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Maxo Kream

Source: Kevin Rawls / Radio One Digital

With his critically-acclaimed Brandon Banks album out now, Maxo Kream‘s been on quite the press run from Genius to NYC radio and now. In a feature for Billboard, Maxo sits with his father and recants stories about growing up in Alief, how he and his father mended their relationship and how Brandon Banks came to be.

“I feel like I inherited my brains, my smarts. Don’t work harder, work smarter. Make 1 + 1 = 5. A lot of people can’t comprehend that,” Maxo told writer Eric Diep. “It’s a special bloodline, special gene. You feel me?”

He also breaks down how his relationship with J. Cole came to be, how Cole picked out a few records for Brandon Banks and how there was a certain Brooklyn rapper also paying close attention to the songs.

“Man, I met J. Cole at the BET Awards. I see all kinds of rappers. I’m like, “Yeah, all right. Cap ass rapper. Cap ass rapper. You hella cap.” You see a group of cap ass rappers. And then I see J. Cole. I’m like, “Damn, J. Cole at the BET Awards.” My manager, Toby, was like, “Man, bro, you should go speak to him.” I’m like, “Man, J. Cole probably don’t know what the f**k I got going on.” I walked up to him. Before I walked up to him, you know Cole very humble. He went like, ‘Maxo?’ I ain’t starstruck behind no n—a. I’m like, “Damn Cole know who the f**k I am?” Take my number down.”

“He helped me pick out a lot of tracks. Him and Hov, actually. Jay-Z. Facts. Like he did the whole tracklist. Me and Hov went through it. Hov actually brought songs, he was going through my shit. He was going through unreleased s**t. He went and picked out this one song, boom. Then I threw Ferg on it, he loved it. I had to add it onto the album. So the song with A$AP Ferg— It was a specific line that was like, “Sliding with the stick like its hockey, b***h.” He sent it to me in quotes. I’m like, “Jay-Z quoted my s**t? It’s over with!” You feel me?”

The two have been fast friends, even as Maxo was supposed to get Cole for Brandon Banks but instead, Maxo landed on Revenge of the Dreamers III.

Peep Brandon Banks now.

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