When Lord Willin’ dropped back in 2002, you could feel the tremors it made. Backed by The Neptunes and fronted by Pusha T and his brother Malice, Lord Willin’ was a groundbreaking album that changed The Clipse‘s career forever. Ten years later, it still hits. Life and Times recently caught up with Pusha T to discuss both the legacy and the future. Peep this excerpt on “Grindin’.”

L+T: When you first heard “Grindin’,” did you expect it to be a staple of lunchrooms everywhere?

PT: I didn’t, but it was a record that I knew was gonna be way too innovative. I think it was probably the first time I rewrote a record—and a record that me and my brother honestly rewrote a couple of times—just because it was unorthodox, it was new. We were like, “Wait a minute, where does the beat start? Where’s the verse? Where’s the hook at?” It really threw us for a loop.

The way it was presented to me…I was actually home and Pharrell was in the studio and he called me and he was like, “Listen. Get up here right now. Get up here right now—I’ve got this record and if you’re not up here in 15 minutes I’m just giving it to JAY Z. I am. I’m giving it to him. If you’re not here in 15 minutes…I know you’re home. You’re home. You’re home. Your house is 10 minutes from here. That means you’ve got five minutes to get ready and get over here. If not, I’m giving it to Jay.” I couldn’t really deal with that. And I was there, needless to say, in 13 minutes (laughs).

Read the full interview here.

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