Digital Nas is prepping for a huge 2025. One of the super producers of our era, Digital Nas helped begin many artists’ careers. He made Lil Yachty’s first song, produced one of Playboi Carti’s early SoundCloud hits and did the same for Trippie Redd. He’s spent the last few years producing for Kanye and now is ready to share his own music. He will release his first project, “Tempering With Sound,” in the first quarter of the year. He calls this project the “first project he’s ready to share with the world,” and says this tape is completely different from his prior mixtapes. He’s been in the Ye Camp getting his reps in, something he says improved his sound. He relates working with Ye to being in Dragon Ball Z’s hyperbolic time chamber.
How did you connect with Yachty?
Enzo, my roommate. Yeah, he had this brand, Finesse with the credit card flip, the Mastercard flip. And at the time that was Enzo’s friend Yachty. So, Enzo brought Yachty to my apartment, Freeman Lofts And one day Enzo told me Yachty wanted to work with me, and as soon as I met him, I just liked him. So without a question, we just started working and sh-t just took off. Like, Yachty had the swag, he had the style. He brought something new to the table and Ian Connor kind of put gasoline on it. Because Ian was like the IT boy at the time. Ian gave you a cosign back in 2015, you were out of here. So basically, we made “Lil Boat” and Yachty told me specifically to drop it on my page. I dropped it on my page, and Ian started promoting it. Yachty took off, like, two weeks later.
Why are you and Playboi Carti such a good duo?
I think we just complement each other. We have similar aesthetics, the punk aesthetic. We both tall and darkskin. We both can dress. Like, I think we looked good together. And a lot of people noticed that. Like even Ye (Kanye) noticed that. I just feel like we are a good combo. You know what I’m saying? And to see how far he took it is amazing. Even with Flaco (ASAP Rocky), he had us at the crib together. Playboi Carti had me out there with Rocky and sh-t in like 2017, and I stayed with Carti for like, a month out in Los Angeles. He asked me to sign to him around 2018 but like I turned it down. Because I always Looked at him as more so like a partner, not like a person that was above me. I don’t think he was looking at it at that way at the time that he was above me, but I personally probably was looking at it like that, and I kind of probably was looking at it the wrong way. Now that I think about it now, I think it would have been a really cool thing, but everything happens for a reason. And I think if I was signed to Carti, I wouldn’t have the billboard number ones. I wouldn’t have been able to have number ones and two Grammy nominations and stuff like that.
How did it feel for Ye to pullup to your album listening event? How did y’all relationship start?
Funny enough when Ye first hit me up, I had quit music. But now he’s like my uncle. He had pulled up to my album listening event in Japan earlier in the month. It was crazy because I was really surprised. Like, I damn near almost fainted because I did not expect him to be there. It was a small listening party in Tokyo, and I look up. I’m, like, drunk. I look up and he got his mask on. He’s just sitting there for, like, a minute, and I didn’t even notice him. And now I look, and I’m like, oh that’s Ye! I had butterflies, and I hugged him, and I introduced him to all my friends. It was dope of him to be there.
Will there be any features on the tape?
Obviously Ye. But Carti and Drake. That’s it. Yeah, Ye, Cardi, and Drake will be my dream features, and I know I’m gonna get those features, but I do have to get my respect. So I do feel like I have to put out an album with no features first. I got songs with Ye, several songs with Ye, but they not good enough to be out in the public.
