Few, if any, people in today's rap game appreciate the importance of grinding and timing as much as 2 Chainz. In fact, that's probably why he invented a term that combines them both: "griming." After years of ups and downs, Chainz's griming finally came to fruition this week.
On Monday, he tore down the stage at a sold-out SOBs in New York—an impressive feat for anyone but even more so for a Southern artist. Yesterday, he went on MTV's Rap Fix and finally revealed that he had signed a deal with Def Jam. And to top it all off, he even said he's been working with Kanye West.
The night after his epic NYC show, the 2 Gun Gangsta stopped by the Complex offices to give us the lowdown on how his Def Jam deal came together. But that wasn't the juiciest part: Chainz also claimed that he's got a surprise partnership he's going to announce soon. "Will it be a Watch The Throne type situation," we asked? "Maybe," he replied, reluctant to reveal much more. See what 2 Chainz had to say, and read between the lines...
As told to Insanul Ahmed (@Incilin)
On His Def Jam Deal
“I’m signed to Def Jam. It was a lot of things [that made the deal happen]. I was already signed to Def Jam through DTP with my group. I had a relationship with a few people in the building. And then just out of all the bidding and all that going on, they’re really who I had the most leverage with and who had the best deal on the table.
The Future
“I’m excited about putting out new music. Fortunately for me I have so many features that’s not out yet. I have features that’s out and then my mixtape definitely has some more legroom on it. Some songs that still haven’t peaked. I don’t like putting out music to confuse the consumer or to cause problems to my own campaign. So I got some really dope records. I’m just waiting on the right time to release them.
