History Of: Nashville's Beloved Ryman Auditorium | GRAMMY.com (2024)

Back in 1892, Nashville businessman Thomas G. Ryman built the Union Gospel Tabernacle church. After his death in 1904, the church's name was changed to Ryman Auditorium to honor him. In the 1920s, promoter Lula C. Naff rented the building and booked talent,including Marian Anderson, Charlie Chaplin, Bob Hope, and Doris Day, who made the city a cultural destination.

The church was alsohome tothe Grand Ole Opry radio show for 31 years, beginning in 1943, which brought in more great artists and shows.

Watch Another History Of: Walk To London's Famed Abbey Road Studios With The Beatles

While the beloved, intimate venue—it seats 2,362 people—sat dormant for almost 30 years when the Opry left, it was renovated and revived in the early '90s;it has since hosted many more star-studded shows from the likes of Brandi Carlile, Dolly Parton, Kane Brown, Kelsea Ballerini, and theWu-Tang Clan, whomade history in 2019 as the first hip-hop act to ever headline the space known as "The Mother Church Of Country Music."

Watch the latest episode of GRAMMY.com's History Of video series above to learn more about the iconic Nashville venue.

History Of: The World-Famous Troubadour In West Hollywood

Orville Peck wants to make one thing clear: he doesn't miss the tassels on his mask.

"The fringe was sort of a pain in the ass for a lot of things, like going to dinners and things like that. So now that's a lot easier," the country crooner tells GRAMMY.com with a laugh. "When I first started doing shows with my new mask, it was a little nerve-wracking to go out and feel like I was sort of a little naked, but I've gotten over that now."

Tassels or not, Peck's signature face covering has been a major part of his mystique since he burst onto the country scene with his 2019 debut album, Pony. Part Lone Ranger symbol, part leather daddy roleplay, the mask has both protected the singer's true identity (sure, that information is out there, but we're not about to spoil it here) and added a theatrical allure to the brand of offbeat outlaw country that's made him famous.

But on the verge of releasing Stampede, his new duets album (which dropped Aug. 2 via Warner Records), Peck felt confident it was time to update his look — fringe be damned. "I know people feel very connected to the mask and very protective over it, but I make art for myself," he says just days after playing the Newport Folk Festival as part of his ongoing Stampede Tour, which wraps with two shows in Brooklyn, New York on Oct. 19 and 20.

"So when I know it's time to evolve and change something, that's because I need a challenge," the singer continues. "Something different to keep me inspired as an artist and making good art, rather than just doing the same thing over and over again, or pandering to people who expect me to be something or someone."

From the moment he first donned the fringed mask and introduced the world to his stage name, Peck has been hell-bent on blazing his own path through the country scene. After all, he's never checked all — or any — of the boxes the Nashville elite might expect. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa and raised in Vancouver, Canada, the deep-voiced troubadour also happens to be one of the few proudly and openly gay men in the country space — all markers that buck traditional conventions of what makes a 21st century country star.

"I say I'm from all over the place, which is essentially the truth," the singer explained in the 2020 mini-documentary exploring his origins titled "The Orville Peck Story." "You know, I've kind of been on the road my whole life. I was a huge fan of Westerns, I was a huge fan of the Lone Ranger. Looking back on it, being this out-of-place, lonely kid, I can really understand why the image of a cowboy connected to me so hard."

The archetype also runs in his bloodline: in South Africa: his grandfather was a gun-toting sheriff on horseback, and a young Orville spent years roaming the bush with his dad, but the singer is quick to clarify with a knowing chuckle that he sees himself as "more the Marty Robbins [type] rather than the guy who's actually working the ranch."

Peck also admits he's felt, at times, excluded from what he calls the "Nashville machine" of major-label country ("I think they have a very decided mandate of what they want to be country music, and what they think is profitable — and sadly, that doesn't leave tons of room for diversity"). But his success as an outlier who's both queer and non-American is also a testament to the fact that the genre doesn't belong exclusively to some select group of elites dictating who's allowed to pick up a guitar.

"As far as what makes a country musician, I think it's anybody who has a love for country and wants to have their perspective in it," he adds. "With all due, the most important and meaningful mechanism of country is, in fact, just storytelling."

If anything, Peck's first album harkened back to a time — and sound — that predates the glossy sheen and honky-tonk bro culture of modern country altogether. Early songs like "Hope to Die" and "Turn to Hate" tapped into the frank, hardscrabble narratives favored by greats like Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn and Merle Haggard, as Peck painted vivid imagery on the self-produced Pony of a Wild West filled with heartbreak and hatred, ghost towns and standoffs with lost souls. ("Stark, hollow town, Carson City lights/ Baby, let's get high/ Spend a Johnny's cash, hitch another ride," he intones on "Dead of Night," the LP's haunting opener.)

