Az Chike stopped by the Genius office to break down his song “Whatx2.” The rising rapper has been making waves after his standout feature on “peakaboo” from Kendrick Lamar’s GNX, which he even performed at the Super Bowl, and his recent signing to Warner Records. On this episode of Verified, the South Central native showcases his humor, shares the inspiration behind the upbeat track, talks about being “freaked out,” ownership and more.
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MusicTranscript
00:00I knew shit was going to change.
00:01Not like this though.
00:02A lot of people thought it was going to stop at Peek-A-Boo.
00:05Nobody thought I was going to sign a warner.
00:08Nobody thought he was going to wrap my shit at the Super Bowl.
00:11You know, that's just so to speak of what else to come.
00:13I don't want to say too much, but I did just talk to him.
00:15I know what's next.
00:16You know what I mean?
00:17So, you just never know.
00:18You never know.
00:19He's keen on making sure a nigga get out of here.
00:22The inspiration for what, it was the beat itself, you know what I'm saying?
00:33To be honest with you, I redid it like twice before I even got that right there.
00:37I did that song the same month I did Peek-A-Boo, so I'm kind of rapping about the same shit
00:42because that's just the bag I was in.
00:44Thumbs and butts.
00:45That's just what it was.
00:46You feel me?
00:47The point of the song is to make you dance.
00:48It's not my most lyrical song, but it is one of my most fun songs.
00:53I don't trust niggas, but as far as I can tell them, point a nigga out, told bro to
00:57get the blunt.
00:58The way somebody can earn my trust is through hard times.
01:01That's how I know who you really are.
01:03When shit not going your way, or we at odds, you still show some respect like, all right,
01:08I know we at odds, but it's not fuck you forever.
01:10We just disagreeing.
01:12If that's the case, then I can trust you.
01:14You know who somebody really is when they mad at you.
01:16The emotions come out, the real them come out in how they think about you, so if we
01:20can still be cool and be angry, I can trust you.
01:23Call the ISM up.
01:24Bring the hoes and start snorting.
01:25She like, you're one of the ones.
01:26I'm like, I'm already knowing.
01:27They go, what?
01:28I knew I was one of the ones early on, yeah, like 2016, 2017.
01:32Not because I'm just extra boasting or nothing.
01:36I don't feel like a lot of niggas got as much endurance as I do.
01:41They passion don't match mine.
01:42This shit is just a hobby to them, and really they just in the way.
01:45I'ma outdo any nigga because I'ma stand the test of time every time.
01:50That's what I mean.
01:51I'm really one of the ones because thick and thin, I'm in this motherfucker a real dog.
02:03Hold on.
02:04Let me talk my shit.
02:05The what's on the chorus, it was a way to keep the listener listening.
02:10It's a regulated thing in hip hop.
02:13Even back in the day, early in hip hop, they'd say, what, what?
02:15You know what I'm saying?
02:16You playing that.
02:17You feel me?
02:18Babies can play, you know what I mean?
02:19It was just easy to resonate with, and I've just been big on structuring my songs with
02:24a little more care.
02:35If you ain't do it with me, don't speak on what I did, let's just use what's happening
02:39now.
02:40The Kendrick shit.
02:41A lot of motherfuckers who wasn't fucking with me like that, that is now all of a sudden
02:45trying to speak on what I did with Dot.
02:47You wasn't there.
02:48Stop the cap.
02:49Yeah, we might have fucked around in the summer, you did some bullshit, and I said, fuck you.
02:54This happened, now you're trying to revisit shit and think we cool.
02:57That's not the case.
02:58Don't speak on what I did if you ain't do it with me, you know what I'm saying?
03:01If you wasn't there with me, the seed breathing, you know what I mean?
03:03Just shut the fuck up, because you're giving false information.
03:15In fact, I do check the tag every time.
03:18I do check the tag, because look, okay, how much money I got, you not for the play me.
03:22I don't give a fuck what's going on.
03:24Now I do make some outrageous purchases if I'm really feeling that shit, I won't care.
03:29It's just a statement.
03:30I'm all for letting the art live, you know?
03:32If that's the case, then yeah, but I'm definitely checking that tag.
03:35I'm sorry I didn't bamboozle y'all like that.
03:37Bitch bad as fuck.
03:38I just had to tear her up.
03:39Thumb in her butt.
