Ski Beatz On "Pilot Talk 3" & Meeting Curren$y For The First Time

In the past year or so, Ski Beatz and Curren$y have quietly become one of the most productive and potent rapper/producer combos in hip-hop. After first being introduced to each other by Damon Dash, the veteran producer took a liking to the young upstart and a relationship was born. Ever since then, they've been banging out song after song, working mostly out of DD172's studio (dubbed The Dojo) in Tribeca, New York. Ski handled most of the production for Curren$y's Pilot Talk, which dropped earlier this year, and he'll be back behind the boards handling the bulk of Pilot Talk 2, which drops next week. Not to mention the fact that Ski also released his own album this year, 24 Hour Karate School. But the grind doesn't stop there. We caught up with Ski at DD172 and got the inside scoop on how there's even more Curren$y music to look out for, and what the vibe in the studio is like with Spitta...

As Told to Insanul Ahmed (@Incilin)

On Pilot Talk 3 and Muscle Car Chronicle...

"We're three songs into Pilot Talk 3 already. I think he's talking [about releasing it in] May. You've got to realize, there's also an album in between. Once Pilot Talk 2 comes out, then he's got Muscle Car Chronicle that's coming out, and then Pilot Talk 3 comes. Muscle Car Chronicle was produced by Sean O'Connell. He's a folk artist on Blu Roc. Him and Curren$y got together, and they make some good stuff. That's a whole different vibe from Pilot Talk, but it's still Curren$y.

"[In the studio] it's definitely laid back. Nobody is in a big rush to do anything. A couple times it was a little smoked out. [Laughs.] You know what I'm saying? A good little zone. Especially with Curren$y—when we record his stuff, he keeps you high. But it's a good vibe. It's a positive energy. There's no negativity floating around. There's nobody pushing us to do this or do that. There are really no deadlines. That's why everything gets done on time. We're not rushing like, 'By Tuesday we need this!' or 'By March 18th if it's not done, then'" There's none of that."

On first meeting Curren$y...

"Dame was like, 'Yo, you need to come to my house. There's this rapper Curren$y, he's dope.' I didn't know anything about him. I was totally out of the loop when it comes to anything new. So I went to his crib and saw this little dude sitting on a beanbag with a hat on, getting high. [Laughs.] He was like, 'What's up man? I'm Curren$y.' 'I'm Ski.' He said, 'You did "Luchini." I always wanted to work with you.' I said, 'Let's do it.' Since he was from down south, I thought, 'Oh shit, I've got to make some down south beats.' And he said, 'Nah man, just do what you do. Make the music you make. I'm not as young as I look.' That's what he said, and it was an instant [connection]. That was before we [had DD172]. Back then we were doing everything out of Dame's crib. As a matter of fact, we met him then we went to Woodstock, and we started recording. And that's where 'King Kong' and 'Scaling The Building' and all of these songs came from. That was only a year ago."

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