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Lil' Wayne - Kobe Bryant
Its the playoffs and the Lakers are in the finals. Kobe Bryant is killing, and thus Lil' Wayne makes a song for Kobe. Once we put this song up I scrambled around and found that Infamous produced it. Below you have my sit down with the man behind "Mr. Carter', 'Prom Queen' and more recently 'Kobe Bryant'. Now we just need him to produce a Dwight Howard song so Orlando can figure out how to win a game or two.iR: So how did you get started ?
Infamous: I started DJing in '97 and by '98 I was a US champion. Then I went off to win 3 world titles. After all that, I kinda wanted to try something new, so I started a rock band since I had been playing guitar for a few years. We ended up getting signed to Columbia but we split before the album dropped which is when I met Wayne through my boy Develop around the same time. I passed him a CD, and that was it. I had never produced full time untill I met Wayne .
iR: So you actually developed from DJing?
Infamous: Kinda. I have been playing guitar on and off for a great portion of my life. The DJing was just my transition into producing Hip-Hop, just cause of the people I was always around
iR: Your rock band signed to Columbia. Tell me more about that.
Infamous: The band was called Antenna. It was more of a passion project than anything. I played the guitar bass and keyboards, my boy Jason played the drums, and our singer's name was Justin. It was great because it helped me develop my recording chops and my ability to come up with ideas in my head and translate them into something tangible. But for the most part, it's really hard keeping a group of people motivated so we eventually split.
iR: What and who were your influences growing up?
Infamous: Everything. My dad was a guitar player and being that we're Cuban, shit like Santana, Al Di Meola and that whole Latin vibe was always big. When I got a little older, I started getting into Public Enemy (Hank Shocklee is a genius) and, shit, really anything. I listen to shit I don't even like to be honest with you. Just to hear what's out there.
iR: What is the worst song you've ever listened to?
Infamous: [Laughs] I was on tour with a group called Ozomatli, and they played a cassette tape of some Buddhist monks playing pot drums. It was recorded on a hand held tape deck and u can hear chickens in the background. But the monks were jammin' and doing some really interesting time signatures so I continued to listen.
iR: Interesting! Okay, please give us the back story for "Prom Queen," what you wanted to accomplish with that?
Infamous: Well I heard Wayne was doing a rock album but I didn't really know how "rock" he was planning on going with it. Coming from playing in an actual rock band and being around the Hip-Hop scene as well, I automatically assume when someone in Wayne's camp says rock album, I think of 808's and electric guitars. But whatever, long story short, Weezy called my boy Drew Correa who co-produced the song with me to come through. Drew called me and we knocked out the song that same night. Wayne kept saying guitars, bass and drums. That's it, nothing else. As far as what I wanted to accomplish with it, my job is to bring the vision that an artist has in his head to life. I'm not in the studio with Wayne pushing him to try and do this or try and do that. I'm just trying to create what he hears in his head and make it better than how he pictures it.
iR: So that was all live instruments being played?

Infamous: Yeah. Some of the drums were programmed, some [were] live. All guitars were live and ran through a marshal cabinet, while the bass was through an Ampeg amp.
iR: Ah, I see. So how many tracks did you produce for Tha Carter 3, including any that didn't make the cut?
Infamous: I'd say like 30 or so. I had about 13 songs leak and some others that Wayne never finished.
iR: Moving forward, you recently produced a Kobe song. Now I'm an East Coast guy and I'm rooting for Dwight, but give us the back story on that song.
Infamous: Wayne and his engineer KY hit me up around 4 AM and said they want me to make a beat for Wayne which he can give to Kobe so he can be pumped up before the games. I'm a Heat fan but I still like Kobe, but when Wayne calls you at 4 AM and asks you to make a beat for him, you gotta know there's a million other producers he could've called, so you better jump on that opportunity. I basically dragged my ass out of bed and chopped up some samples from ESPN, made the beat real quick. Sent it to my boy Laurent "Slick" Cohen so he could add some bass to it since people were sleeping in my house and I couldn't wake them up, and finally sent it to Wayne within the hour.
iR: I can't wait until I have that type of pull. I need to motivate my homie, "Go make me a beat!" [Laughs] That is very congenial of you though.
Infamous: [Laughs] Man, you gotta work hard. If you're a doctor and a patient calls at 4 AM, you better be ready to do your job. I'm not saving lives, but I take what I do seriously, you know?
iR: So I gotta ask. You're from Miami, who are the dope acts coming out of Miami to look for?
Infamous: Art Official is incredible. They're a live hip hop band with virtuoso musicians. Hands down, incredible. I've been working with my boy Skam2? who most people know from the old Eminem stuff. And, [pauses] there's a lot of talent out here. Even if its not Hip-Hop. I have an artist named Armando Soler who's an incredible singer. That's all that comes to mind right now.
iR: Word. So I need a Dwight Howard song. Mike and Mike made like three Dwight Howard songs including a parody "Fight For Your Right" by the Beasties.
Infamous: Nice. I got you! I gotta go chop some ESPN samples again which is a pain in the ass it's but all good.
iR: [Laughs] Regardless, what are your thoughts on the series? Who ya got?
Infamous: Honestly I want Orlando to win just because they're Florida and I'm a Miami dude. Plus, I would like to see them make history. But I think Phil Jackson is too smart of a coach and if anyone knows how to create a game plan to stop them, it's him. Kobe is amazing though, so win-win either way.
iR: Okay so what is it, Lakers or Magic?
Infamous: I'm gonna say, Lakers in 6. That's what i would put money on. I want Magic in 5. [Laughs]
iR: Okay, okay. Future credits. Where should we look?
Infamous: Fat Joe, The Carter 4, Rebirth, Plies, Birdman, Young Money album and some other really big ones. But until the paperwork is done, I cant expose them.