DJing you become a producer. Basically that’s just a short line of how it went down.

JR: How did you guys link up?

LV: Both from Harlem and both lived about 3 blocks from each other. Well we used to live 3 blocks from each other actually.

JR: Why did you decide to come on the scene as a duo?

LV: Well that’s just how it ended up.

SC: Yea that’s how it just happened you know. It’s not like we sat down one day and were like “you know what, it would be great if we made a duo.” It just happened I don’t even know. Like niggas is asking us questions that we haven’t even thought about honestly, so...

LV: Yea it just worked out that way.

JR: Do you guys do beats outside of Hip-Hop?

SC: We’ll produce anything, I mean whatever it cost. If you want a gospel track than gospel will be done. You want hip hop then we’ll do it. It’s music. Music is music you know what I mean. We produce music.

LV: I mean come on, but you know we just ready to work baby...

JR: So who have you guys worked with so far?

SC: We just did something for um… Shania Twain, I mean like last week.

JR: oh wow.

SC: (laughs) Na we aint do no Shania Twain.

LV: We about to work with Elvis next week.

SC: (laughs) But na, L used to be Pun’s DJ and I was Pun’s A&R and you know we worked on projects with him. We worked on Dead prez stuff. We worked on Ice Cube. We worked on um… who else L?

LV: I mean shit Jay-Z, Pun, Fat Joe, Remy, Pharoahe, Swiss, a bunch of people. Mostly hip hop right now.

JR: Grind music. Is that a company you have or just the name you guys go by?

LV: That’s our theme. That’s us. You know we always tired because we be grinding. You know we work hard. It’s all about the music. We’re always working on something that’s related to getting to the next level. You know so we was trying to think of a name for the new company and we just made it Grind Music because it just made sense. And our music represents that you know what I mean.

SC: We produce records. We just don’t do the music. We produce them.

LV: Yea we doing everything from which direction to go in, we’ll give you an idea of what you should do on the record and then you know take the verse. If we think the verse could be a little bit better then you know we going to let you know that.

JR: Ok so let me get an example of your typical routine in the studio.

LV: Well I think that with the days approaching where you can send beats to artists and then they do there thing, they’ll send it back to you and be like ok mix the record. We try to...like...you know when you get the vocals we’ll be like why don’t you come back, I think you could knock out that second verse a little better, or you could say it a little better. Or this is hot. Or why don’t you change this line.

SC: You know we add more to music because there is no limit to what you can do. It goes both ways. Like we’ll tell a writer or rapper like why don’t you change that up. But then we’ll change the beat up too. Like if we give him a beat and someone just kills it. You feel like damn you can’t let him get burned off the beat. We got to take that shit to the next level.

JR: When working with legends like Jay-Z do you feel as if you have to adjust your typical routine?

SC: Well Puff connected the Jay-Z situation, so as far as getting it done he came to the studio. Heard some beats. He was supposed to stay for 15 minutes he stayed for about 3 hours. Listening to joints. Actually went in the booth and did one joint real quick. He was listening and was like “yo wait wait. Turn the mic on.” He just went in there and knocked out one of his joints. And then from there he took the beat, came back and played us like 2 joints. One was “Sweet” and the other was “No Hook.” We was like oh shit now we really got to go in. So we went back and just started knocking out joints like crazy shit.

JR: Have you heard the whole album?

SC: Yea.

JR: What’s your favorite track from the album that you put together?

SC: My favorite joint is between “Sweet” and “Party Life”

LV: Mine would be “Pray” and I don’t know but for some reason I’m really liking this song called “American Dreaming” like I don’t know, but there's something about this shit. Those are my two favorites.

SC: They change, they change.

LV: Yea like maybe every other hour it changes. So maybe if I do another interview, I might choose two different songs. Like that’s the type of shit it is.

JR: That means the record is hot then right?

SC: Man people are going to be happy.

JR: Yea I know every Jay-Z record has a specific vibe to it. What’s the vibe like for this album?

SC: I call this album Reasonable Blueprint. Like that’s what I call it. He went crazy on this. Mad deep lyrics. Like you going to listen to it and be like oh ok he meant that. That how it was on Reasonable Doubt. And then I say Blueprint because it’s warm sounding. But it’s like the next level because it's a little bit more. Like the difference between this album and Reasonable Doubt/Blueprint is it’s taken to the next level of what those albums did. It’s the elements of both those two albums, but it’s like the next level.

LV: And he’s sticking to the topic. He sticking to the base of the album. You know albums are all over the place and you don’t know which song to fuck with. So this album is an album.

JR: So it sticks mainly to the "American Gangster" theme?

