Congrats to Dion, as he was just named HipHopDX’s producer of the year for 2009. In an interview with DX, he discusses upcoming projects with Jay-Z, J. Cole and Drake, but the biggest surprise is the announcement that he’s working with Richard Ashcroft from the Verve. You know, the guys behind “Bittersweet Symphony”. Interesting.
DX: What have you coming up in 2010?
No I.D.: I am working with J. Cole and we are pretty deep into his album, which is turning out great, also working with Drake, Jazmine Sullivan. Kanye and I are executive producing Common’s next album and then I want some new and unexpected things. There is the Richard Ashcroft project.
DX: Yeah, were you a big fan of his?
No I.D.: Well I was a fan of the music I heard, the songs that I knew. He is a beast at what he does and that was a great experience.
DX: You’ve been immersed in Hip Hop for so long, is this what you see yourself doing now, venturing out on projects like the one you did with Richard Ashcroft?
No I.D.: Yeah, I want to approach projects and not just songs and that is pretty much where I am. I feel like before the industry exploded people were just working on projects and it wasn’t like they were trying to get on everyone’s albums. I think now everything is going back to normal, well normal as I see the industry in my eyes, going back to the way it was. You have to focus on projects instead of trying to get a song on every project.
You can read the full interview here.