Nardwuar the Human Serviette linked up with the legendary hip-hop record producer, Mike Dean, for his latest interview in the producer's mobile studio van.
Things kick off with Dean casually asking Nardwuar if it's cool for him to smoke a blunt during the interview, which doesn't phase Nardwuar who immediately launches into his interview as Dean names just a few of the people that have been on this bus including Travis Scott, Quavo, 2 Chainz, Taco, and Jasper. He also mentions that this bus is where he mixed and mastered Scott's first No. 1 album, Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, right there on the bus.
Nardwuar then gifts him with a book about Houston rap, encouraging him to read it. "Wow man. I don't really need to read it because I lived it, but I'll try...[the cover] is crazy. It's 32, man. it's crazy." From there, the pair travel down Mike Dean's come up as the producer breaks down the history of Houston rap, which he experienced first hand.
"Willie D is one of the first people I worked with. First person was Bushwick [Bill] and Scarface and Willie D all on their solo albums." Then, an Odd Squad record offers a segue for a lesson on Dean and N.O. Joe's shared history. "Me and N.O. Joe would basically and Scarface basically made this sound."
Describing the era of 93 "It's an interesting story actually. Before this album, I caught one of my kids smoking wee dand me and my wife back then had caught smoking weed for four years. And then I started smoking weed again before I made this so it was really good. I was really high. We smoked a lot of bad weed. Oof. Backyard boogie."
The two then discuss the first rap group Dean produced called the Def Squad. "I was just telling Kanye about this the other day. They were crazy," explains Dean. "They were inspirational to me to learn about hip-hop and about the turntable shit. Like, I knew how to produce and play funk music, you know?" It turns out he met one of the members in a record shop after he purchased his first drum machine and he got invited to their place, which is how they first linked up.
The conversation dives deeper into the '90s including the 5th Ward Boyz and the Ghetto Boys, who Dean dubs "the base of Houston music. The base of really all southern music." Dean goes on to say those early days were cloudy for him, which isn't much different than his time now working with Travis Scott. "We got better computers, better equipment. The weed's better. We know more about what we're doing so we don't have to be in the studio so long."
At one point, Dean and Nardwuar even trade their signature hats for one very special moment. Watch the full Mike Dean interview with Nardwuar above.
