If you've been paying attention to today's new releases, you've heard that new Major Lazer “Run Up,” featuring PARTYNEXTDOOR and Nicki Minaj. Party is one of the hottest rising R&B singers in the scene, and Nicki is the highest-selling female rapper of all time. So, kind of a big deal release, and Majoer Lazer don Diplo hopped on the phone with Zane Lowe for a Beats 1 exclusive interview.
“We love Party,” he told Lowe. “We write a lot with him, he's local here in LA, and Nicki, I was working on some stuff for her record. The timing was right. I've been trying to get Nicki to do something with us for a couple years now.”
Minaj dropped the news that she'll be released her fourth, and at least partially-Diplo produced, album in her “Run Up” verse, of which there were many more such verses that didn't make the final cut.
“She wrote 16 different verses for this song,” Diplo says. “She's so inspired. It's crazy. I've never had an artist be so disciplined on cutting a song … She's one of my favorite rappers.”
After more Minaj chit-chat, Lowe turned his attention to what Major Lazer material fans may be graced with in the coming months.
“This next whole year is about us trying to do pop records, but we always try to do it in a different way,” Diplo says. “We always try to improvise, do something that's just progressive … We're just going to put out a bunch of singles. I don't know if we're going to do an album this year, but three or four singles, building a culture around every record.”
He's got more records in the works with MØ, and he's been hitting the studio with young, poppin' rappers Lil Uzi Vert, Travis Scott, Migos, and MadeinTYO.
“It's all about chemistry for me,” he says. “It's not really about chasing a big stars. We never really had to rely on star power, we just want to make great records.”
Of course, who needs to chase when big stars come to you? Hear Diplo's full interview with Lowe below (lol rhymes).