J-Kwon says its the first sample or interpolation of his track hes approved in 20 years.
I had a lot of ups and downs, he says.
Now Im feeling like God is realer than ever.
Shaboozey and J-Kwon perform onstage during the 2024 BET Awards at Peacock Theater on June 30, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.Paras Griffin/Getty Images
Im so grateful for everything thats coming my way and I just want to keep going.
I have such strong memories of Tipsy from my childhood.
Well, what did you do?
What did you put in it?
What was the technique?I feel like I went against the grain as far as me being 17.
And then the beat was super catchy.
I mean, come on.
I said One, then comes to two.
I mean, everybody can count and if you cant, I help you count!
It was educational as well!
I feel like it had all the components.
I wanted something very club-ish, very simple.
How did it feel?I cant remember exactly where I was.
I probably was somewhere shopping maybe.
I think Boo [his nickname for Shaboozey] hit me up and said, We getting the Grammy.
Did you have any difficult feelings around that?Thats exactly what I wanted to happen.
Thats the goal that we was shooting for.
Me and Boo had talked about this when we was doing the BET Awards.
I told him off the muscle, This is going to be one.
I think I toldBillboardmagazine as well.
They was like, You think its going to be Song of the Summer?
Im like, No, its going to be Song of the Year.
So this is exactly what I wanted to happen.
No one else wouldve used this because you have to go through me to even use it.
You have to get the okay, the stamp, the cosign.
That was just one person that I really truly wanted to cosign.
I liked how his energy was.
I liked how he was persistent about me cosigning it.
I just liked everything around it.
It felt really good.
And I talked to God about it.
He told me it was the right thing to do and I did it.
Does that mean that you turned down other sample requests?Of course.
How many do you think you turned down over the years?Maybe a thousandeasy.
you could talk to Sony about that.
This is [the] one.
When I heard it, I was like, This is wild.
It wasnt even finished.
We was going back and forth on certain stuff but it wasnt even finished.
By the time we got to this one, it was just incredible.
It took me a month and a half, maybe, to clear it.
Im glad I did, though.
Theres also so many songs from that era that have been sampled recently.
Some people feel like artists arent trying hard enough to be original now.
Theyre reaching back to things that arent old or obscure enough.
I feel like musics supposed to be thrown back in the washing machine, it can be re-worn.
Music is just expression.
Did you ever see yourself winning country music awards?
Are you a country fan?I am.
Chris Stapleton is my favorite.
Tennessee Whiskey is one of my favorite records of all time.
And I think wepassedthat up in jukebox sales.
And of course, to me, country is rugged.
Its telling a story.
And I feel like we did that.
You mentioned your BET Awards performance of Tipsy with Shaboozey this summer.
I was too busy.
I dont know if I was there.
I know I hit a couple awards shows for sure, but I was real busy.
I was doingSaturday Night Live, Pepsi, shoe deals.
I was on Jay Leno.
I was focused on doing that and really making it popular.
But shout out to BET, too, no doubt.
I was definitely on their countdowns.
I definitely did [106 & Park].
It was a very elaborate set.I couldnt really see.
Remember 106 & Park?
And I said, Yeah, but I really didnt remember that well.
It comes back to me later.
But yeah, Ive seen some familiar faces, and it just felt really good.
And it felt good to have country at the BET Awards.
It felt good that I brought country to the BET Awards.
I do want to talk about drinking.
But again, they need to.
Listen, whatever they doing, its a lot of deaths and a lot of people going to jail.
Just go back to the old school.
I just feel like we need to calm down.
The new generation is kind of scaring me a little bit, honestly.
And then you hear about all this backstory.
They went to jail for this, and they ODd on this.
I havent heard nobody ODing on a fifth of Gray Goose yet.
On a lighter note, I want you to compare 2004 and 2024 a bit more for me.
Lets do it like a game.
Ill name something, you just tell me the year it was better and why.
Lets start with music.2004.
Why?Because thats when J-Kwon came out.
I like what Glorilla is doing because shes reaching back to a lot of older music.
I feel like it was simpler.
I feel like the beats was better.
It wasnt too complicated.
I feel like everybody could latch on, they could participate more.
I dont even know what half of these people saying, you know what I mean?
Its hard for me to participate if I dont even know whats going on.
Dance moves: Better in 2004 or 2024?Ill give it 2024.
Because I just cant do them and I like when stuff is a challenge.
So both, well just do both years on that.
I like how theyre not scared [now].
I love that they express themselves better and they mix and match it doesnt have to be so matchy-matchy.
Wed just look like a crayon.
Im going to give it to 2024.
All right, live performances?Now, you know, Im going to say 2004.
People actually cared about their performance.
You could tell it was practiced, it was rehearsed.
We wanted to walk in certain rooms and we wanted to be on point.
Was St. Louis better in 2004, or is it better now?Definitely 2004.
You had the St. Lunatics out, you had J-Kwon.
It was crazy then.
Now, its not so much.
How in 2024 is me and Nelly and Chingy still the biggest names coming out of St. Louis?
And we got Sexyy Red.
We getting one every 20 years now.
What are you going to drink?Champagne of course.
