Watch the full interview now as a VladTV Youtube Member: Click Here
Part 4: Sickamore on Being YG's A&R During Drakeo the Ruler Beef
Part 1: Sickamore on How He Became an A&R, Starting a Record Label with Just Blaze
--------
In this clip, Sickamore started off speaking about being an A&R for Travis Scott, and he explained that he stayed in touch while Travis was with Epic Records. Sickamore explained that Travis was running through A&Rs, and Sickamore went on to speak about Travis coming to him about working with him. From there, Sickamore revealed that YG gave him the blessing to leave Def Jam as long as he could still A&R for him.
Sickamore then spoke about Travis growing as a producer while working with Kanye, and he went on to share stories about being with Travis when he made “Rodeo” and “Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight.” Sickamore added that the title of the album came from Quavo’s verse on “Pick Up the Phone." Moving along, Sickamore spoke about how the Grammys mess up artists, and he pointed to Pusha T, Jack Harlow, and DJ Khaled having tears in their eyes when they lost to Kendrick Lamar for Rap Album of the Year. He explained that artists’ albums are different than movies because artists usually come up with the entire concept and songs on albums. Sickamore then revealed that Travis knew about the “Astroworld” concept before he put out his second album. Sickamore went on to detail the album being nominated for three awards, but he added that they never won.
When Saigon asked about Travis’ issues with Lyor Cohen, Sickamore admitted that he never knew what was going on between them. Then, Sickamore explained how important adaptability is for recording artists and people in the music business before detailing how to navigate a marketing strategy using TikTok, sighing the platform has several impactful uses in addition to creating dance videos.
Lastly, Sickamore reflects back on the tragedy involving Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival. He shares his thoughts on the matter by indicating that overcrowding and logistics contributed to some of the deaths. Elsewhere in the discussion, Sickamore talks about how the tragedy has impacted Travis Scott's life and the legacy of the Astroworld album.