ThaFormula.com - How did you get involved in the return Of “Unity?”

DJ Khalil - It was something that Chace and Muggs really wanted to put together and had been talking about it for years.  It's been a long time coming and we’ve just been trying to figure out a way to do it.  It just never seemed like the right time.  But it started to come together, we had Angeles Records going and it just seemed right to do it now in Bigga B’s name and continue the legacy.

ThaFormula.com - How far do you go back production wise?

DJ Khalil – I started around ‘91 or ‘92. I had a friend who had a studio.  I was already DJ’ing doing parties and stuff so I wanted to start making beats. My mom bought me a little Casio machine that sampled shit for a couple of seconds so I was making beats on that.  I had a friend who had a studio and he showed me how to make stuff and use a computer and loop stuff.  Finally in college, I bought my own equipment and everyday I was on there.  I studied and I made beats everyday.  That was like ‘93 and that’s when me and Chace formed our group Self Scientific.  We got a demo deal in ‘95 with Loud.  We did a demo and we did a song with Diamond D and I produced the rest of it.  Nothing really happened though and our manager ran off with the money.  We got like a $20,000 budget and we never saw none of the money.  We didn’t know what was going on, we were just happy to be recording a demo.  We were just so new then that we didn’t really know what we were doing.  We knew we wanted to make songs, but we weren’t really making songs like we needed to be.  

ThaFormula.com - So what did you guys do from there?

DJ Khalil - We graduated, got back to L.A.  I had a 9 to 5.  We were just working and we started selling tapes at Unity actually.  We pressed up our own cassette tapes and we sold out every time.  After that we did our first 12" and that took off. Premier started playing it and all kinds of people.  Then the next single really took off and that's when I quit my job and decided that this is what I really wanna do.  So we struggled, we were broke and just kept making music and putting stuff out.  That’s really how it happened.

ThaFormula.com - Now you guys dropped your first album on Landspeed, how did that do for you guys?

DJ Khalil - We did like 15,000 records independently.  We were selling like 10,000 12" singles at that time.  It was a time when people were really killin' it independently and doing unheard of numbers.  That was really a time a lot of us took for granted because you probably won't see that again with the way the internet is now.  The whole game is different.  Anyways, Landspeed kind of dropped the ball on the record because we didn’t want to do another record, we didn’t want to do another record with them.  We made money but it went right back into what we were doing.  That was a good learning experience for us. 

ThaFormula.com - So you stopped messin' with Landspeed and did what after that?

DJ Khalil - Well, we split up from our partner.  It was kind of a bad split and we just kept grindin'.  We kept making songs, I bought more equipment and set up shop in my parents back house.  We were just making records.  We just kept recording.  Finally, we were already dealing with Muggs and Chace came up with the idea to form Angeles and you know, we definitely wanted to do something with Muggs and Chace set the whole thing up.  He got the distribution deal and everything and Muggs helped secure it.  Plus we already had the record done.

ThaFormula.com - So how did your break come in with the G-Unit camp and all the outside production you’ve been doing?

DJ Khalil - That was through Dre.  After we put out our first album I started getting a little notoriety as a producer.  Anyway, through an artist he signed named Brooklyn is how it happened.  She demoed a lot of my beats along with like Jake One and other producers, and Dre really loved the joints that I did.  So I got introduced to him through her.  I had to go track my beats and stuff and I was making so many beats at that point, that I was just giving them beats all the time.  He kept hearing stuff and he loved it.  I sat down with Dre and his business partner and they said we are gonna offer you a deal.  That was when he was doing “Get Rich or Die Trying.” He was mixing it at the time.

ThaFormula.com - How did it feel to sit there with Dre getting an offer like that?

