Dark Lo & V Don Break Down Each Track From ‘Made of Gold’

Talk about how this project came together.

V Don: I just started sending joints when he got home. I went to go see him like once or twice. We cooked up some joints in person. I sent him a beat called “Made of Gold,” and then it just seemed like perfect for his whole situation.

This is the intro track. Why’d you name it ‘”540 Months”?

Dark Lo: That’s for my man. They gave him that time.

AR-Ab?

Dark Lo: I say a bar in there like, “They gave my dog 540 months.” There wasn’t supposed to be no hook at first, but I put a little bridge there at the end.

Why’d you guys decide to lead with this one? It was the first single, right?

V Don: To me, it stood out, especially for his first joint coming back. He was talking on that and the beat is crazy.

How’d you come up with the production on this one?

V Don: I was looking for samples and I heard them keys on the original record. So, I chopped it up and as soon as I made it, I sent it to Lo because I know it sounded like some s—t he would f—k with.

Is this song title in reference to being inside? Because you were talking about some jail s—t in there.

Dark Lo: Nah. “Cabin fever” is just my flow. That s—t’s sick. It’s on some s—t like that. If I’m on a song, I’m gonna give you some of everything. I’m gonna give you some jail s—t, some street s—t, I’m gonna give you some pain.

V Don: He said he hunt reptilians on that.

Dark Lo: That reptilian rabbit hole.

Them reptilian humanoids.

Dark Lo: I said that bar because now I be outside like, “That’s a reptilian, I’m huntin’ them.”

How about that beat. How’d you come up with it?

V Don: That’s probably one of the last tracks we did.

Dark Lo: V Don ain’t like that joint. Keep it a bean. I said that gotta go on there.

V Don: I was buggin’. You know what it was, though? You started off with the hook, so I just switched it up and started it off with a verse. Now that’s probably my favorite. I’m like that, though. It’ll take me a little minute.

Dark Lo: That’s how I be too.

V Don: I love that song now. I love the video. All that.

When you were inside, were you able to to write raps?

Dark Lo: I ain’t write no raps. Not one. I didn’t think about rap while I was inside. I was on other s—t. I was reading, working out. There were jail politics going on.I had no interest in writing raps at while I was locked up.

V Don: I felt like we needed something with some some energy too, so that was one of the last records where I felt like it took it there.

Talk about some of the s—t you were kickin’ on here. You touched on some jail stuff on here, that’s why I asked if you were able to get some writing done while you were inside.

Dark Lo: That’s some of the realest s—t I ever wrote. Just reminiscing, basically. Talking about running around the hood when I was younger. Then at the bridge part at the end, I’m talking about all the s—t that happened to me, that I survived.

V Don: On that one, I switched up the beat at the end, so we can could bring the other joint in.

I was gonna ask about that. I had Rome over here and said you help with the transitions on Sock It 2 My Pocket. I feel like the transitions and the audio clips have become your calling card.

V Don: I’m trying to make it a real album. Make it like a movie, you know.

Dark Lo: As an artist, I know exactly what you mean. That’s why I like working with

V Don: It be the in between things, the little breakdowns. I try to merge it all together.

I catch something new with each listen.

Dark Lo: Certain artists like that but some don’t.

V Don: I like a lot of details in my s—t. At the end of that song, you hear the police raiding. It’s just bringing it to life.

Your production style is dark and atmospheric. It’s like you’re building a world and then you got Dark on it sounding like a villain. I believe everything he’s saying.

V Don: He be talkin’ that s—t that I wanna hear.

Dark Lo: You better believe it. This s—t real, cousin.

And you keep tabs on what clips might fit with whatever it is that you’re working on at the time.

V Don: Yeah, all kinds. Movies, vinyl, YouTube.

Dark Lo: You trying to get the sauce, man. “How’d you get your flow?” [Laughs.]

Not trying to get anyone in trouble. Just trying to get into the process. You don’t have to get into super details.

V Don: A lot of times, I might catch something and save it for later. For example, the other day I was watching an interview with Terence Crawford, and he kept talking about chaos. I’m like, “Oh s—t, I’m gonna take that for Ransom next year.” Just keep it in the tuck, you know?

