DDG is in the midst of his 24/7, week-long live stream, Hit-A-Thon, where he streams the process of creating his new album. We got to sit down in the middle of his stream to talk to him about why he decided to create an album during streaming, his top Billboard charting songs, his eagerness for Blueface to be released, co-parenting Halo with Halle Bailey and more!
Are you watching DDG’s Hit-A-Thon? Let us know in the comments!
Are you watching DDG’s Hit-A-Thon? Let us know in the comments!
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00:00Yo, Billboard News, hanging out with DDG.
00:02So, bro, I've interviewed you, like, I think this, like,
00:04maybe the third time, but nothing like this.
00:07So you gotta tell me, when did you decide
00:09you was gonna stream for seven days, man?
00:11I think I planned this probably, like, three weeks ago.
00:15Oh, dang, that ain't even that long ago.
00:17Yeah, I know.
00:18You just said, I wanna do this.
00:19Yeah, I just been going every day,
00:20so I'm like 36, 37 days in a row.
00:25That is wild, and how does your team feel about it?
00:27Great, this is going amazing, actually.
00:30This is going much better than I actually thought.
00:32I thought it was gonna be, like, just something cool,
00:35but this is, like, my biggest project ever, so.
00:40And, I mean, it's gotta feel good,
00:41but at the same time, I know it can't be just, like,
00:43easy to be 24-7 on a stream, so has it,
00:46at any point yet, has it felt like this is overwhelming?
00:49Nah, I ain't gonna lie, it's cool,
00:51because, well, I got, like, my family and friends
00:54that pull up just to help entertain the audience,
00:57so it's not too many dead moments,
00:59and that's what a lot of people scared of
01:01when they do, like, 24-7 streaming,
01:04because it can be, like, moments where it's, like,
01:05super dead, and you don't know what to do,
01:07and you just don't know how to entertain them,
01:09and you run out of things to do.
01:11But since I got a lot of people here pulling up every day,
01:14it makes it easier for me to, like,
01:17you know, jump back and forth.
01:18Plus, I got a pool, basketball court.
01:20There's stuff to do.
01:21Yeah, there's things to do, you know,
01:22and I just wanna just be a part of it, so.
01:25It's not overwhelming, because the people that watch me,
01:28like, we call them the chat, they funny.
01:30You know, humor is a big thing for me,
01:32so I get entertained by, like, reading what they say.
01:36And then, like, I guess when I think about, like,
01:38you say that their goal to entertain people, your guests,
01:41but, like, that's when you take your quiet time.
01:42Like, I heard you be sleeping on the stream, too.
01:44So, like, when do you shower?
01:45When do you sleep?
01:46You just be like, hold on, stream, I'm out?
01:47If I shower, I, like, turn on an old video
01:50and let them watch, like, an old video or something,
01:51or, like, today, I let them watch, like,
01:54one of the interviews I did while I got in the shower,
01:57and then when I get back off, you know,
01:58I put a camera on.
02:00That's crazy.
02:0124-7 on, what is your must-needs?
02:03Like, what's helping you get through the best?
02:04Is it food?
02:05Is it drinking?
02:06What gets you through every day?
02:07I don't lie, Don Julio is helping me.
02:10It's going pretty good with me and Don Julio getting along.
02:14Red Bulls, Starbucks.
02:17Oh, so you got all the caffeine.
02:18Coffee, Red Bull, all of it.
02:20I'm wired because it's just like, I'm just,
02:23I wake up, and then, you know, it's already,
02:26it's like 8,000 people watching me,
02:28so then I gotta get straight to entertaining, you know?
02:30Right, and you said this is your biggest project yet,
02:32so you're obviously also working on releasing your album,
02:35and I think it's cool, kind of,
02:36how you're incorporating your career into this.
02:38Like, I saw the stylist coming in,
02:40so it's like, you're styling your album cover on the stream.
02:43Like, how does it feel to, like,
02:44get that kind of live feedback when most of the time,
02:47these are private moments?
02:48Nah, this is dope because it gives them a chance
02:51to, like, really see what the process is to make an album.
02:56All the things like interviews with Billboard
02:59and, like, you know, being in a studio,
03:02making, like, some type of, you know,
03:05seeing the connection that you make with other artists.
03:07Like, you know, the people I make pull up,
03:09the people that pull up here to do music with me,
03:11we have, like, you know, some of them
03:14is our first time meeting.
