Studio Sessions | Camoflauge Monk helped Westside Gunn find his signature sinister sound
For this installment of "Studio Sessions," the producer discusses mastering his craft, hitting the lab with Westside Gunn and much more.
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Monk on how he and WSG met:
Back in 2013, my dad passed away and my mom ended up moving because I think her sister was sick. I moved to Atlanta with the woman who would become the mother to my kids. I knew of the music West was doing. I heard of Hitler 1. I hit him on Twitter like, ‘I brought my studio to Atlanta. We might as well link up and work and keep that Buffalo shyt going.’ He didn’t have to pull up on me or nothing. I was way out in Gwinnett [County], which is far as hell from Atlanta. It took an hour just to get to me on a good day. He pulled up on me that weekend, and we started Hitler 2 in our basement.
On how "327" was made:
Salute to Kit Andrée, the original singer of the song we sampled. She’s a friend of the family through my mom’s side. My mom had that record for a while. She has a lot of records. I got a lot of my records from my mom. The record was pink so it stood out, and I gravitated to it. We named it “327” based on the New Balance 327, but it was also the 327th beat I made that year, which was crazy. I made that pack while Billie Essco and Westside Gunn were in Paris for the Virgil [Abloh] Off-White show. Next thing I know, Essco was calling my phone like, ‘Listen to this shyt.’ West had the hook laid down. I was on FaceTime with them like, ‘That hook is wild.’ Joey [Bada$$] was on it by the time West got back to the States. West went to Alchemist and Tyler was there, and he threw his verse on there.
On the making of Mach-Hommy's Pray for Haiti:
I know the real Mach. He was the cameraman when we first started Griselda. We never worked in the studio together before we flew to Puerto Rico to do Pray For Haiti. He’s the only person I could just email beats to. I got two email addresses — Camouflage Monk email and another one called ‘Finesse the Goofy.’ Between which email I send him beats from, he knows what type of time it is.
We had a fire ass crib with a view of the whole beach in Puerto Rico. When Mach pulled up, he had a camera crew with him. We were on go time. All the beats I had were designed for Pray For Haiti. He already had songs ready. I ain’t never seen him go write or anything. That’s what’s wild to me. He picks a beat and already has a song ready. He has a bunch of songs created in his head; he just needs the right beat to fit them.
On future projects:
Michelle Records is about to be the hardest shyt of the year. Also, myself, Conductor [Williams], and Denny LaFlare are dropping a project together. I’ve been bugging Jay Worthy to finish the project he and I started. Hopefully, we’ll be able to do that. For 2022, there’ll be a lot of touring. I want to see more and be inspired more.
