I need to get on that. I forget to, so what I do is, I put my cigarettes under my bed so I can get on my knees in the morning.
But I pray for good things for others. Some of my friends pray for their downfall. Like Pusha [laughs]. He loves some good old karma. I stay away from it.
Speaking of Pusha, when we did his interview, Pusha was talking a lot about how the thing that differentiates you from other people when it comes to your style, is the composition. You focus on composition. What does that mean — composition —to you? Is that just, like, classical?
I mean, it can be, but it's just like, it is the parts of a song. It's the components of a song. All the necessary parts.
How do you know when it's done?
It's a feeling. Does it make you want to hear it over and over again? Because here's the thing, a lot of songs now, they're more vibrations and more vibes. And you'll love it, and you'll listen to it over and over again for about a month, but after that, you're burned out. All the senses have their art forms. So, visual art, for the eyes; music for the ears; fragrances, olfactory; food, gustatory; feeling, esteem, right? And if you compare music to food, a vibe is more like one thing. So let's say, somebody said, "Hey, you eat meat? You eat meat?" Okay. Someone says, "Aw man there's this amazing steak. It's amazing, you got to have it." And so you go to have it, and all you really have is steak and a little bit of potato, but it's mostly steak. How many times do you want to eat that in a row? If it's really good, and you're crazy and a lunatic like me, you probably want to have it the next day too. If it's banging, you want to have it the next day. The third day, because you've convinced some other people to have it, it's kind of your last day.
Right? That's a vibe. And that's why they burn out so fast. Now, if you make a complete meal, and you eat that same amazing steak, you got like two different veggies, right? One is green. Then you have a little bit more potato, maybe some bread, maybe, and another side dish for two, you might have that meal three, four times that week because of its balance. That's the composition.
After you have some of your steak, you go to your potatoes, after your potatoes you have to go back to your broccoli, you go to your broccoli, you go back to your steak. After your steak, you take a drink, go back to your steak, have a little bit of whatever that side dish is, back to the broccoli, a little bit of mashed potato, go back to the steak. That's a composition. You have an intro, you have a verse, and you have a pre-hook that sets up the chorus, you go to the chorus, you go back down to your verse, pre, second chorus, bridge, or break, a little bit of the pre again, back to the hook, double hook. Now, that's a feeling. That's what happens with most songs that you've ever really loved. It's pretty much that you still go back to it. That's what it is.
And then with the vibes, it's like you love it while it's going on, and then if you're somebody that is into drugs or whatever, there might be a song you might want to play during your moments. Right? But it ain't everyday.