03:16That's wild.
03:16Yeah, they get to see, like, that interaction.
03:18They feel like they a part of something.
03:20Well, that's crazy because, I mean,
03:21you had DaBaby in here, so that was wild.
03:23Just last night, right?
03:23Yeah, yeah.
03:24And so, like, how is it when you get, like,
03:25a big star like that in here, y'all working together,
03:28that y'all haven't streamed together before?
03:29Like, what's that energy like?
03:31It's good.
03:31I'm, like, a real cool dude.
03:33I'm a chill dude, you know?
03:34So, and I'm, like, the type of person
03:36that really like to make everybody feel comfortable.
03:38So, you know, I feel like it was his first time
03:41being on stream, so when he pulled up,
03:43I feel like an hour, two hours in,
03:45he like, oh, dude, you cool.
03:46Yeah.
03:47You know, so he just kick it.
03:48You know, even after we made the music,
03:52you know, he wanted to stay.
03:53Played basketball, we kicked it.
03:55You know, everything is cool.
03:56On the stream still?
03:57On the stream, everything 24-7.
03:59So, you know, it's good vibes over here, for sure.
04:01And how do you feel, like, musically
04:02when you're working with DaBaby in the studio?
04:05On the stream, like, do you read the comments
04:07or, like, fans?
04:08Like, are you listening to what they say
04:09or are you just kind of, like, in your own zone?
04:11100%.
04:12If they don't like it, I don't like it.
04:14I mean, hey, you got a great audience to look at.
04:16That's what I'm saying.
04:17If you cook somebody some eggs
04:19and they say they don't like it,
04:20you gonna give them the same eggs the next day?
04:23Damn.
04:24Preaching the damn truth at this point.
04:25Come on, man.
04:26They do what they like.
04:27Like, they are the A&R at that point.
04:28They the consumers.
04:29They the one that's consuming the content.
04:31So if they don't like it, why would you give them something
04:33that they not gonna interact with or like?
04:37Yeah, I mean, true point.
04:37And then I was just looking at your stats.
04:39Moonwalking in Calabasas was a bass track.
04:41That peaked at number one, I mean, number 81, excuse me,
04:43on our Hot 100.
04:44So Blueface just recently kind of resurfaced a little bit,
04:47having some positive energy on the internet.
04:49How is y'all's relationship still?
04:51I like that first sentence you said.
04:52It peaked at number one.
04:53We gotta get there.
04:55One day.
04:56But nah, I can't wait for Blueface to get out.
05:00We gonna definitely get back in the studio
05:02and try to recreate some magic for sure.
05:06And that's like my friend in real life.
05:07So, you know, it's good to see him in good spirits.
05:11Yeah, I mean, you've had a lot of different people
05:12coming through, you had Bhad Bhabie coming through here.
05:14So how is it like having that energy coming?
05:16What's your relationship like with her?
05:18That was our first time meeting.
05:20For real?
05:20On the stream.
05:21All these first timers.
05:22Yeah, like I ain't gonna lie,
05:23like it's a lot of people streaming these days,
05:27but a lot of artists feel comfortable
05:29with coming on stream with me.
05:32Maybe their first time.
05:33And that's like you said, I think it's your energy.
05:34It's the chillness, it's the vibes
05:36that you know that you're gonna bring.
05:37Is there anybody that you feel like would shock people
05:40that you like would wanna have come in?
05:41Like somebody that's not maybe part of the hip hop circle
05:44or like an artist that you would wanna work with?
05:46Um, like come on the stream, make music?
05:48Yeah.
05:52I don't know.
05:53I'm really trying to do something with Chris Brown.
05:56Wow.
05:57That'd be fire, yeah.
05:58I'm trying to put that together.
06:00So if I can make that happen, that'd be dope.
06:03He don't live far from here, right?
06:05I don't think so.
06:06Close to you.
06:06A lot of people in LA.
06:07Yeah, so I feel like he might be right around the corner.
06:09Y'all need to make that happen.
06:10Yeah, it's just about people's schedules, you know?
06:12And then, you know, people gotta also feel comfortable
06:15knowing that it's live.
06:16A lot of artists like to keep their creative process
06:20like a secret to them and how they make it.
06:23So, you know, it really just depends
06:25on how comfortable an artist is.