SC: Well you know it’s based on American Gangster the movie. It’s a lot of ideas he got from his life and American Gangster. It’s how they’re parallel. He took some of the ideas from there and put it together. And if you see the movie it’s a lot of the stuff he says in the record are based on that.

LV: Yea like what I got from it is that he watched the movie, took shit that was related to his life and he put it in the record. Like Sean said earlier.

JR: You guys saw the movie as well?

SC: Well we went to see the movie after we already had did a couple records. Then after that it just helped us even more. Took some clips from the movie you know and put it on the record. Things like that to help us with the concept.

JR: What was Jay’s reason for putting you on 6 tracks?

SC: You know we was forming the Hitmen situation. He was like this is the album that we can kind of bring it back. You know put that stamp back on it. So Puff hit us up and was like I’m going to work with Jay and I want him to do some joints with ya'll. This was like a month ago.

LV: This album moved real fast.

SC: Yea. Puff was like I want to do some joints with ya'll. Send me joints and I’m going to send them to Jay. And then that’s how it happens. We were in the studio chillin. Puff called Jay. Told him he has to come over here now. Jay got there in like 15 minutes flat. You know so that’s how it went down. You know Puff comes in and he adds his thoughts and stuff. You know his little thing of making records bigger. You may think he doesn’t do anything but he does do something. He definitely comes in. We might have something and he’ll say a certain thing. Like we need to put this there, or maybe call a certain musician to come in and direct him and it might make the record a lot bigger then we thought it would be. He produces it. You know a producer is just not someone who hits the drum machine or whatever. He comes in and orchestrates. He’s a conductor. We give him his props on that because a lot of people don’t.

LV: Because they just don’t want to, you know when niggas deserve props.

JR: What other producers are included on the album?

LV: I know there’s a No ID joint on there that is so stupid. That was the joint on the album that me and Sean were really like, damn why didn't we do that one?

SC: haha. Not taking away from the six. Six that we have, but damn that one is stupid. Not to say this because we on the album but this was just a well put together album. Like all the pieces and all the producers brought a certain thing to the album. Like who else is on the album...

LV: D Dot is on the album. Then I think No ID. Um...Just Blaze and that’s all we know of.

JR: What rappers are on the album?

LV: Um just Jay and I think there is a Nas Joint.

SC: There's a –

LV: Na I can’t even say nothing.

JR: Well working with Jay so heavily on this album do you feel as if you’ve reached a milestone in your career? Or you guys still as hungry as when you started?

SC: Definitely still hungry this is you know...it’s a new beginning right here.

LV: It’s just a start of what could happen. Actually what's going to happen. Like we’re still finishing this, but we’re already onto the next project.

SC: Believe that!

JR: What's the next project?

SC: Na there’s something that’s coming up. It’s not solidified yet, but it’s coming up. It’s about to be a nice thing. But we do have the first single from Fat Joe's album coming out. And we did the new Ghostface record as well. We got about 6 joints on there. I’m not sure when it’s dropping though.

JR: Do you still feel like Jay-Z’s the best rapper in the game

LV: Yea I definitely feel as if he’s up there without a doubt. He’s an addict and can’t stop. From seeing him from the beginning to now. You know we worked on “Can’t Knock the Hustle”, so I’ve seen him from his first album to this album.

JR: What other rappers are at least giving him a run for his money?

LV: I don’t know dog. I can’t say. I haven’t heard anybody really come - like especially on this record the shit that he says is like you listen to it, you think you caught it, and you’ll just be like oh shit. Basically niggas are going to have to step their shit up Sean.

SC: Everybody is going to listen to this album and all that. So niggas is talking - a lot of these little rappers who came up 2 years ago are talking side ways. I just really think that after this album they’re going to say oh shit this is why I really did like Jay-Z at first. Know what I mean? I mean everybody is going to step there shit up. We stepped our shit up. So now it’s time to step your shit up

LV: The lyrics on this shit is crazy. It’s stupid. Not that simple 1,2,3 shit. It’s like you going to have to listen to it again to catch what he means. Just like Reasonable Doubt.

JR: You think this is going to be his last album?

LV: I mean if he wants to do another record we’re a phone call away. It’s hard to say though I don’t know. That’s a Jay-Z question. He’s definitely in a good place with this record. I think people may want to hear another one after this.

JR: Do you have any advice for producers in the game trying to come up?

LV: You know it's all timing. You know stay focused. Yea stay focused and if you got a different sound and you know people in the beginning seem like damn you trying to do what everybody else is doing and it isn’t working, you got to stick to what you do, na mean. Stay the same and come back around kid.

JR: Any last comments?

LV: It’s not a coincidence that we’re here.

SC: Yea I could be a rapper.

JR: Let me hear 6 bars.

SC: Um. Nah.