Interview: Chicago Based Writer/Producer Haji Outlaw Talks About His New Track "After Good Sex (Leave U Alone)"
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“My biggest accomplishment as a creator, hopefully hasn’t happened yet. But for what I have created thus far, I would say it’s a 3-way tie between The Eric Andre Show, standup, and beats.”
Your new single "After Good Sex (Leave U Alone)" is beyond DOPE. Tell us about your creative process for its development and when you knew definitely that the beat was complete.
First off, thank you 🙏. My creative process when it comes to sampling begins with crate digging. I find a record or records and listen to them intently. Then when I find a record I like, sometimes love, I pull out my favorite parts and put those parts into my iPad. From there I manipulate those parts until I find a combination that makes me feel something good. From there it's crafting. While that feeling is usually created anywhere from 10 to 60 minutes, the craft part may take a day or two, as I'll come back to the beat the day after and the day after that and the day after that, making sure that I continue to get that same feeling once I get away from that sound. From there I send the beat, along with several others, to my dude Derek. If Derek's feeling it then I know it's a banger.
The song appears on your five track EP "Tittynope VI"; would you say that there is an overlapping concept or theme to the project? If so, how would you describe it?
For “Tittynope VI” there is definitely a sexual feel, which can be seen in the videos which are all up on YouTube (not to mention the cover). But with my music in general, there is no definitive theme besides making music that grabs me.
The method of my musical "grabbiness" revolves around comedy and an eclectic vibe, which I would most readily describe as Ron Swanson (Parks and Recreation) meets Madlib.
If you don't mind sharing, what software/hardware do you use to produce your beats and what did you use when you first started out?
I currently use iMaschine 2 by Native Instruments on my iPad Pro. When I first started producing I used an MPC2000XL along with a Korg Karma keyboard and Korg Kaoss Pad.
You're not just a talented producer but a writer whose work has appeared on the hilarious The Eric Andre Show, Amazon (music + ebooks), CBS, NBC and Comedy Central. What would you say has been your biggest accomplishment as a creator?
My biggest accomplishment as a creator, hopefully hasn't happened yet. But for what I have created thus far, I would say it's a 3-way tie between The Eric Andre Show, standup, and beats.
With "After Good Sex (Leave U Alone)" now released, what are some of your goals musically for the remainer of 2021?
My goals for 2021 are three-fold. One, gain more exposure as a producer so I can pay real bills with my art. Two, get my music placed on one of my favorite artist's projects (Ransom, Royce da 5'9", E-40, Kool Keith, Ghostface Killah, Devin the Dude, Stove God Cook$, Griselda). Three, get my animated web-series Hey Doorman! - which features original music of mine, sold to a network.