V Don Speaks on Growing Up in Harlem and Recent Project with Estee Nack
WORDS WITH WORD$ INTERVIEW #19
Yo, it’s the Pope, 1000WORD$.
Hailing from East Harlem, V Don has been steadily making a name for himself as one of the most sought-after producers in the industry. His beats have found their way onto the tracks of some of the biggest names in rap such as Eto, Willie The Kid, Estee Nack, and A$AP Rocky. I first met him at a Bodega Bamz pop-up in 2015 at the old Top Shelf Premium on the Lower Eastside.
In this in-depth conversation, we explore the roots of V Don's creativity, his journey from the East Side of Harlem to working with some of the most iconic names in the industry, and the sacrifices he's made to make it all happen. We discussed his journey from being a young sneakerhead to receiving a platinum plaque for his work on A$AP Rocky's 'Long Live A$AP.' We also delve into his projects, such as a potential 'Omerta 2' with Eto and his recently released album with Estee Nack, ‘B.R.A.P.’
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1000WORD$: Yo this 1000WORD$ I'm here with...
V Don: V Don.
1000WORD$: V Don, Serious Soundz. Let the people know where you from, my bro.
V Don: I'm from Harlem, New York.
1000WORD$: Where were some of the places in New York City that you would go and get mixtapes from when you was growing up?
V Don: 116th, 117th, and Third Avenue, there used to be this African guy. He used to have everything, the Clues, the Kay Slay's, you know what I mean?
1000WORD$: What was V Don leaving on the shelves and what was V Don taking?
V Don: I had every Clue, of course and I had every Streetsweepers those was the top two right there, Kay Slay and Clue.
1000WORD$: Early on, what were your inspirations for production?
V Don: Early on, definitely a big fan of Mobb Deep production. I was at Dame Grease and Swizz Beatz fan and I always loved the RZA beats. Back then, when I was younger I wasn't all the way tapped into Wu-Tang, but I always knew the instrumentals just because Mase, and Noyd and DMX would rap over them so definetely RZA and [Premier] too.
1000WORD$: At what age did you produce your first beat?
V Don: Probably around maybe 18 or 19. I was always around it because my pops used to produce and he was a DJ, so it was around me my whole life, but I didn't start till later on like when I was on my own. I started working on beats on a PlayStation 2. Made my first beat on there.
1000WORD$: Who's the first person you can recall that got on one of your beats?
V Don: Like notable?
1000WORD$: Nah, like maybe childhood friend or...
V Don: It was my guys I went to high school with, in my last year of high school in Richmond, Virginia. It was a group named Steady Fam. Yeah, one of the guys out of the group I still work with them to this day. But they was the first guys like I actually burnt a CD and brought the shit to school and you know, let people hear it and all. He was the first guy to get on the shit yeah.
1000WORD$: Who was the first notable person?
V Don: I would have to say either Vado or Ransom. And that was around like 2007, 2008.
1000WORD$: How was it, man? Because around that time, Ransom was raw.
V Don: Around that time, Ransom was like one of my... He still to this day is one of my favorite rappers. I was listening to The Lox, and n****s like that. And then, you know, next up was Ransom and he was like fresh new at that time. I was happy as shit. And you know, Vado of course too.Â
1000WORD$: Fast forward, look at you working with Ransom now.
V Don: Yeah, man. We just dropped a whole album in December.
1000WORD$: How was that experience?
V Don: It was long overdue. It was great though to finally put a project out with [Ransom]. I think we had like real good chemistry on that. We always did, but this album definitely proves that we definitely got some great chemistry.
1000WORD$: Now growing up, did you go to any Hip-Hop concerts?
V Don: Growing up? Nah, like growing up as a kid, I didn't go to too many concerts, but you know coming up in Harlem, you see some of these guys out here on the regular you know what I mean. So just being on 25th, you'll run in to Mase or Cam and you in The Bronx Whitestone movie theatre, I've seen Big Pun. I've seen all these guys in person. So not too many concerts, but my pops would bring me to car shows and shit like that. You know, you just see all the rappers that's living in New York.
1000WORD$: Describe the east side of Harlem for somebody that's reading this.
V Don: There's two parts to Harlem. There's the grimey side, which is the East side and the flamboyant, flashy side which is the West side of Harlem. But you know, it's a lot of culture. Spanish Harlem of course El Bario, you know what I'm saying. It's a lot of culture in Harlem period. That's like the Mecca.
1000WORD$: What's the summertime like in Harlem?
V Don: Summertime is beautiful man, like block parties, project days, you know what I mean? Like the East side for me, I'm gonna say it's a lot of trendsetters, man. We brought them Jeff Hamilton's out, We brang Pelles out early in the game, you know n****s is doing it now, but it's old to us, you feel me?
1000WORD$: You know the vibes, shout out to Genesis that's where I used to go get my Pelles from.
V Don: Listen, if you don't know about Genesis you just started coming outside.
1000WORD$: What's your favorite sneaker of all time? Because I know you got heat Don.
V Don: I got heat. I been slacking though lately, but all time?
1000WORD$: For me, it'd have to be the Barkley.
V Don: The Barkley's is major, those are definitely one of them. Younger me would have said the Gold Flightposites, the Green Goblin joints.
1000WORD$: I'm the Barkley's or the Cement 3s.
V Don: 3s and I don't even be wearing them like that.
1000WORD$: Where would you go to get sneakers in Spanish Harlem? Name some of the spots that probably ain't there no more.
V Don: There used to be this spot on Third Avenue called Inner City, my man used to work in there. Jans on Third Ave, too. Fitteds and all that you could go to Pegasus. Yeah, those are some of the spots.
