88: It was a LONG night but we banged it out. I later asked Kwe' if I could fuck with the beat a little bit so I could do some program changes around their vocals & he told me to do what I wanted just as long as I didn't change the beat itself. Voi la... "Thieves In The Night"

DM: Who has been your favorite artist to work with so far?

88: That's a tough question. Probably Musiq because he's just as stupid as I am when we hear great beats. We turn the studio into Dance Fever. If I hear good-ass music, I don't give a frrruck WHO'S in the room, I'm gonna cut up & act the fool because good music truly moves me like that. I remember being @ Baseline with Jay-Z & a bunch of dudes. I think a Just [Blaze] beat was playing & I was getting my Night At The Roxybury on HARD & niggas was looking @ me like I was crazy. It wasn't until Hove [Jay-Z] started boppin' his head when niggas felt like they could show some sign of life/emotion & they all started boppin' their heads to. By THAT time I was already doing The Robot.

DM: How do you think the game has changed from when you started till now?

88: Oh that's simple... PRO TOOLS. It was a great invention but @ the same time, it's hurting some parts of this industry. It has made it harder for us non-"super" producers to get front end checks cut before we set foot in the studio or the day of because artists are recording ALBUMS with your beat tapes. [Really beat cd's but I'm from the mid-school so I still call 'em "beat tapes"]. Also, most a&r's lately don't seem to have the "vision" like a&r reps had back in the day. No a&r really wants to take chances & gamble on something new in fear of losing their jobs. They don't realize that it's the new shit that revitalizes this game.