03:40She gon' leave on a crutch.
03:41Feel like a surgeon.
03:42I been planting her guts.
03:43Niggas be hiding and running until they run out of luck, Nigga Woods.
03:46The thumbs in the butt part, that was the bag I was in for the month of October last year.
03:52Nigga Woods freaked out.
03:53And I know a lot of people be like, what's up with this nigga?
03:55This your second track, you talking about thumbs in the butt?
03:58Look, I come in peace.
03:59I didn't do that intentionally.
04:01I didn't know if Dot was dropping that shit or not.
04:03I promise you, Peek-A-Boo was done October 8th.
04:05I probably did that song a week or two after.
04:08I did Wet X 2 a week or two after.
04:10Not even knowing, like I said, that was just the bag I was in.
04:13Was Nigga freaked out?
04:15Yes!
04:16I admit it.
04:17You know what I mean?
04:18This ain't Resident Evil.
04:19Niggas playing like they demons.
04:20Blew me a million.
04:21While I walk, I wasn't dreaming.
04:22Niggas ducking for chills when I'm on the hunt.
04:23Have you seen them?
04:24Nigga definitely touched them.
04:25Not all at once.
04:26I'd say in like a year, it was a million in deals.
04:29I had a lot of ownership of my own music for a long time.
04:32You know what I'm saying?
04:33I know my business.
04:34I know how I'm supposed to get my money.
04:36My cheese is going to come in regardless.
04:37You know what I'm saying?
04:38A lot of niggas don't know, so.
04:39They probably could have touched them.
04:41Sleek.
04:42That's on them though.
04:54Some women do feel like just because the sex is good, that they hold a higher standard
04:59with you.
05:00When all honestly, just because the sex good and nothing else good, that's how you get
05:04toxic shit.
05:05Damn, I just want to fuck you.
05:06I'm going to deal with everything else.
05:07We're going to argue just until we get to where we fuck, and then once you get that
05:11post-nut clarity, it's over.
05:12Now, what a woman can do to be important, just have better understanding.
05:17That's it.
05:18Really, really understand the dude you're dealing with.
05:21Show genuine interest.
05:22That's it.
05:23You know what I'm saying?
05:24And support.
05:25Even if a nigga don't ask for it, I promise you, if you consistent with the poor, he ain't
05:28going to have no choice.
05:29He ain't going to have no choice but to fuck with you because he can't find it nowhere
05:32else.
05:33I'm going to let them talk, because that's what they do best.
05:35I'm putting it on.
05:36I get dressed, she get wet, and I'm cutting her off.
05:38If I get a little stressed, side bitch like the best.
05:41She my secret best cat, nigga.
05:42What?
05:43Putting it on, it's just feeling good, confident.
05:46It don't even have to be no name brand shit.
05:49I like Zara.
05:50You know what I'm saying?
05:51It don't have to be nothing.
05:52You just got to feel good.
05:53If you feel like, ain't no way a bitch can tell me no one this, then you got it on.
05:58You ever seen that TikTok artist video?
06:01It's the older dude.
06:02It's like K-Swiss and Georgetown, and they're like, ain't I fresh?
06:05You feel me?
06:06You can't tell him nothing though.
06:07He got the regular polo, and you feel me?
06:09That's putting it on, because that confidence is going to say everything.
06:11It's a nigga out there right now, name brand down to the feet.
06:15No confidence.
06:16Look like a lame.
06:17He look like a hypebeast.
06:18You feel me?
06:19I feel like that's where the term hypebeast come from.
06:20Niggas just dressing what people think they like, but putting it on is make you feel strong.
06:24Nigga, yeah.
06:27Ism is some pimping.
06:30Speaking of ism, you know what I'm saying?
06:32That's game.
06:33You know what I mean?
06:3420 toes down.
06:35That's two hoes.
06:36You know what I'm saying?
06:37That's what ism is.
06:38It's just some high level of some pimping.
06:40I'm from LA.
06:41It's a lot of ism around, whether it's fake or real, but it's a lot of ism.
06:46I'm from South Central.
06:47I grew up on Figueroa Ism Street.
06:49You know what I mean?
06:50It's hoes out there right now.
06:51What's today?
06:52Tuesday, Monday, they out there right now.
06:55No direct deposit.
06:56Nothing hidden.
06:57They just out there for the fun of it.