Manny King John
Polo G joins Nadeska on Apple Music 1 to discuss the release of his album, ‘Hall of Fame’. He talks about being locked in the studio with Young Thug, getting out of his comfort zone with the Nicki Minaj track, how the collaborations came about, his favorite moments in the studio, how the record with Pop Smoke and Fivio Foreign came together, getting Wayne and Nicki on the album, and wanting to work with Lil Baby, Rod Wave, DaBaby, Dirt, and Roddy Ricch in the future.
On his goal heading into this project [includes praise for Young Thug]:
Different type of beats. Like, I got a rock type beat on my project. I got a, um, Yeah. It was just like me. I tried so many different things on this project and just tapped in with artists that made me get on they type of vibe. When I went in Young Thug, locked in the stu with Thug, I don’t think I would’ve made a song that sounded like that had I not locked in with Young Thug. So I just feel like, um, this time around for my project, I was just really trying to be different and being purposeful in everything that I recorded.
On the music on this album that were out of his comfort zone:
I feel like Party Lyfe, just the vibe, it’s still like a upgraded, feel good version of, like, a pop album, to me, and more a, of a commercial vibe. And then, the record that I got with Nicki is more so like a islander vibe, you know. And I, and I never wrote rapped on that type of beat. I never would, would’ve thought that I’d (laughs) rap on that type of beat. So I just really just tried a lot of new things all throughout the project, and really going back to my roots with just, like, straight rapping, no melodic. Uh, going back to how I used to approach music.
On how the collaborations came about on this album [Da Baby & Nicki]:
It was really just tapping in with all, a lot of artists, and a lot of artists appreciating what I have to offer in this music game, and me definitely being appreciative of everybody that’s on my project. So I feel like at this point, just about us making great music alone and us being music lovers, that we locked in from here on out, for if they need something, they can call and, um, or if they need me on a newer record, then that they can call for that, because, um, the type of good music that we made and building that chemistry.
On his favorite moments recording in the studio:
My favorite moment from the studio would be recording Epidemic and be recording, uh, Bloody Canvas, because when I recorded Epidemic, that was the first song that I made after I turned in The Goat, my second album. I had wrote the first verse at home, and I started working on the hook inside of the studio. But my energy in performing it, my engineer always tell me, like, he want more, a little bit more out of me as far as my performance goes. And he, and he really enjoyed that record. Everybody was just in awe from it. And that was my personal favorite song up until, like, uh, now. It’s still one of my favorite songs, but I’ve just recorded so much music in there. Aside from that, I have Bloody Canvas, which is a storytelling song, and it took me four days to write it. I came in the studio every day, and I put, I probably put a minute on the song every day. And it was like I had to keep on coming back. When I went back home, like, how, what am I going to say next? How am I going to approach it? Because it was my first time. I was actually scared to make a story song, because I felt like it was far fetched. I do storytelling in my music, but not a full fledged story. Probably it’d be four or five bars here and there.
On how the record with Pop Smoke and Fivio came together:
I had just, uh, wanted to tap in with, uh, Pop and, um, Fivio because I was just really getting onto New York, uh, drill wave around that time. I think this was around the middle of last year. I know I actually recorded that song with Pop, like, the day before he passed. Yeah. So we had just was putting the finishing touches on that song, and I had got the news about that, so that song got a kind of deeper meaning to me.
On other artists he thinks he’ll work with in the future:
Definitely Lil Baby, Rod Wave, DaBaby, Dirt, Roddy Ricch, artists like that caliber that’s on the forefront of the newer generation of artists, because you’ve got your guys like Kendricks and, um, Jay Coles and the Drakes. They out of here. (laughs) Right? So we saying, like, somewhat down the line, I feel like we got the potential to be on them type of levels. Some of the artists that I named are closer to that level than other people would think, like a DaBaby or a Lil Baby. I feel like those are pretty big artists of our generation.
On the features he was able to get on this album:
I actually had a list of artists that I needed (laughs) on my newer project. Like, no. The only people that I didn’t have on that list, because I thought it was far fetched, was, like, Nicki (laughs) and Wayne. I didn’t have them into consideration. That was really more so people in m- like, “Man, I think you could get that feature.” And I’m like, “Yeah? You think so? But, yeah. Uh, s- certain records that I just heard, I thought I was finished, like, yeah. I need to send this to him, and I need to send this to that person.
On getting Wayne and Nicki on the album:
Both was a crazy feeling for me, though, because my whole household grew up, on the female side, grew up listening to Nicki Minaj. Like, my grandma, my auntie-… my sister called congratulating me the Nicki verse. So I’m like, that was just a pretty big deal for me. Even still right now, just seeing how much she supported it, I’m just still psyched out about it still. And Wayne just i- it wasn’t, like, I, I had shot the video with him. I just up, shot the video with him, but it wasn’t ’til I got to the crib after the shoot like, I just shot a video with Lil Wayne.
On his involvement in running the label:
Just my love for music, just knowing my come up and what I seen and paid attention to everything that I had to go, go through, I just could see that for other artists, and I could see the potential in them, like, you could do a lot with your sound. You’ve got a lot of, you feeling me, a lot of going for yourself. So just believing in people, just seeing my younger self in them, for real. So that’s really why I gravitated serts- uh, towards the artists that’s on my label, because I just had, like, basically faith in them that I could take them to the next level and that they could take they selves to the next level.
