Kanye West Speaks On ‘Live Fast, Die Young’

“You know what’s so bugged?” he said. “I had a friend that didn’t realize I produced the last Jay-Z album. Because I’m such a notorious pop character, such a hated guy, or a loved guy, controversial or whatever it is, that people kind of forget that I sit and work hard as hell on beats. I listened to CDs for three days to find the ‘Live Fast Die Young’ sample, which was ‘If This World Were Mine’ flipped by the Bar-Kays. And I loved the sample so much that I played it for two days. Just over and over and over, and I thought about it and said, ‘Claps. I want handclaps to go with this sample. That’s what I need to juxtapose it and not make it just some takeoff of a ‘94 hip-hop song, but to make it a 2010, 2011, 2012 futuristic version of itself.’ And I started the claps and put the ‘hey, hey, hey’ and the drums, and I just programmed it. It’s kind of important for people to realize I’m a producer also.”