You Are What You Eat

Pitchfork:5-10-15-20 -Pusha T

I didn’t know “Grindin’” was going to be a phenomenon, but I knew it was the exact record we wanted to make. It took nine months to break that record— we did a $5,000 show for every local drug dealer in the United States of America. We were on the road, we were in danger— bulletproof-vest clubs, all that shit. It was what the streets wanted to hear and, once they got it, they had our back. I was just super-focused on my own stuff at that time. I was listening to what Pharrell was making for others and trying to steal as many beats as I could. When he made the “Grindin’” beat, he called me and said, “If you don’t come over and take this beat, I’m going to give it to Jay-Z.” So I get there and I’m like, “This is good— how do I rap on it?” I didn’t know where to come in on the beat. But I wrote three raps for “Grindin’”, and the last one stuck. We totally knew it was going to be the song we put out first; we believed it was the gospel.