Dave East on Advice J. Cole Shared When They Linked Up in the Studio

In an interview with Apple Music 1, Dave East talked about being in the studio with J. Cole, and how he applied that experience to his new album.

After releasing Hoffa, his latest joint album with Harry Fraud, Dave East told Ebro how J. Cole taught him different ways to rap on the project.

“I got a chance to lock in with J. Cole, just me and him in the studio with the engineer,” East explains in the clip above. “And he asked that same question, like, ‘Bro, I’m a fan of what you do, I really respect your pen but you rap with one tone.’ And I really sat and listened to myself, and a lot of my shit is one tone.” 

East went on to describe how that led him to start working on rapping using other tones, with Cole coaching him along the way. He credits some of the different inflections he uses on Hoffa from those sessions with Cole. East also made a cameo appearance in the music video for Cole’s song “Applying Pressure” a few weeks back.

Later in the interview, when talking about working with Harry Fraud on the entire album, East described how easy it was to put it together because there was good communication between the both of them.

“I really don’t want to do it no other way,” East said. “You can really focus on the music. When you have 50 producers, they all got lawyers, they all got interns, everybody has to sign off, nah. We did this so smooth and you can hear it in the music.”

“That’s what the producer is supposed to do,” Fraud added. “A lot of rappers have become vocal producers in their own rights. It’s my job to make sure all they have to do is rap. Of course I want their input, I want Dave’s input on everything. But he shouldn't have to be pulling his hair out worrying about anything but rapping, especially when we’re creating. He should only be worried about creating the best thing.”

You can check out the full Apple Music 1 interview with Ebro, Dave East, and Harry Fraud at 4:30 p.m. ET here.

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