DJ Khalil - I wasn't ready.  I wasn't horrified, but it was just too much.  It moved real fast.  Dre was like, “look man it’s an open check book and it’s up to you whether you wanna have the checks made out in your name.”  He told me that.  So it’s been real good and a learning experience because I’m still competing with Just Blaze, Kanye and all them.  I have to step up to that level and he has to look at me that way.  You know sometimes I hit a homerun, sometimes I wouldn't but that’s how I got on a G-Unit record and just throughout the whole relationship with Dre.  It’s been a blessing man and it’s really helped my career.

ThaFormula.com - How about The Game record you did?

DJ Khalil - We got acquainted pretty early.  Some of his first records that he did on Aftermath were with me.  I did like 3 songs with him including one with 50 cent that never came out.  I never heard Games verse on it, only 50's verse.  It never dropped.

ThaFormula.com - Why do you think it hasn't really translated over to your group Self Scientific as far as getting that recognition you deserve, seeing as you produced the whole album?

DJ Khalil - I think it's because we don't stay out there like other groups because me and Chace have a lot of stuff going on outside of just being artists.  Being artists is something that we wanna do, but we got to handle the business side to.  We don’t have anybody that handles our shit.  We have to handle it whether it’s the production side or Angeles.

ThaFormula.com - How did you feel about the second album?

DJ Khalil - I thought it was dope.  We just didn’t get the push that we wanted.  We didn’t have the money to market and promote it like we it could have been.  Everybody loved it.  The critics loved it, all my peers that are producers were inspired by it and loving it.  To me that just drives me even more.  I would like for it to sell crazy numbers, but I love making music with Chace.  It’s just something that we do.  It’s just fun for us.  We feel like we have a voice and we want to say something.  If people catch on to it that’s cool, if they don’t its cool too but we definitely want people to be more aware and its the reason why we are doing Unity and stuff like this because we need that push like everybody else.  We make dope music from the heart man and not a lot of people do that.  We talk about real shit, not bullshit.

ThaFormula.com - What about you man.  Do you plan on doing some sort of production album or something?

DJ Khalil - Yeah.  After we do “Soul Assassins 3,” I'll probably start doing that.  I'll probably start off with a 12" and just put those out for a good 6 months.  I mean I got tracks with Xzibit, Kweli, and Black Thought that never were put out and all kinds of stuff.  I'm definitely working on it because Chace has been on me to do it for a while.  I wanna do a different kind of a record so I’ve just been kind of putting it off.

ThaFormula.com - With the way records sales are nowadays, where do you see the new artist making his or her money in this industry?

DJ Khalil - For me, I think the money is in licensing, really marketing your song and really making songs that can be used for commercials and stuff like that. As artists, you can license your own stuff.  I mean we own our own masters.  So we need to put our shit in films and whatever and we know a lot of people that are doing that shit right now.  I think it’s really in licensing and building your brand which is what we are trying to do with Angeles records.  You just have to carve out your niche.  But you can't stop making music.  You’ve got to keep making music cause people wanna hear shit regardless.

ThaFormula.com - Now you got a track on the upcoming Jay Z album "Kingdom Come." how did that go down? That’s is a huge move right there.

DJ Khalil - Well the record was originally a Dre record and it happened through Dre.  Dre hooked it up literally.  It was a record for another project and Jay-Z was working with Dre and he heard it and went crazy over the record.  So he asked Dre if he could have it and Dre was gracious enough to let the track go. Jay-Z cut it and Dre mixed it last Monday and I just signed the paperwork for it today.

ThaFormula.com - So what did you think when this all happened and how are you feeling right now man?

DJ Khalil - Dude I'm on cloud 9 man.  Just to have a chance to be on Jay-Z's record is just a dream come true for me.  I've worked with Dre, 50, Game and now Jay-Z.  Now I just need Nas, but that's not a lock either.  I did a record for him, but I don't know if it's gonna make it.  He took a beat and I heard that he recorded the track, but I'm not sure what's gonna happen.  I mean I'm on cloud 9 man.  I can't even explain it.  I haven't been able to work all week.

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