“Runnin’” f/ Tony Yayo & Dion

Produced by: Hi-Tek

The Game: “I knocked out my verse for ‘Runnin’,’ but I had one verse that was empty and Tony Yayo had just got out of jail. So I called Yayo and was like, ‘Yo, I need you to put this verse on ‘Runnin.’’ He was happy to do it because at that time G-Unit was on a pedestal. He was just getting out and it was the next debut album from G-Unit—he had already missed Buck’s and Bank’s. So he got on that, and I thought he killed it. When I got Yayo on it, I didn’t necessarily think about that line, [‘Yayo in jail and they think I’m trying to take his spot’]. I just knew there was a slot I had on the album and Yayo was the only one I hadn’t rapped with, so I put him on the album.”

Hi-Tek: “At the time I had signed to Aftermath as a producer. Mike Lynn was one of the main A&Rs at Aftermath that believed in me and brought me aboard. I submitted a bunch of beats [to Mike Lynn] and one of them was the ‘Runnin’’ beat. The track was made by myself and my partner Dion. I produced the track, he sung vocals, and we reinterpreted a sample that I was working with. Dion wrote a verse [to the beat] and the hook on ‘Runnin’’ is the beginning of his verse. I basically took that first eight bars of his verse and made it a hook. That type of music is truly from the heart. I think stuff I do with Talib Kweli is my vision too, but it's mostly his musical vision and I'm producing it. But there's other sides to me. Beats I produced for G-Unit are no different to me, but other people look at it as if it's two different things. But I don't. ‘Runnin’’ is one of the greatest songs that I've ever produced. And The Documentary one of the greatest albums to ever come from Aftermath. You can sense all the hunger in all of us in that album.”

Angelo Sanders (A&R for Aftermath): “You don’t get those [kind of songs] on too many albums. That’s a timeless record and people are still singing. We had Dion, he was butter back then. He brought that magic. And Yayo, that was my idea because we were gonna put Lloyd Banks on that record originally. And Yayo had just came home from jail and I was like, ‘We need to go with Yayo on that.’ Game was like, ‘You right, let’s do it.’ We reached out and Yayo was with it and he spit that fire. I don’t know another verse from him that I like better, and I’m not just trying to be biased. He really was on some shit when he gave us that. He came home from jail and I think they took care of him after because we got that first hungry verse and that was it. [Laughs.] He was like, ‘Woo, got that off my chest.’ [Laughs.]”