Author Topic: "In the Studio With" Twista: Category F5  (Read 457 times)

Lunatic

"In the Studio With" Twista: Category F5
« on: July 11, 2009, 11:21:59 AM »


http://raptalk.net/website/content/view/1712/54/

Last week, we introduced our readers to a new series we're doing over here at Raptalk.Net titled "Inside the Studio With" when we hooked up with Knoc-turn'al and his MathMadix crew to break down the new Tash album. This week, we hooked up with Twista for the same series, this time getting him to break down track by track of his new "Category F5" album which is in stores July 14th.

Read on to see not only Twista touch on every track which made the album, but also some of the popular rumored cuts which didn't such as the Kanye West collaboration or the Tech N9ne collaboration. Also, we talk about the label move, the passing of Static Major and much more!

Enjoy...

Raptalk.Net: We’re right here with Twista for a feature we’ve been calling “In the Studio with” and this time around we have Twista for his brand new “Category F5” album. Let us know what the release date is and meaning behind the title.

Twista: Ok the release date for the new project “Category F5” is July 14th, this Tuesday. The title was called “Category F5” because that’s how you rate a tornado or twister, on the F scale. Category F5 is the most intense tornado or twister you can come across. That definition itself sounded real dope to me when you look it up. It’s a hot Hip-Hop title that I thought was suiting.

Raptalk.Net: I like it. The first track is titled “Misunderstood” and it features Buk, produced by Traxster.

Twista:  The track “Misunderstood” was my intention to give people ready for the album in the same way that “Adrenaline Rush” got them ready for the album. What I do is not actually try to re-create songs, but give you something with that same vibe and intensity. That’s what “Misunderstood” is and I got with Buk from Psychodrama. He started off the album in the same way he did “Adrenaline Rush” and just getting people ready. It’s that same theme, letting them know Twista is tearing them up. We’re letting them know we’re misunderstood and problematic going through some psychotic thoughts, right from the gate with that dark Twista/Traxster psycho Hip-Hop vibe.

Raptalk.Net “American Gangster” produced by Toxic.

Twista: “American Gangster” is a cut that I love the way the drums go. They would go “boom boom boom boom-ba-ba-boom.” The drum pattern and the way it was moving had my brain in an ill mind state of a style that was coming out. I just felt to do it. It was more about the drum pattern and the way the beat was making my rhymes come out than the title or anything else. Once I heard it was titled “American Gangster” once the hook came on, I just went in and gave the public and the hood something to let them know that Twista is still spitting that street shit.

Raptalk.Net: “Fire” featuring Lil Boosie, also produced by Traxster.

 Twista: “Fire” is a jam that I went down to Atlanta and it was the second song that I recorded with Traxster for this project. When I heard the beat, it just made me think of that good ol’ Kush or Sour Diesel or something. I just went in on it like “this the getting high cut right here.” The music had me in that zone. It had been a long time since a nigga made a song about some reefa. So I kicked the song off with that thought. I just went in on it. When I thought about who to put on it, the first person that came to my mind was Lil Boosie because I’m a fan of him. I sent it to him for him to get on that original Twista style and it turned out dope.

Raptalk.Net: “Talk to me” produced by Tight Mike & Solo.

Twista:  “Talk to me” is one of those tracks that I get every once and a while from certain producers. I would get one from Kanye or Toxic. The other person that would give me a track like this once in a while is The Alchemist. They always give me something to bring lyricism out of me. My cousin Tight Mike gave me this track with a crazy drum pattern to it. Once I saw the way the pattern was working, it was challenging me to keep up the whole song with that pattern. I just wanted to kill the fans with something different that I know a lot of other artists couldn’t do. I came with that title “Talk to me” and kept it street.

Raptalk.Net: “Yellow Light” featuring R. Kelly, produced by Traxster.

