One of the strongest notions in hip-hop during the early-2010s was the beginning of modern styles within the genre becoming more and more intertwined with those of old, mostly within the grand period of the early-mid 90s. Acts that took this demeanor unto themselves on the mic certainly exuded this spirit in their own right, but it was truly the incredibly resounding production work from a number of different figures at the time who solidified this status as far more than just a passing trend.
A figure who found himself at the forefront of this particular era was Statik Selektah — a tried and true lifelong producer and DJ and truly hit his mark once this decade began to move forward by manifesting that aforementioned spirit in full. His work on production with such acts like Joey Bada$$, Action Bronson, and numerous others certainly set the bar for this era at the decade’s inception, and kept it moving throughout the entirety of the historic period all the same.
But now we currently stand in 2020 — at the beginning of a new, tumultuous decade that is far more unprecedented than anything the modern world has seen thus far. Even beyond the unruly events of the entire world as a whole, a new era is beginning to take shape in the hip-hop world as well, just as it was ten years prior.
And if it was not clear enough by simply knowing the immense body of work and pure creative passion that Statik holds in his own right, he is taking up the coming period for the genre in perhaps the most ideal way imaginable. After a stunning single this year in “Keep It Moving” – featuring Nas, Joey Bada$$, and Gary Clark Jr. – the ever-acclaimed figure is capping off this infamous year with his ninth solo studio album entitled The Balancing Act — bringing together such names as 2 Chainz, Dave East, Method Man, Griselda, and numerous others.
Despite the act of curating such a wide variety of talents being anything but new to an act like this, Statik has been faced with a new challenge given the current circumstances of the world and its effect on the typical album-making process, especially one as ambitious as this. But with such an intuitive mindset always being present within, he has delivered on this undertaking with all the grace in the world, and with it a project that is just as satisfying to him in its own right.
Has the process of making an album like this represented any sort of development in your life, music or otherwise?
This is like a whole new chapter in my life. Being a single dad throughout basically the second half of this entire thing was a real challenge. It brought the “Balancing Act” title to a whole new level, really. The last couple of months have been really challenging. And this year has been really crazy for everybody, too. There’s a lot of music that speaks to the times… a lot of motivational music and a lot of stuff that talks about the appreciation of life. I think “balance” is the ultimate world to describe all of it, because that’s the only way we’re going to get through it.
Does the music itself on the album reflect any challenges or changes from a production standpoint?
I don’t think (Keep It Moving) shows it as much as the other songs do, but my drum game is a lot different on this album. It still has the same feel to it, but I have a lot of original breakbeats – shoutout to my man A.J. Hall who sent me a lot of those – and most of the album has a lot of original compositions compared to my past work where I sampled a lot of records.
Describe your approach to bringing together the large number of acts that you ended up doing for the entire album itself.
I just really stepped into it with certain concepts for each record and having a certain goal with who I wanted for each track. Having the younger generation represented is always a big part of my albums, and introducing people to them that way. There are a couple of new people on this album that the world is going to meet, a lot of legends, and then a bunch of A-listers on it as well. But everyone on the album is a friend… everything was organic and nothing was forced at all. The last verse I ended up getting for the album was actually Killer Mike, and he came through with just the perfect record.
How did this year, specifically, present a different challenge to the album-making process?
It’s always a different process every time around. I’ve gotten frustrated with doing compilation albums in the past, and this one was even more of a challenge than normal with everyone not being able to be around each other. There are definitely a lot of moments on the album that would not have existed without what has all gone down this year at all.
Do you take any sort of pride in being able to come through and accomplish such a difficult and ambitious goal like you did this year with the album?
It’s always just mutual respect for me. I really appreciate everybody that came through for me especially in these really tough time. Most of these guys I’ve been working with for a decent amount of time, but there’s a lot of new relationships that I was able to make during the process too with some new acts. Obviously I’m in a certain position that I’ve put myself in throughout all these years where I can reach out to all of these artists, but I’m just doing what people like DJ Kahled and DJ Drama did in their own lanes, but for me it’s just with that grimey, underground sort of feel. That’s just my own lane, and I’m proud to have it. The day the album drops is actually the day I celebrate 25 years of DJing, so it just feels full-circle.
For any other person looking to accomplish something like this, what kind of advice would you give knowing that you’ve now been through it all?
The advice is to just not force it. Don’t go chasing people that are not trying to work with you, and really just make it organic. Anyone can do whatever they want with this kind of thing, they just have to put in the work inside their own lane.