Cardo Interview: His Album, ‘H00DBYAIR’, Producing for Legends, Being Underrated, Cow Bells

In this interview, Arshan sat down with legendary producer Cardo Got Wings who has trekked a prolific career designing the sound of some of the biggest hits from the early 2010s to now, a testament to his authenticity and undeniable talent that has made him one of the best producers of our generation. Cardo first broke out on the scene by producing for Mac Miller early in his career with their song “Laundromat” which led to his connection with Wiz Khalifa and ultimately paved the way for his first huge break with their track “Mezmorized.” Cardo leveraged this early momentum to gain a storied run of placements that essentially defined the 2010s era of rap music with his signature sound – and cowbells of course. Even after stepping away from being directly affiliated with Taylor Gang (Wiz Khalifa’s label), the wheels kept moving for Cardo, leading to generational hits like JAY-Z & Jeezy’s “Seen It All,” Travis Scott’s “goosebumps,” Drake’s “God’s Plan,” Kendrick Lamar & Baby Keem’s “family ties,” and his recent run producing tracks like “HOODBYAIR” for Playboi Carti.

In their conversation, Cardo and Arshan discussed Cardo’s early beginnings growing up in St. Paul, Minnesota, evolving with the times yet staying true to his signature sound, his longevity in the game, “If I’m a dinosaur, I’m a T-rex,” how he discovered Baby Keem and started working with him so early, being stuck in the middle of the Drake & Kendrick Lamar beef after making hits with both, his perspective on the state of today’s music scene, praising the next generation of artists like Teezo Touchdown, skaiwater, Cash Cobain, Ovrkast, and Ken Carson, recent collaborations with Playboi Carti and how his son is certified Opium, and giving us an exclusive announcement of the release date for his forthcoming album Something Wicked This Way Comes. Watch the full interview to learn more about Cardo’s past, present, and what he’s got coming next.

Filming @hammadjawaid97 @kahhre
Host & Producer @ktoarshan
Editing @mikkyfilmz

TIMESTAMPS! We got the goat, now who's *another* producer you want to see us interview on the channel?

0:00 - Studio with Cash Cobain in New York

1:33 - Minnesota origins and living in Dallas

2:57 - What Cardo’s big break was (JAY Z)

3:35 - Wiz Khalifa & Mac Miller “Mezmorized”

5:55 - Leaving Taylor Gang, facing hate

7:24 - Playboi Carti “BACKROOMS,” “EVILJORDAN,” “KETAMINE,” & “HOODBYAIR” production

10:00 - Story of collabing with Carti after Candyman soundtrack fell through

11:38 - “HOODBYAIR” was for Nardo Wick originally

12:52 - Ken Carson & Destroy Lonely future collabs?

13:17 - Cow Bells being his signature sound

15:17 - Discovering Baby Keem early on

16:56 - Producing “family ties” with Kendrick Lamar and finding out him and Keem are family

19:12 - Drake v Kendrick Lamar beef, producing hits for both of them

20:23 - Previewing new album

25:23 - Exclusive: release date for new album, ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’

26:03 - State of today’s music is bad, too many copycats

29:10 - Praising Teezo Touchdown, Cash Cobain, and Ovrkast.

30:10 - Goosebumps was not originally for PARTYNEXTDOOR it was always for Travis Scott

31:35 - Reveals hidden talent, voice impressions

32:22 - How much money does a song like “God’s Plan” make

34:45 - Give producers their flowers

36:03 - His son being opium and liking skaiwater

Tags (ignore)
kendrick lamar kendrick lamar drake drake playboi carti playboi carti production production beatmaker beatmaker pi’erre bourne pi’erre bourne producer producer larry june larry june type beat type beat wiz khalifa wiz khalifa mac miller mac miller jay z jay z type beats type beats beats beats