Twista: “Yellow Light” was a beat that Traxster produced that I sent to R. Kelly because I knew that was something that Kelly could possibly vibe and jam to. He felt the beat and went in the studio and dropped something to it. It was a jam as soon as I heard it. All I did was blend into what I heard him doing, dropped some heat and attached it to the music real well. We came out with “Yellow Light.”

Raptalk.Net: “Walking on Ice” featuring Gucci Mane & OJ the Juiceman, produced by Zaytoven.

  Twista: Zaytoven came through with that beat. To me, that’s one of his dopest beats he ever produced. When I heard it, I knew instantly that I needed to have Gucci on that one. Zaytoven sent me a few beats to get Gucci on one, and that was the one that I picked. OJ had already did a hook or something to the beat previously after I had picked it, so everything just came together real well with that song. I feel it’s a banger. That’s a possible next single that will be out there. It’s doing real well for me, when people hear it, they love it.

 Raptalk.Net: What do you think of the way Gucci & OJ are making lots of Hip-Hop headlines right now?

Twista: It just goes to show you, things always go in a 360. They can go back to the basics and that’s what people do. When I say that, making a song, you could be lyrical or an MC but you may not have the ability to make a song. The talent Gucci and OJ bring to me is the ability to make a song. They take advantage of what they do best and that is how to put together a song. They go in the studio and bang out songs in a mass quality all the time. They keep things real simple and pop them off. They know they’re gonna’ get a jam out of every few songs they make. I like how they do it. They keep it real street and gutter and no matter what anyone says, the fans let you know what’s popping. I feel them.

Raptalk.Net: “Wetter” with Erika Shevon, produced by Traxster.

Twista: That’s the joint. That was the first song me and Traxster recorded when we went to work in the studio on this album. We wanted to re-create that vibe. We actually sat and talked on the phone about the formula of what we wanted to do as the first thing we were going to work on, and that was the first thing we recorded. I felt it was a real cool song lyrically and beat wise to re-introduce people to the Twista sound, because I went through a break with the label switching thing. Let’s hit they back again with this song. We came out with that one and it turned out to be a song that was real good and the first single. The original intent was to hit them with something I felt was the original Twista/Traxster vibe.

Raptalk.Net: Talk to us about making that switch from Atlantic over to EMI/Capitol.

Twista: Balling on the same team for about 10 years and still have skills. The team I was on had a salary cap so they had to let me go. I became a free agent and I had to go a team that I felt I could win a championship with. I rolled with EMI/Capitol after seeing their track record of how they get down. We’re going for it. It’s all good. I’m an OG in the game. I’ve been through these things before. It was slightly traumatizing to leave where I was at for 10 years. You quickly get used to it. I know that I know how to make a album. I ain’t worried. I got in there with EMI and we banged out a deal.

Raptalk.Net: “Billionaire” featuring Busta Rhymes, produced by Caution & Velly.

Twista:  That was one of the tracks that my manager gave to me when I was looking for ideas for the album. When I heard the Caution & Velly track, I instantly loved it. That was one of those particular auto tune type of tracks that I loved. I just had to go in and do something to it on that whole vibe. Caution & Velly had made a good foundation of how the song should sound. I just went off of that. That song was more for me than anyone else. I don’t care what anyone thinks about this song. This one was for me. I got me one off.

Raptalk.Net: “Yo’ Body” featuring Do or Die & Johnny P, produced by Traxster.

Twista: As soon as I heard the beat, I knew that it was a Do or Die beat. I was like man, I gotta’ get Do or Die and Johnny P on here. I was waiting to hear the one anyway so once I heard it, I was like that’s it. We got in the studio and Traxster laid it out. Those guys came in there with me and did the Dr. Dre thing with all the guys in the studio and everything. We came out with this joint. I feel like it’s a strong song for the album. We already shot a video for it. That video should be out any day online.

Raptalk.Net: “Hustla’” produced by Streetrunner and I.L.O.