1000WORD$: Knowing where you came from and how you started producing, how does it feel meeting people like DJ Premier and Alchemist and these dudes shaking your hand and you know saluting you and all that. How does that even feel?
V Don: Man, Alchemist is my favorite producer ever, so just meeting him for the first time was like... Shit, I was like a fly on the wall, dream come true. I like literally studied this man, so to meet him and for him to tell me I'm one of the dopest. It's the dream come true to me. And I still need to meet Primo, I never met Primo in person.
1000WORD$: Damn, I coulda sworn.
V Don: I met Havoc, remember you took my picture with Havoc.
1000WORD$: Yeah, facts.
V Don: You know Havoc is definetely top five for me too so that was also a dream come true.
1000WORD$: I remember that day. I was like, 'Yo V Don, you know we gotta get that flick of you and Havoc." So yo, you back cooking with Eto, right? 'Omerta 2' is it official to say?
V Don: I'm real iffy on naming shit part two, but the energy is feeling like 'Omerta 2.'Â
1000WORD$: I feel like it's long overdue, but it's never overdue because the time is always right.Â
V Don: It was no need to rush it, but it's definitely the time this year though to drop.
1000WORD$: When do you think you're dropping that?
V Don: Shit, maybe right before the summer or mid summer.
1000WORD$: I know you worked on a project with Estee Nack.
V Don: I'm real proud of that album, man. That shit is like a real art piece to me, man. The beats is different. I feel like Estee is rapping different on this. You know, every track is fire. Estee Nack is incredible to me.
1000WORD$: You've always been a person that has been tapped into the culture. Since the first time I ever met you, you know what I mean? How do you keep yourself in tune like that? Before I even knew about this this universe that we in right? You introduced me to Eto, you introduced me to a few cats. How do you stay tapped in?
V Don: I just got to hear your music, man. Like somebody might even put me on to somebody, like if I hear it and I recognize I could do something with this person. I like what they're doing on they own already, so I just pick an artist up like let's build. And yeah, I just got to hear your music. I don't know how I'm gonna get to it. But if I hear it and I like it, most likely I'm gonna be the one reaching out.
1000WORD$: For the people that don't know, you got a plaque right?
V Don: I got a platinum plaque from the A$AP Rocky album, 'Long Live A$AP.'
1000WORD$: How was that experience when you received that plaque?Â
V Don: Oh, it was amazing. We dream to get plaques and shit, so I was like, 'Oh shit that album went Plat?' Let me order my shit ASAP, I need that. It's like a trophy. Definetely a proud moment.
1000WORD$: How does your family see your success? Do they feel proud of you?
V Don: Now they do. Now they understand what's going on, but what I'm telling you when I first started... It was all bad, you know, they want you to finish school, they want you to... you know, and I was going in a different direction.
1000WORD$: How much have you sacrificed?
V Don: I sacrificed my whole life. You know what I mean, this shit is a 25/8. It's all day, all night type shit, you know. You gotta be on your job all day, because the next man is gonna work harder than you. So, I've sacrificed a lot, a lot of time. You know, people want to chill with you, family want to chill, but it's like, gotta stick to the grind, so at least you get to somewhere you want to be, you know?
1000WORD$: Where have you traveled? Where has your work taken you?
V Don: Man, the last place that I traveled to was Paris. That was my first time out of the country. That was last summer. I got booked for a show out there me and Lord Apex we had a pop-up for our album 'Supply & Demand.' That was amazing. I went out there for Fashion Week, it was Music Week also so, great experience. I've been all over the US: Denver, everywhere down South, LA many times, you know.
1000WORD$: What place got the best weed?
V Don: I have to say LA, like super gas.
1000WORD$: Ain't nothing trash out there.
V Don: LA. Denver got some good gas, too.
1000WORD$: How did you link up with Willie The Kid?
V Don: What's crazy about Willie is I always liked his projects he would put out, like it was different to me. He rapped totally different, picked totally different beats. And I would her his mixtape or hear one or two joints here and there like, 'Yeah, this n***a's dope, he's different. I like him.' And then he put out the album with The Alchemist and I was like, 'Damn, this shit is insane.' And I met [Willie], off an email that Ransom sent me. Ransom sent me an email one time and it was probably by accident. He had all his contacts in the email. So I was like, 'Yo, let me copy all these contacts and start sending beat snippets out.' And that's how I met a lot of people, I met Willie The Kid like that, he was one of the guys that hit me back. I met Trae tha Truth like that. I started working with Trae tha Truth from there, and a couple more guys. So, me and Willie, he hit me back like, 'Yo there beats is crazy. Let's do something.' And I did one joint for him on one of the mixtapes he dropped with Cory Gunz. After that, we just kept working unti this whole New Renaissance came back, we started seeing people was dropping EPs with each other, so we already had a couple of songs in the tuck, we might as well just do a whole plate. That's how we came up with 'Deutchse Marks.' We just kept it going from there. You know me and him, that's like my brother, we got good chemistry, so it's nothing to just whip up some shit with him.
1000WORD$: What's the name of the album you dropped with Nack?
V Don: Born Rewards & Penalties, it can be abbreviated like B.R.A.P.
1000WORD$: B.R.A.P., fire. What are things that you need to get you in the zone to start cooking up in your studio? Like what are the essential things that you need around you to feel comfortable enough to get inspired?
V Don: I definitely need some good gas.
1000WORD$: What you smoking on recently?
V Don: This some Doja Cat. This some Giraffe Pussy. It's pretty gassy. Yeah, some water, some fruits. And a lot of times I like to work alone. I like to be in the studio alone, zoned out and get in the mood. I just need it quiet. I need some good samples. And I can zone out all night.
1000WORD$: Appreciate you for this. Thank you my bro.Â
V Don: Appreciate you my brother.Â