When Rick Ross dropped The Albert Anastasia EP a couple of months back, I expected the typical throwaway mixtape, a collection of outtakes put out just to amp up his upcoming LP, Teflon Don. But surprisingly, the solid release (which we named the #15 Album of 2010 (So Far)) sprung two certified street bangers: “B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast)” and “MC Hammer.” The producer behind both beats (as well as Waka Flocka Flame’s “Hard In The Paint”) is young up-and-comer Lex Luger. The 19-year-old Virgina native spoke to us about how he hooked up with Ross and how he stays whippin’ up those beats. Hallelujah!
On meeting Waka Flocka Flame and getting in the game…
I first met Waka Flocka Flame off of MySpace. This is about a year ago. This is when he wasn’t even popping. He had just came out with his first mixtape. I hit him up. I was just hitting everybody up, I was hungry. I was ready to work. He was the only one who really reached back to me. He gave me his email and every two or three days I sent him 20 beats. He liked my work. We built a friendship. When “O Lets Do It” got big, he signed to a label, bought Gucci Mane’s old house, and moved me down there so we went to work.
We had a little studio in the basement. I took my equipment down there and he had these BQE speakers. Back home I had these lame little speakers. So when I came there it would beat harder. I was just sitting down there smoking on something. I just be having fun. I just sit there with Waka’s little brother, KO, and my partner Southside and just be going in.
When I was in my house, when you turned the bass up, it distorts. So I couldn’t measure the bass. But when I went to Waka’s house he had those big studio speakers and I loved that. I think they was Yamaha speakers. That improved my sound. It’s actually all Gucci’s, he brought all of Zaytoven’s old stuff. Gucci bought his whole studio. His mixer, his MPC, his Roland, all that. But I ain’t need all that. All I needed is Fruity Loops, my laptop, and my headphones, and I’m going in.
On how “B.M.F.” came together…
Spiff of SpiffTV reached out to me for the “Hard In The Paint” instrumental because Ross wanted that. Spiff directed the “O Let’s Do It Remix” video out in Atlanta’s Grand Central Station spot. People were bumping “Hard In The Paint” in a car and he was like, “What song is that?” This is before “Hard In The Paint” even blew up. It was just the streets was fucking with it. So he was like, “Who the hell did that?” So he got on the computer and searched, “Who produced this song.” He found me on MySpace and Twitter and hit me like, “I need some of this music.” And I told him, “I got it, but I got other stuff that’s way better.” I was sending Spiff 30 beats a day for seven days. I sent him a gang of beats and out of those beats was “B.M.F.” and “MC Hammer.”
Because I make so many beats, sometimes they’ll have names, but sometimes they’ll just be like 1-50. This batch of beats was just numbers. Spiff told me, “That beat 13, put that aside. Don’t give it to nobody.” And I did the same thing with “MC Hammer.” He said, “That beat, put it aside.”
Actually, I heard “B.M.F.” way after it came out. For real, I was working and I ain’t want to be bothered with no Internet, no TV, nothing. People was telling me about the song, but I didn’t hear it. But I heard it a week later. It blew my mind. Then, everybody started hitting me up on Twitter, that’s when I realized. They were saying it was a banger. I knew it was hot but I ain’t know the radio was ready for it because it’s a hard record, just like “Hard In The Paint.” But that’s what people want now.
[Because of that beat] the biggest names in the game want to set up studio time. Everybody came out the woodwork. I just came back from Miami being in the studio with Ross. I got songs with Soulja Boy, Tity Boi, Diamond. Diddy reached out. Pusha T.
On making the “MC Hammer” beat…
I was going through stuff when I made that beat. If you listen to it, you can tell. I was going through some times with this whole music thang, you know what I’m saying? I felt like I wasn’t getting nowhere. My name really wasn’t buzzing. I didn’t think I could be like how Drumma Boy and them were. I had a real hard trap sound. Nobody got the sound I got. That’s the new sound. Ain’t nobody heard this before and I’m bringing that out. But people always told me it ain’t gonna get me nowhere. It wouldn’t get me the real money. But I made it anyway, came through with [“B.M.F.”] and then this record came and just threw that off. I actually like this better than “B.M.F.” because of that.
[When I made the beat] it was called “New Time.” Like I was going through that time and I just wanted to stay doing me. I’m not going to change to a commercial sound because that’s where people say the money is at. I felt like it was a new time for everybody.
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