Twista: As soon as I heard that vibe talking about how he was a hustler, it reminded me of the mind state of a lot of guys that I know that gotta’ do what they gotta’ do on the hustling side of the streets, the city of Chicago where I’m from. When I heard the track, I felt it would be something that if I went in on a street vibe, it would be something for my guys that are still hustling. It would be for them to bump when there riding, doing their thing keeping it real. I needed to make something for everybody, so that was my cut for the hustlers.

Raptalk.Net: “Gotta’ Get Me One” with the late great Static Major, produced by Traxster.

Twista:  Having Static on a track was a blessing. We worked it out after he passed. My manager and his manager had a mutual relationship and they talked about how both I and Static was a fan of each other’s music. They already had some joints in the can that was on that Twista vibe. When I heard it, it blew me away because I knew for sure with him being a fan of me; he came with that type of style of song. It was a perfect song to do and put on the album. That is my jam and tribute to Static Major.

Raptalk.Net: How important was it for you to have Static on the album?

Twista: It was important in a sense of he had just passed and I wanted to do that tribute, and two, he was a fan of my music which blew me away and three, he’s always been around because Aaliyah was from Chicago and he wrote a lot of songs for her. Cats that I’m related to also did music with him and everything. It was important for me to show that love.

Raptalk.Net: “On Top” featuring Akon, produced by Good Will & MGI.

 Twista: That’s my jam. When I heard the beat, it had that party vibe to it. When I heard that jam, I hope people in the U.S. like it, but I’m definitely banking on the whole world liking that song. That’s a song that Akon murdered on the hook. I like how it goes in with that whole vibe with him for the ladies. I feel like it’s a jam that will crossover and do things in the world outside of the U.S.

Raptalk.Net: “Jump Off” produced by Chad Beatz.

 Twista: Chad came with a joint right there. I heard the beat and the way it was rolling with the hook, talking about jump off and the whole music and what it was, I was listening to it. I found myself catching an ill flow for it. I started rolling to the beat. I knew I had to go in on this song. Everyone who hears it can vibe to it. I kept it for the album.

Raptalk.Net: “Wanna’ See ‘Em Buss” featuring Liffy Stokes, produced by Toxic.

Twista: That’s one of those street jams that I heard the beat and the melody just put me in a crazy mind state. That was one of the tracks I did without writing the lyrics down. Sometimes I write a lot; sometimes I write and come with something off the top. That was one of the nights that I was feeling good, sipping a little bit of patron, blowing on something good; I had a nice little vibe and just went in there and started flowing to it. I went in on it, came with the hook. That was a studio jam that we come with when we’re just vibing.

Raptalk.Net:  You close the album with “Birthday” produced by Marlin Hookman.

Twista: “Birthday” is my jam. That was one of the first beats I got on for the album. When I didn’t really have a lot of things recorded for the album, “Birthday” was one of the songs I did that remained to be a jam throughout the whole process of me recording this album, especially when we went to do shows. We would go into club mode and play that song; we always got a positive reaction from everybody. I had to keep that for the album to close it out on a nice note. We actually shot a video for “Birthday” and that is already out. You can peep that out.

Raptalk.Net: I want to clear up some of the other tracks. Let our readers know why the Kanye West & No I.D. track is a bonus.

Twista: I still have it for the album; it’s a bonus cut we added to it. We couldn’t get everything with the song like it being mixed quick enough to put it on the album because we were going back and forth with Kanye with him doing everything. We have had the song for a while, but we couldn’t get the mix done in time for me to turn the album in for the proper release date. We came with a plan to use it as a bonus track that would be added to the album later on. It’s a jam though. I’m upset it’s not on the album right now, but the idea of being able to come with it later as a bonus was still dope and will help push the album later.

Raptalk.Net: “Problems” with Tech N9ne.

Twista: “Problems” fell into the same category of things that we couldn’t get things completed before the release, particularly due to the sample on the hook where it says “Problems.” It gave us problems to clear the sample. With how you’re able to put out music to the public today, I wasn’t really upset about this one because we still threw the track out there. The song is definitely out there for people to hear and listen to for free.