06:27Yeah, for sure.
06:28And then also I feel like you're a family man.
06:29You always be hyping up your nephew Lil Woo Wop.
06:32So how is the relationship with your nephew?
06:34Would you have him on the album?
06:35Yeah, I want him to narrate it.
06:37I haven't, I gotta get him, I gotta get him in here
06:39so he can do like some lines
06:41and kind of narrate it a little bit.
06:42I always wanted to do that with him.
06:44So I think that'd be dope.
06:45Okay, man, that's a dope idea as well.
06:46And being a family man like that,
06:48like how is it to balance all this?
06:49You're doing the live stream,
06:50you're recording the album, you're a father.
06:52So what's the balance like with all of that?
06:54You know, when it comes to parenting, you know,
06:58I'm in the, I'm shifting, you know, we doing shifts.
07:03You know, so she has him right now while I'm working.
07:06And then when I get done working, I have him.
07:08So that's the balance I got for that.
07:12But for just music and streaming and everything,
07:15that's why I'm tying it together
07:17because I don't want to separate the two.
07:18So that's why I'm doing what I'm doing.
07:20And I guess what's interesting to me,
07:21I think about like even my job, you know,
07:23I'm always on the internet, front facing up.
07:26I sometimes might read comments on something
07:28sometimes I don't.
07:29You on live stream,
07:30you constantly getting feedback from people.
07:32It's people always online debating about you,
07:34whether that's your relationship, your parenting, your life.
07:36How do you like handle all of that
07:39when you know you're putting yourself out there,
07:40but you also kind of want to keep some stuff private?
07:42I ain't gonna lie, I don't look at it.
07:44Like when something negative happens to me,
07:47I don't necessarily like look at it
07:50or like pay attention to it.
07:52Like even since I've been on live,
07:54I probably scrolled on TikTok maybe like 10 times.
07:58Oh wow.
07:58I mean, I know it's going viral everywhere.
08:00I know it's a bunch of clips and things going on,
08:02but I don't even pay attention to it because I'm too.
08:07You're locked in.
08:08I'm like a sprinter when they first take off.
08:10You know, they head down, they just running.
08:12First of all, as soon as you said that you locked in though,
08:14I don't know if this came across your feet yet.
08:16You seem to do with the Saratoga waters.
08:18Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
08:19The banana and all that.
08:20I'm like, you ain't that locked in yet though.
08:21I did it though.
08:22Oh, you did it though?
08:23I did that.
08:24Oh my God, I got to look that up.
08:25How was it?
08:26Did you feel better that day?
08:26I did, I ain't gonna lie.
08:28I felt, bro, he on to something.
08:30I felt good.
08:31I had a smile on my face after that.
08:33That's wild, man.
08:33And I mean, you say you don't be on there,
08:35but you do be going viral a lot.
08:37Like recently, one of your viral moments
08:38was when you were saying like,
08:39I think $10 million or something like that's not a lot.
08:42That went so far on the internet.
08:43And I was like, that comment.
08:44I didn't even see it.
08:45I didn't see it go that far.
08:47I wasn't paying attention, but I knew like,
08:52marketing is like my main strategy.
08:56Okay, so you like, you kind of know what you're doing.
08:59Hey, shoot.
09:00My bad, bro.
09:00It's all good.
09:01It's live, like you said.
09:02Hey, should we just tell, can you just,
09:05you should just tell him just to wait just for one second.
09:08My bad.
09:09This is awesome, man.
09:10I think it's so cool just like watching this happen.
09:12But yeah, like saying like, you know,
09:14hey, $10 million ain't gonna last your lifetime.
09:15And everybody just get in this discourse
09:18and want to debate about, is that real?
09:20Is that not real?
09:21Just off of like something you said in the street.
09:22I say how I feel.
09:24You know what I'm saying?
09:25I say what I feel and I stand on it.
09:27I still say $10 million ain't enough to last a lifetime.
09:30I would love to try, man.
09:32And then I just want to run through a lot of
09:34some of your other Billboard stats
09:35we were talking about earlier.
09:36So Hold Up with Queen Naija, that was 2019.
09:38That was your first ever Billboard charted song.
09:41So like-
09:41That charted?
09:42Yeah.
09:43I didn't even know that.
09:44See?
09:45That's fire.
09:46So now, I mean, think about it.
