Who's involved in the Blakroc project?
It's primarily The Black Keys and I'm a co-producer and engineer. Dan and Pat from The Black Keys are producers, with Damon Dash as the other producer.
Whose concept was it?
You know, the concept didn't really exist. Damon contacted The Black Keys, from what I understand. Damon told The Black Keys that he liked how they operated one of the first days we were all in Studio G. It was based on the fact that a lot of modern hip-hop has gotten to a point where it's more about Twitter and, "Hey, look at me" than it is about content. It's heavy on the PR and light on the substance. That seems to be a pretty common opinion. Damon was talking about how The Black Keys are all content and no Facebook or Twitter — just a real band playing real stuff. The fact that we started recording things without a concept actually became an asset.
Each song features a different rapper?
Yeah. Basically myself, Dan and Pat were the producers. Damon had suggestions for people that might want to be part of the project. We also had other suggestions, like Q-Tip. I think that's why a lot of the guys on this record are the people that rock guys think are cool in the rap scene. That's why it's Jim Jones, RZA, Q-Tip, Raekwon, NOE and M.O.P.'s Billy Danze. Nicole Wray sings a bunch of the hooks, and she has one whole song with Dan. She had a really big hit called "Make It Hot" on Missy Elliott's label, but that was '98 or '99.
So what's the process? Are you guys getting tracks done and then bringing in MCs?
