volcanism modesty: Wiz Khalifa Explains How 'T.A.P.' Collabo Survived A Dis Track

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Wiz Khalifa Explains How 'T.A.P.' Collabo Survived A Dis Track

Track's producer, SpaceGhostPurrp, is a onetime Taylor Gang detractor, Wiz tells 'RapFix Live.'
By Rob Markman, with reporting by Sway Calloway

Wiz Khalifa
Photo: Natasha Chandel/ MTV News

If Wiz Khalifa had let a little dis song get to him, his fans would have missed out on some pretty cool music. In fact, "T.A.P." — one of Khalifa's favorite songs off of his latest Taylor Allderdice mixtape — was produced by A$AP Rocky producer SpaceGhostPurrp, a onetime Taylor Gang detractor.

For those unfamiliar with Purrp's catalog, in 2011 he released a song called "F--- Taylor Gang," on which he rapped, "This ain't no Wiz, so f--- a Khalifa." The song didn't hit Wiz's radar at first, but the Purrp-produced A$AP Rocky track "Pretty Flacko" did. "I love that beat. I'm like, 'Man, that beat is hard as hell,' " Wiz said when he appeared on last week's "RapFix Live."

After hearing "Pretty Flacko," which dropped on New Year's Day, the Taylor Gang captain immediately took to Twitter to express his appreciation for SpaceGhost's work. Shortly after, the emerging producer hit Wiz back suggesting that they record a song together, and of course Khalifa agreed. "Then somebody was like, 'You know he put out a song about you,' " Wiz recalled of how he first learned about "F--- Taylor Gang."

"I checked the song out and when I listened to it I kinda figured out what it was," Wiz explained, not taking offense at Purrp's lyrics. "Just being young people and being competitive, going for a spot, you don't always know that it's cool to let somebody know that you're a fan of theirs, and that's why I always try to reach back to people who are in their early stages and let 'em know I listen to your music and I like your music."

After hearing the track, the "Black and Yellow" MC cleared the air with SGP. "After that he sent me that crazy beat, and me and Juicy went in," Wiz said of how "T.A.P." came about.

Odd Future's Domo Genesis found himself in a similar situation when he and Wiz collaborated on their "Ground Up" single in February. Domo, who released his debut album, Rolling Papers, online for free in 2010 took exception when Khalifa announced that he'd be releasing an LP with the same name a few months later. There was some back and forth on Twitter, but eventually Wiz and the OF spitter were able to work it out when they randomly met in a Santa Monica, California, studio.

"I knew he was gonna bring up the Rolling Papers thing, and it came up. It was cool — it happened a long time ago," Domo said when he and the rest of Odd Future appeared on "RapFix Live" in March.

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