You have a line on this track about this maybe being your last album. Is that true?

Dark Lo: That’s how I was feeling when I wrote that.

V Don: You see the comments, they mad at you for that.

Dark Lo: I can’t do that now. When I jump in the groove, I just wanna keep working. Next you know, I got three albums in the tuck.

That’s just how you was feeling when he sent you this beat?

Dark Lo: I remember when he sent me this joint. I was floatin’ while I was writing to this. I was like, “Fast stalked and got ’em/ Contemplated this my last album/ Rollie on, they ain’t think to rob him/ Was in my hood, I tried to fix a problem/ My mans son got killed, they say my youngin’ shot him.”

V Don: You gotta bring the saxophone out for that. [Laughs.]

Was the sax on there when you sent him that?

V Don: Nah, I always call my man up whenever I feel like it’s needed.

Dark Lo: To add a little sauce V Don He went crazy. Corey’s a beast, man.

You were talking about jail meals on there.

V Don: What you said? “Two tunas for a green pepper?”

Dark Lo: “I thought about Hector.” That’s what it is.

V Don: When he sent the joint back, then I I found the skit from The Wire.

Dark Lo: That’s one of my favorite jawns.

V Don: When OG first came home, he was trying to chill. They still talking about puttin’ work.

Dark Lo: You talking about the the boxing dude.

Dark Lo: Yeah, Cutty.

V Don: He chillin’ and they like, “You still a soldier, right?”

Dark Lo: “Chowline” is one of my favorite jawns. And I feel like I’m my own worst critic. I don’t feel like I really did it justice. I could have did better on that. I don’t know. That’s like my top joint on there.

And you liked it even more after he added the sax to it?

Dark Lo: Oh yeah, that solidified it.

So, this next one. I love the original. It’s lone of my favorite joints from you guys. What made you decide to make a sequel? Because this one takes on a different tone than the first one. This one is more soulful.

V Don: Yeah, the first one was harder. This has a different vibe to it. We named it that because the sample sounded like it was saying, “Alive.” Dark killed it on this. It’s a different record. It’s a more positive sound.

I wrote in my notes that it’s less aggressive and more soulful than what we would usually hear from you guys. Talk about where you decided to go with it after you first heard this beat.

Dark Lo: It’s less aggressive because it’s more personal to me. When it’s more personal to me, it’s gonna get less aggressive. It’s gonna get a little emotional, you know what I mean? Talking about probably grandma or one of my homies or something like staying alive.

V Don: Real life s—t. He was talking about drinking green tea on there.

Dark Lo: When I first heard that joint, it came in a batch with “540 Months.” At first, I was like, “I’ma f—k this joint up,” but I sitting with it for like a month or two. Like, “I gotta come real on this.” I was a little intimidated by it, but it came out cool. This is another one of my favorites.

You kept listening to the instrumental trying to catch the vibe?

Dark Lo: Yeah, I would do a song and then I would go back to this one and listen to it again. Like, “Damn, I’m not ready for this one yet.”

How do you write? Do you use your phone? Pen and paper?

Dark Lo: I use my phone, but when I transitioned, I couldn’t do it at first. I still needed the pen and paper.

V Don: Yeah, I love that record too. When he sent that back, I was like, “Damn, this s—t deep.”

It’s different from anything you guys have done. It stood out to me.

V Don: I got my homegirl Ashli James to throw some vocals at the end during post-production.

This one of my favorite ones. Dark is going crazy on this.

Dark Lo: That’s the first jawn I did when I came home. Shot the video and everything.

Talk about that beat.

V Don: I had that beat for years. I would send it to people, but nobody got on it, so I was glad when he got on it. When I heard this, I was like, “Yeah, we back to work. This sounding like Lo right here.”

Did you feel apprehensive about getting back to the music? You didn’t have writer’s block or anything like that?

Dark Lo: Nah. I’ma dog, for real. I just got back out there. It wasn’t nothing. Because I seen what was going on in the rap game, so it wan’t nothing to get back out there. This shit smooth jazz, metabolic type joint. It’s really not me, it’s really the beat.