Raptalk.Net: “She Got It” featuring Bobby Valentino, produced by Jim Jonsin.

Twista: That pissed me off right there. It was just a bunch of crazy things happening with the business with that track. I couldn’t get it done fast enough to have on the album. That was one that really hurt me that it didn’t get on the album. That one hurts right there. It always happens when you’re putting together projects, you gotta’ keep moving and do what you do. I was definitely happy with everything that I was able to put on the album.

Raptalk.Net: Why should fans go cop “Category F5” on July 14th?

Twista: Because if you’re a true Twista fan, you will know right off the top that I’m gonna’ deliver a good album every time and you gotta’ have it, and you gotta’ have two copies of it because somebody is gonna’ steal one of them. I make that good music for you. Grab it; you’ll be satisfied with it when you’re riding, smoking, sipping, fucking, vibing or whatever you do.

Raptalk.Net: Thanks a lot Twista; do you have any additional last words?

Twista: I want everybody to look out for the upcoming projects by my man Skooda Chose, Liffy Stokes, B Hype who has been my hype man since day. Free Bilo Zero, and free Mello Tha Gutta Man.



Read Full Interview: http://raptalk.net/website/content/view/1712/54/
« Last Edit: July 12, 2009, 07:51:35 PM by Adon »
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D-Nice

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Re: "In the Studio With" Twista: Category F5
« Reply #1 on: July 11, 2009, 12:41:39 PM »
Dope concept. New album is cool, waaaay too much autotune for me but it has a couple bangers on there.
 

MontrealCity's Most

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Re: "In the Studio With" Twista: Category F5
« Reply #2 on: July 11, 2009, 04:46:44 PM »
Damn man ... you keep working.. congradulations!
 

Lunatic

Re: "In the Studio With" Twista: Category F5
« Reply #3 on: July 11, 2009, 08:24:14 PM »
Thank D & Mitch!
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R1ZE

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Re: "In the Studio With" Twista: Category F5
« Reply #4 on: July 11, 2009, 09:17:04 PM »
I like this format... you can get an interview anywhere but here we get some real insight. ill peep the actual article as i listen to the album later
 

Lunatic

Re: "In the Studio With" Twista: Category F5
« Reply #5 on: July 11, 2009, 09:17:48 PM »
I like this format... you can get an interview anywhere but here we get some real insight. ill peep the actual article as i listen to the album later
Thanks! I figured I do so many damn interviews, I will mix it up and do 50/50! Knock out an interview, do one of these features, interview, feature, etc...
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Blood$

Re: "In the Studio With" Twista: Category F5
« Reply #6 on: July 12, 2009, 08:16:25 AM »
I gave the album a spin the other day, I thought it could have definitely been better but then again I knew what to expect from hearing all of the leaked tracks, so I can't say I was really all that disappointed cuz I knew there was gonna be mostly tracks for the mainstream, but I still thought it had a few bangers on it and decent cuts... his last album was better though

keepers IMO: "Misunderstood", "American Gangsta", "Fire", "Talk To Me", "Walking On Ice" (I know most of y'all hate this one but it's straight for me), "Wetter", "Gotta Get Me One", "On Top", "Wanna See 'Em Buss"
 

Lunatic

Re: "In the Studio With" Twista: Category F5
« Reply #7 on: July 12, 2009, 03:59:23 PM »
I gave the album a spin the other day, I thought it could have definitely been better but then again I knew what to expect from hearing all of the leaked tracks, so I can't say I was really all that disappointed cuz I knew there was gonna be mostly tracks for the mainstream, but I still thought it had a few bangers on it and decent cuts... his last album was better though

keepers IMO: "Misunderstood", "American Gangsta", "Fire", "Talk To Me", "Walking On Ice" (I know most of y'all hate this one but it's straight for me), "Wetter", "Gotta Get Me One", "On Top", "Wanna See 'Em Buss"
Props for ya album thoughts and feedback!
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