The producer of "I Don't Like" and "Love Sosa" selects his own greatest hits (so far).
This feature is a part of Complex's "Finally Rich" Week
Young Chop is only a teenager but he's already seen his stock rise significantly in 2012. Not only did he produce two of the year's biggest songs ("Love Sosa" and "I Don't Like") but he has diversified. With help from longtime Common producer No I.D. (and one of the primary creative minds behind Nas's acclaimed Life Is Good), Chop's production chops have grown by leaps and bounds since "3hunna" first broke his name in January. He's put in work with artists ranging from Gucci Mane to French Montana, Big Sean to Mikkey Halsted, and his catalog keeps expanding. So without further ado, let's take a look at Chop's personal list of his best beats to date.
As told to David Drake (@SoManyShrimp)
This feature is a part of Complex's "Finally Rich" Week.
Related: Young Chop's 25 Favorite Beats
10. Big Sean "Guap" (2012)
Producer: Young Chop
Album: Hall of Fame
Label: G.O.O.D., Def Jam
“Epic. That was my first day in LA. Man, Key Wane went in. At first the beat didn’t sound like that. We had to do other—you know, tweak it a little more. Took us a couple, like two or three months to get it to where it’s at right now. We was in the studio. I was in another room, he came over there. Really, he had the idea in his head, and he just went on his MacBook, and put the little [hums melody], and after that I just start adding stuff. Drums, little instruments, going crazy. That was my first ever day I went to LA. I gave him ‘Guap,’ we did ‘Mula,’ I did ‘Woke Up.’ I did a couple of joints with him my first day.”
“I love LA to a certain extent. Sometimes I be missing home, sometimes I be, ‘Oh I’m in LA!’”
9. Big Sean f/ French Montana "Mula" (2012)
8. French Montana "Devil Wants My Soul" (2012)
7. Fredo Santana "Gang Bang" (2012)
6. Chief Keef "Everyday" (2012)
5. Lil Durk "Right Here" (2012)
4. Chief Keef "3Hunna" (2012)
3. Lil Reese f/ Lil Durk & Fredo Santana "Beef" (2012)
2. Lil Reese "Us" (2012)
Producer: Young Chop
Album: Don't Like
Label: GBE
“Epic. I love that beat. When I was making that beat, it was more of a futuristic, but I had to go back in there and switch it up and make the kicks more hooder, more heavier. The beat was really different, and I just made it to how it sounds right now.
“I really didn’t even use a keyboard. I used the damn—you know the regular keyboards for the computer? That’s what I made that beat on. That’s what I make half of the beats on, like ‘3Hunna,’ ‘Don’t Like’ were all made on the keyboard like that.
"I taught myself [the keyboard]. You know in school they gave you a music class? That shit was just stupid. It was not teaching me. It wasn’t telling me about what I wanted to do. It was some whole other orchestra type shit, like opera. I’m like, ‘No, I don’t want to hear that.’ But I put it in my beats."
1. Chief Keef f/ Lil Reese "I Don't Like" (2012)
Producer: Young Chop
Album: Finally Rich
Label: Interscope, GBE
“I never liked the ‘I Don’t Like’ though. I hated that song so much. I never listened to it. Like when we were finishing up the mixtape, I never played the song. It being the biggest song on there, that’s what made it so crazy. It’s a really like poppy beat with some hood sounds, like hard 808. That’s what it sound like.
"I don’t know how I came up with that damn melody. I just started off with them bells [hums melody], and then it just had like a rock-star sound to it. Added that hard guitar, made it just big. After than, I knew what I was doing. The 808s, hi-hats—it’s a big song, but next thing you know it just blew up. Like, ‘Damn? Really?’ Reesey he the one like, ‘Man, let’s shoot the video.’ The next day, we shot the video. Now we at 19 million views, hit Billboard, Kanye West—it’s been crazy.
“When Kanye called and said he wanted to get on it [was when I realized how big it was]. We was already at like 4 million views in on it on YouTube. I knew it was going to be big though. Cause back then, I’m like, ‘Damn, 4 million views? He ain’t never got this many damn views.’
"Pitchfork was a really big show for me. [Standing on stage] I was scared as hell, like, are they gonna love this song or what? And then after that, they just started going crazy. I’m like, ‘Oh shit, they love it.’
“[I missed Lollapalooza because] I actually was asleep. They kept calling me to come to it. I’m like, ‘Man I’m sleeping.’ I be working! Then when I seen it on TV, it was over. That’s when I knew it was official. Like, ‘Damn, this shit all over TV.’
"I'm in Chicago right now. I'm about to go to Miami for a couple of weeks. Work. 24-7 work. I love it. Some days I might stall or something. Even might have to come to my hotel room. They might have to drag me up out of there. There just be them days when I don't answer the phone. I just need alone time, damn! Let me be me right quick! Because they try to work you 24-7.
“Man, my family think it’s crazy. They see I got a fan base, people want to take pictures. I can’t walk down the street. I can’t go nowhere, and I’m just a producer. They know my face. I’m like, ‘What is going on?’
“[I was in Chicago and they just started running up to me. I think I was on a corner or something, at the corner store. Getting something to eat or something, and then, all I know, it’s just a whole bunch of little kids just coming up to me, hugging me, wanting to take pictures. I was in my neighborhood, and it was crazy. I’m like, ‘What?’”