V Don: He started it off fire. “I’m ’bout to leave, ya bitch goin’.”

Dark Lo: [Laughs.] I just came in.

You was talking Spanish on that. You said, “Used to sell perico/ Me and Pito.” That has to be a Puerto Rican.

Dark Lo: That’s my childhood friend. We lives on the same block.

V Don: There’s a bunch of Puerto Ricans in your hood, right? Badlands.

Dark Lo: Yeah, North Philly. Little Puerto Rico. You get a little barbecue chicken on the stick. Pinchos.

This is the title track. Do you remember making this beat?

V Don: I made that a while back too, and I I just be naming the beats like whatever come in my mind, and I just named it, “Made of Gold.” The beat sounded like an interlude to me at first, but I still sent it to him to see what he could come up with, and he bodied it. After he sent it back, I added little stuff to it like some vocals.

Dark Lo: When you made of gold, you gotta go through the fire, but it refines you. Gold comes out the dirt and you gotta wash it, then it goes through a fire process. And then when it’s a done product, it’s beautiful. I’m made of gold. I’ve been through all types of s—t. I’m still here, beautiful. That’s why we titled the album this. It was really on some jail s—t too. When it felt like the sun fell, I was sunk in a cell. That’s the process of the gold being in the dirt, going through all types of s—t. But I made it gold, I’m back out. I rose like Jesus.

I’m just assuming, but does this have to do with when you were locked up? You had burgers on Wednesdays?

Dark Lo: Listen, in the feds, you get burgers every Wednesday. It’s never gonna change. You’re never gonna wake up on a Wednesday and it’s gonna be something different. You get chicken Thursday. Everybody knows when it’s burger day. It’s some fed s—t.

Are they good? They let you add little seasonings to it?

Dark Lo: They let you bring some cheese. Some BBQ sauce. We got burgers and fries every Wednesday. It’s alright, but you get a little burned out from it.

You was in there making the jailhouse meals they be making on social media?

Dark Lo: A few of my mans was the cooks in there. I would just give them some stuff and they would make something.

Was there anything that they made that was actually pretty good?

Dark Lo: They used to make pizza in there. I’m talking about real live pizza with the cheese pull and all that. I’m talking about serious joints, and they would make little rice balls. Serious joints.

You remember making this beat?

V Don: I don’t even remember making that to be honest with you, man. But I got surgical on that one. Definitely chopped up the sample crazy. Drums is knockin’. It got some energy to that joint.

Dark Lo: I usually write the hook first, but on this on, I just started writing my verses. And then when I said, “Burgers every Wednesday,” I figured we’re just going to name it that.

V Don: We ain’t have a name for it at first.

Dark Lo: It’s like an inside jawn for somebody in the feds, ’cause everybody be like, “What’s today, burger?”

Why do you think you usually write your hooks first?

Dark Lo: I don’t know, man. When I write my hooks, it be the first four to eight bars. I be like, “This the hook right here.”

Your process kinda plays out like that.

Dark Lo: I might change it up like put something right there or put this right here. But usually, the first eight bars, I just write it like I’m writing a rap, like I’m writing some bars, but then I’ll be like, “Whoa, I’m gonna bring this back after I spit this 32.” That’s how I be doing it. Then I’ll write the rest around the hook.

I love this beat, and Dark went off, talking about, “Tuxedo on, I stole the show.” That’s a good ass line.

V Don: That s—t wavy.

Dark Lo: I might rock one in the video.

V Don: That’s another joint I had for a minute, but I wouldn’t send it to nobody because I just felt like they probably ain’t gonna see it how I see it. So, I sent it to him, he sent it back, and the s—t was perfect. It’s another one of them jazz type joints.

What made you send it to him then?

V Don: I made it before he came home. I wasn’t thinking too much of the beat at first. I’m like it’s cool, but I don’t know who’s gonna do it right. He was locked up and you see what he did to it. That’s one of my favorite joints, man. That s—t wavy, so it’s a vibe.