09:47You, what, six years later now,
09:48like how has your music changed since then?
09:50How do you feel about that song?
09:52I, man, I ain't gonna lie.
09:53Like when I put songs out, I stopped listening to it.
09:57I only listen to my music, my unreleased music
10:01when I get in the car.
10:02So the songs that I'm releasing to the world,
10:05like I've heard it a thousand times.
10:08You know?
10:09So you just, once you release it, you like-
10:10I'm on to the next.
10:11That's on y'all now.
10:12Yeah, I'm on to the next.
10:13But that was a big moment for just internet in general
10:18because me and her both coming from Michigan
10:22and we both coming from YouTube and transitioning.
10:24Like when people always ask,
10:26oh, who else made the transition from YouTube to music?
10:30I only can think of Queen Naija.
10:33Nice, man.
10:34Yeah.
10:35I'm glad you still feel positive about that.
10:35Y'all should maybe work together again.
10:37Also, Elon Musk with Gunna, that was 2022.
10:40That also made some of the radio charts as well.
10:41So how do you feel about that track with Gunna
10:43now that you're at this point?
10:45That's lit.
10:47Gunna is one of my favorite artists.
10:49So working with him was, you know,
10:51it was kind of like a,
10:53it creates some type of nostalgia.
10:55You know, it's dope.
10:57I listened to his music before I ever met him.
10:59So being able to work with him was an honor for sure.
11:02I mean, that's crazy.
11:03You think about 2022,
11:04I feel like even the name Elon Musk
11:06meant a lot different in 2022 than it does now.
11:09Do you even get involved in all that stuff?
11:11How people just care about this man so much
11:12and everything that's happened politically?
11:14Nah, I don't even get into politics.
11:16I don't even, I don't, I like to not.
11:19That's the only thing that I don't express in.
11:22Like I don't talk about that
11:23because people get too invested with that.
11:25It's so invested.
11:26People, it's like,
11:27I get tired of being on the internet myself, bro.
11:29Sometimes you don't want to see that.
11:30And then also when you're talking about
11:32like what you want to accomplish
11:33with this stream and everything,
11:34what's your goal?
11:35What's your goal subscribers?
11:36Cause I heard, I might be wrong here.
11:38Are you going to get rid of your hair?
11:39At 40K, yeah.
11:4040K subscribers, this man's going to show.
11:43Have you wanted to do that already?
11:45I kind of do.
11:46I'm scared, but I feel like, you know,
11:49once I do it, I'm going to look crazy.
11:51But I feel like once I see it through,
11:53grow it out a little bit.
11:55Have a little hairstyle going.
11:56Yeah, it'd be a little more positive,
11:58but I always been wanting to start over
12:00and just, you know, just see.
12:02And I feel like hair hold a lot of energy.
12:04I think it would change me as a person.
12:07Okay, man.
12:08Okay.
12:09And then obviously seven day streams.
12:10What day are we at now?
12:12We on day three, right?
12:15Day three?
12:16He don't know.
12:17He don't even know.
12:18I don't even know, bro.
12:19Cause I'm like,
12:20where do you see the next days going?
12:21What do you,
12:22what do you want to accomplish
12:22by the time this is wrapped up?
12:23Things just start happening as they go.
12:25So I got a schedule,
12:27but it's very loose.
12:29Cause somebody might take you and be like,
12:29hey, I want to do this.
12:30And you just got to.
12:31That's what I'm saying.
12:32I had,
12:33I hit up the baby the morning that he pulled up.
12:38That wasn't on the schedule.
12:39It just happened.
12:40So it's like,
12:41things just end up happening.
12:43And he was randomly in LA.
12:45So it just,
12:46you know,
12:47stuff just pop up.
12:48I don't know what's going to happen.
12:49Well, man,
12:50I'm glad you had a Billboard news interview.
12:52Right.
12:53This might be a first for us too,
12:54jumping into somebody's live stream.
12:55So I think that's really cool.
12:56We wanted to make sure we brought you a little gift
12:59too, man.
12:59A little Billboard swag.
13:01Yeah, I'm gonna rock this.
13:02Hopefully I get number 10 or something.
13:04No, we got to get number one.
13:05That's what you said.
13:06Number one, number one, number one, number one, man.
13:08But thank you so much DDG, man.
13:09Of course.
13:10Appreciate you, bro.
13:11Yes, sir.