A couple guys in hip-hop who have controlled the headlines lately have been 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne, for obvious reasons. The Playaz Circle/G.O.O.D Music (unofficially) veteran dropped his highly anticipated Based On A T.R.U Story album on August 14, a day before the expected release of Weezy’s Dedication 4, the next addition to the Dedication series hosted by DJ Drama. Wayne came out last week during a NYC concert and t0ld the crowd he decided to push the album back to give his good friend 2 Chainz and his album some breathing room, a generous and surprising, yet not-surprising move by the two friends.

Where does DJ Drama come into play? After previously linking up on Wayne’s previous Dedication mixtape series, including the classic Dedication 2, the combo of Mr. Thanksgiving and Mixtape Weezy have reunited for another release, giving the fans something to buzz about as we anxiously wait for the highly-anticipated mixtape to drop. KarenCivil.com caught up with DJ Drama on the road and spoke with him with details regarding the release of Dedication 4, OVO Fest, and his upcoming Quality Street Music album.

Interview by Michael Nguyen

You’re used to being on both sides. From being interviewed like right now to you being the one asking questions. What side do you prefer?
I like both sides of it. I appreciate the fact I can play both sides of the field. I can be the interviewer or interviewee.

I’m actually calling from Toronto right now. Before I get to all the Lil Wayne stuff, I wanted to ask how was your experience in Toronto during your recent visit?
It was good. I shot my video out there, did Caribana, and OVO Fest. I love Toronto. It’s probably one of my favorite places to go to and play in and perform. It’s a really great city and in the last couple years, a lot of great talent has come out of there.

You shot your My Moment video in Toronto, too. Talk a bit about that and why you chose to shoot it in Tdot?
We picked Toronto because at that time, it was the easiest way to get 2 Chainz, Meek and Jeremih in the same city. Meek obviously had the Dreams and Nightmares thing going on, and 2 Chainz was also on tour. They both came to perform at OVO Fest so it made sense to shoot there.

You even had T-Minus producing that. He’s a Toronto dude, too.
Absolutely.

How did you guys link up?
He just threw me a bunch of beats and one of them happened to be My Moment. He’s a great, great producer. One of my favorite songs out other than my own is Swimming Pool with Kendrick Lamar, which he produced. I also have Boi-1da on my album. He did two beats on my album. Those guys are monsters.

How would you compare OVO Fest this year to the ones in the past?
Just as good. It was sold out and had a lot of surprises. Drizzy is on top of his game and I think OVO Fest is going to become a staple in hip-hop as one of those festivals that you have to attend if you’re an artist. If you’re an artist, it means you’ve made it if you make it onto that stage.

One of the dudes who performed at OVO Fest is The Weeknd. What’s your view on him as an artist? Are you a fan of him bringing something dope to the R&B game right now?
Abel is the homie. He’s a good dude and very talented. He and his team are friends of mine and everytime I come to Toronto they show me love. I look forward to seeing what he’s about to accomplish in the music industry.

Switching over to Wayne, fill us in. Do you have an exact release date for Dedication 4?
Nah I don’t know when it’s going to drop. I think it’s safe for me to stay away from mixtape dates because I told someone in the past. I kind of set myself up for it because when I did an interview, I was asked when it was going drop. We just said the 15^th because it was in the middle of the month. You know, when we’re ready, we’ll drop it. It’s a long time in the making. It’s a huge project and the quality of it is more important than actually dropping it.

What about this whole mixtape process? How long have you guys been working at it?
We’ve been talking about it for some time. Wayne pretty much started working on it and he’s still working now. When he’s finished we’ll drop it.

And Wayne said he pushed it back because of the 2 Chainz album. Were you a bit surprised by that move?
Nah. I was actually concerned about it myself because when he dropped the date, I clearly knew 2 Chainz’s album was dropping on the 14^th. I knew it was close. Great minds think alike. He clearly didn’t want to take anything away from 2 Chainz and I didn’t want too either. It made sense.

Previously, you hinted that there’s going to be a surprise feature on it. Just making sure, it’s been confirmed that person is Nicki Minaj, right?
Yeah that was the one I was talking about at the time. She let the cat out the bag. She told me which beats she did at OVO Fest, and I just wanted to hint to the fans that there are going to be some surprises.

Are there going to be some more surprises?
Don’t be surprised to see more.

There’s some mad haters out there, but personally, how do you feel about the whole YMCMB movement?
I don’t know what there is to hate on at this point. They’re definitely proven as a dominant force in the game. They’re a force in the culture.

Not in any order, but you would put YMCMB, MMG and G.O.O.D Music as the top three rap crews in the game?
Absolutely. If anyone would say differently, then they would be hating on the culture. If you look at the hottest MC’s list, 7 of the 10 were in those crews and the other one was Jay-Z and Wiz Khalifa. When you talk about relevancy, you have to mention those three crews. You also have to do what Kanye did and thank them for being competitive and set the bar high for excellence.

From what you already heard, would you say that this is Wayne’s best body of work to date?
Nah, I can’t say that. I think that would be an unfair statement whether I thought it or didn’t. Wayne has a lot of work and one thing people do today is they judge the art and music too quickly. I don’t think it’s fair to call anything or consider it a classic before or right when it comes out. It takes time to see what really is a classic, and it takes people to really make a fair assessment to consider it one of the greater bodies of work. I just think it’s good, quality music. It’s a brand that’s very important to the culture, with Wayne, Drama, and Gangsta Grillz. It’s exciting that at this point, he’s excited to give it to us.

Looking back, which one of your albums would you say is your favorite?
Clearly my first album because I think first albums are the most important since it’s their baby. It’s a lot of those haters that I grounded out to get to that album. My new album is my best body of work. With Quality Street Music, I definitely think that’s by far my most well-put together album. But my first album definitely has a special place for me.

Which leads me to that album, Quality Street Music. How’s the album looking so far?
It’s good. It’s done. September 25^th is the date. A lot of great collaborations are on it, great features, and great production.

Outside of Wayne, you also worked with Slaughterhouse, right?
Yeah. I’m actually supposed to turn in the tape today so I’m on my way to the studio to work on that. I just dropped a tape with Jeremih. I got everyone on my album. Tyler, The Creator, Cee-Lo Green, Nipsey Hussle, Boi-1da, Young Jeezy, Future, Tip, Roscoe Dash, Pusha T, Rick Ross, Miguel – I got a lot of great artists that I’m really a fan of. I’m blessed to have them on the album.