Did you add anything to it afterwards?

V Don: Yeah, definitely. I added that big 808 you here, added little sprinkles and s—t. He said, “Papi, keep callin’,” but I’m like, “Nah, that s—t sound like a hook. Let me chop it up to make it a hook.”

What was your writing process on this one, Lo?

Dark Lo: I just felt like…I don’t know if you would agree, but I think this is more aggressive than the last song you said. I was just real like…I felt aggressive. I wanted to say the worst s—t. I don’t know, man, the beat just felt violent. I wanted to say some violent s—t on here, some aggressive s—t, but still some smooth s—t. Some smooth criminal s—t.

V Don: That’s the right phrase: smooth criminal. What else you said on there? “I got this tramp with me, I’m like her father.”

Dark Lo: That’s a crowd favorite.

Have you been performing?

Dark Lo: Yeah, I performed with Rome, but besides that, I’m still on parole. He ain’t tripping, but we e about to get everything together.

You’ll be able to travel and go overseas. I wonder how that crowd is for y’all. I bet they f—k with you. They love this type of rap out there.

V Don: Heavy. I’ve been out there twice and it was was all love. I was out there with Willie the Kid last winter. I was in London. They showed us mad love.

This is probably my favorite beat on the project.

V Don: It’s just eerie and grimy.

How did you feel when you first heard this beat? Because I was like, “This is crazy,” when I first heard it.

Dark Lo: It was so fire when I heard that s—t, man. I had to go back because I could probably hear a pack, go to another pack and then come back to that first pack the next day and it be some most fire s—t I ever heard. The bars was just coming, “Working out with this water bag/ See how fast five years fly past/ Thank God, then I fast.”

V Don: When he did the devil joint on there and changed his voice? That was crazy.

Dark Lo: Ain’t no hook on there either. That was just bars. If you’re familiar with my music I’ve used that filter before.

Talk about the thought process behind that. What made you want to go with it there?

Dark Lo: I just be feeling like sometimes the devil be whispering to me.

V Don: Yo, he a producer on the low.

So, why you named it “2000 Grams”? Any specific reason?

Dark Lo: That was the name of the beat.

V Don: I don’t even know why I named it that. [Laughs.]

Dark Lo: It just fit perfectly. I thought about changing the name but that s—t go perfect with the song for some reason.

This is probably my favorite line on this entire project. A lot of these younger rappers be talking about running off on the plug. And you said, “We gettin’ money with the plug, we ain’t have to rob him.”

Dark Lo: I’ll probably talk rob the plug s—t, but I never really robbed the plug, I was gettin’ money with him. I’ve dealt with plugs when I was broke and they would put me right back on my feet. I’ll die for this n—a, for real.

V Don: You run off and that s—t f—k everything up.

And then they’ll tell other plugs like, “This dude ran off on me, don’t trust him.”

Dark Lo: They’ll send a n—a like me to go find you.

V Don: I think this is one of the ones we did. It kinda gave me a Mobb Deep feel when I was working on it. I added some more stuff to it after he sent it back. Another hard record, it just sounded right to close the album up with this one.

You guys plan on working together again? You said this might be your last album. You was in your feelings. [Laughs.]

Dark Lo: It’s too late now. I got albums done. I was definitely in my feelings.

How long did you guys take to put this project together?

Dark Lo: Like I said, he sent me beats first day I came home, but it took me a minute to really get back to it. I came home April of last year. I had to chill for a minute until the time was right. I’m that type of person. I let the energy and the vibe and mood come to me. If I don’t feel it, I ain’t feeling it.

V Don: We were basically done with the album the end last year, but we wanted to get all the assets ready, we shout some videos. Made sure we had everything together.

Word, start rolling it out. And then you come home the economy’s all weird and s—t. Groceries expensive as hell.

Dark Lo: Now they cut you off., bro, I went to the market…

I was about to say the same thing. [Laughs.]

Dark Lo: One bag was like $150!

I be having to remember to use the app and pick out coupons to add to the keychain card.

Dark Lo: What’s that commercial? “Stop acting like your parents.”