T-Minus is a name you might not know, but probably should learn. Born Tyler Williams, this Toronto-based producer of Jamaican descent has been on the scene for a few years, making beats for the likes of Birdman, Plies, and Lyfe Jennings. Although he really made a name for himself last year with Ludacris' chart smash "How Low," he's looking to have an even bigger 2011. He's already produced the exceptional T.I. cut "Poppin' Bottles"—a Drake-featured track from No Mercy—as well as Nicki Minaj's "Moment 4 Life" which looks like the next single. We got on the horn with the 22-year-old to talk about how "Moment 4 Life" came about, how Wiz Khalifa's version of "Poppin' Bottles" leaked before T.I.'s version, and how he's currently working on Drake's Take Care as well as Lil Wayne's Tha Carter IV.
As told to Insanul Ahmed (@Incilin).
On producing songs for Drake's Take Care...
"I talk to Drake on a regular basis. Man, I've known Drake from a long time ago. I've known him since "Replacement Girl" days, me and Boi-1da produced that. But what happened was, because me and Boi-1da weren't working that much together, and because Boi-1da was so close to Drake, we didn't really get to talk as much. But about three months ago, we kind of hooked back up in L.A., and he invited me onto Take Care. We're all working on his album; me, 40, and Boi-1da.
On producing songs for Lil Wayne's Tha Carter IV
"Me and Drake had this record that we were going to put on Take Care, but 40 put this crazy mix on it and just made the beat bang—and after Wayne heard the mix that 40 did he was just like, 'Wow, I've got to use this for my album.' So yeah, I'm on the Tha Carter IV. The record is called 'Maybe She Will.' Things could change, but so far, it's Wayne, and they got a verse from Ross, and they got Drake on the hook. I never even heard Wayne's verse. I briefly met Wayne a few weeks ago, when I was in New York, and it was really short, like a few seconds meeting him. It was a session that we were having for Wayne and Drake. Boi-1da was there, too. But Wayne's project, they're trying to wrap it up really soon. He's got a bunch of songs ready for the album. He's just got to get a few more done, and then they're going to push it out."
"In a nutshell, I gave a few beats to Boi-1da—who I work really closely with—and he sent it over to Drake. That happened maybe four or five months ago. Drake got the record, and from what I was told, he was in a session with Nicki, and she asked to hear some beats. So he played her the beat and that's how the record came about. I wasn't around [when it was recorded]. I was in Toronto when it all happened, but I'm not sure where they were. I've never even had the pleasure of meeting [Nicki]. That's how these sessions are done usually.
On the making of T.I.'s "Poppin' Bottles"...
"We had a hook, and we were going to give it to Jeezy. So we got it to Gee Roberson. He got it and he loved it. And he said, 'You know what, we're going to use this for T.I.'s project.' He was A&R-ing T.I.'s project, and he was also managing Jeezy. His connection with Jeezy was originally why we were going to give Jeezy the record, but because he was A&R-ing T.I.'s project, he wanted to give it to him. So we just went with it.
