UPDATE: That Time I Interviewed !llmind (& Almost Threw Up) Posted by Lucas G. on 03/20/14 | Filed under Opinion, Interviews, Illmind, Producers, True Blogger Stories

Update: The interview is live here. Some really good advice for the producers out there, enjoy...

I have been at this whole blogging thing for a little under two years now (with 10 months here at RefinedHype), and it's all still so surreal to me. To be working for websites that I checked on a daily basis is mind blowing to me. I still feel like a fan first, like I snuck backstage and even though I made it past security, I keep waiting to get plucked by a bouncer and thrown out.

But everyday I wake up and get to write about Toy Story, or dedicate a week's worth of work to my favorite album. That part has become normal for me (I still get those "this is my job" moments on occasion), but what hasn't become normal is interacting with artists I worshipped for years, and really, still worship today. So while Nathan is over there chillin' in the playboy mansion and getting in verbal altercations with a meme rapper, I'm over here losing sleep about an interview with a legendary producer.

Over at the mothership, we are starting a series called "Behind The Boards." More details are coming, but the gist is that it is a producer-oriented series, where we provide some insight on what it means to be a producer in 2014. At first, I thought I might want to make it a written thing, so that I didn't have to talk, but since I have been trying to step outside of my comfort zone, I decided to make it a one-on-one interview. I suck at talking on the phone and feel awkward, but skipping out on a chance to talk to the people who make the music I love was too much to pass up.

It was all well and good until I found out I would be interviewing !llmind, a guy who has worked with some of hip-hop's best and most respected artists, from Skyzoo, Little Brother and 50 Cent, to Kanye fucking West. Being one degree away from Kanye (well, sort of one degree) was too much for me to handle. On Monday, I took some Nyquil so I could get my eight hours before the interview, but even that didn't work. I even got up early and took a quick walk to get my juices flowing... and I never wake up early, let alone to go outside in 30 degree weather. I collected myself, studied my shit, and felt good. Finally the clock struck two and it was time to hop on Skype for the interview and I started to feel a lump in throat. "What If I fuck up?" "This guy has worked with Kanye." "What If I fuck up?" was all I could think.

I managed to get through explaining the series without throwing up on my screen and we were off. Of course I was a little surprised when his video came up and he was sitting in his studio-- he was right there, on my computer screen--but as it went on I got more and more comfortable; part of most of that was because !ll couldn't have been nicer. Eventually, it felt more like I was talking to another hip-hop head than a world famous producer. He was polite, interesting, and above all else passionate, which made me feel at ease. Before I knew it the interview was over and we parted ways, but not before I took a snapshot so I could have proof (but don't tell him that). I took a deep breath and realized, I just fucking interviewed !llmind; I've been on cloud nine ever since. Man Of The Year has been on a loop in my brain all day; "Titties, ass, hands in the air."

While this little story (which is bordering on one massive humble brag) is significant to me and only me - well, hopefully !llmind too - I think it speaks to the curious world of internet hip-hop. To the fans, like me, guys like !llmind seem like these larger than life figures who are almost more than people. We worship and mythicise them, but in reality they are just hip-hop heads who just so happen to make the music. 

What I took away from the interview is how much he really loves producing. It struck me too, that bloggers, while not worshiped like producers and emcees (except for yours truly), are stripped of our humanness. It's like when you would see a teacher outside of school and you feel all weird because you never considered that they needed to go grocery shopping or get gas; you don't expect bloggers to be regular people but we are. There is no grand illusion, no guy behind the curtain pulling the strings. In my case, it's just a 25-year-old hip-hop head who snuck backstage.

Blogger is my job title but hip-hop head is what I am.

(p.s. - I'll update with a link to the full interview when it goes live.)

Update: The interview is live here. Some really good advice for the producers out there, enjoy...

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