Quick to strike while the proverbial cattle brand was hot, Peck soon inked a deal with Columbia Records and doubled down on the vintage aesthetic and high noon-ready sonic palette of Pony with the 2020 EP, Show Pony.

A more flamboyant evolution of its predecessor, the six-track project continued Peck's reverence for country icons of the past by featuring a menacing reinvention of Bobbie Gentry's '60s-era crossover hit "Fancy" on top of brooding originals like "Summertime" and "No Glory in the West." The biggest spectacle on Show Pony, however, came in the form of "Legends Never Die," an audacious, anthemic duet with none other than Shania Twain.

Not only did the song give the five-time GRAMMY winner an excuse to revisit her well-documented love for a leopard-print jumpsuit — it added a dash of glitz and glamor to Peck's mysterious persona, as he harmonized with the Queen of Country Pop on lines like, "I've been rode hard and put up wet/ Ain't nothing in this world that I can't get/ Don't worry 'bout making sure they won't forget/ No it's fine/ 'Cause legends never die."

At the time, working with his idol served as a major breakout moment for the musical desperado. But as the first duet of Peck's career — which now includes an album dedicated to the art of collaboration — the song was a marked departure from his tried and true approach as a musical Lone Ranger.

"I was willing to do it because it was Shania and I was so obsessed with her. You know, I wrote the song for her and I," he says. "But I used to be very opposed to even writing with other people. It was hard for me because I grew up so DIY in this industry, and so protective over my vision and my music that it was a skill I had to develop."

Throughout the next couple of years, Peck also had to learn how to manage the realities of his growing fame. The country crooner's career reached new heights with the release of his sophom*ore album, Bronco, which he rolled out in three chapters over the winter and spring of 2022.

Steeped in the singer's now-signature pastiche of hypermasculine cowboy fantasies, the studio effort successfully balanced the camp of sly, hom*oerotic cuts like "Daytona Sand" and "The Curse of the Blackened Eye" with the yearning sincerity of ballads like "C'mon Baby, Cry" and "Hexie Mountains." Peck also searched out new sonic influences on the album, finding inspiration in everything from '60s and '70s psychedelia to South African folk music like marabi and mbaqanga — essentially paving the way for the genre-hopping sound of Stampede.

"With Pony, [that] was my first, lonely, frightened little album, and then Show Pony was my glitzy attempt at confidence, and now Bronco is all about breaking free and being untamed and unrestrained," Peck said in an interview with Billboard Pride at the time.

The muscled musical freedom he harnessed on his sophom*ore set paid off: in addition to becoming the singer's first official entry on the Billboard 200, it was a genre-hopping success on the folk, country and rock charts — where it reached Nos. 4, 11 and 13, respectively.

Bronco also arrived in the wake of a cavalcade of ever-increasingly high-profile opportunities for Peck: Lady Gaga tapped him to reimagine "Born This Way" for BORN THIS WAY THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY; Harry Styles asked the singer to open for his fan-favorite "Harryween" shows at Madison Square Garden; and he starred in the campaign for Beyoncé's Ivy Park Rodeo fashion line.

And that's not all: country music's self-described anti-hero suddenly found himself labeled a gay icon-in-the-making as he appeared as a coach and celebrity mentor on the Apple TV+ series My Kind of Country, received the Cultural Icon Award by The Tom of Finland Foundation for "artistic achievement and immeasurable contributions to the art and culture of [the LGBTQIA+] community," and appeared as a guest judge on the main stage of RuPaul's Drag Race.

Read More: How Queer Country Artists Are Creating Space For Inclusive Stories In The Genre

Eager to get back on the road following the pandemic, Peck announced a sprawling tour in support of Bronco, which would take him all around the country through the summer of 2023. But following a sold-out show at The Theater at Madison Square Garden that June for Pride, the singer reached a breaking point.

"I was starting to work on a new album and was feeling a lot of pressure from the jump in success that I'd had around that time; it was all just coming to a head and I was completely burning myself out," he says. "So I had to basically make the decision to stop everything and go take care of myself, because my depression and my mental health was so bad. It was really just too much for me."

So, more than a year after Bronco's release, Peck stopped the avalanche of momentum and canceled the rest of The Bronco Tour to focus on his mental health. "It definitely wasn't easy," he says with hindsight. "I felt like I was letting myself down, everyone who works with me down…all my fans. So it was a very heavy and hard decision. But I'm so happy I did it because it saved my life."

Peck largely spent the rest of the year away from the spotlight, candidly acknowledging in a December Instagram post that "2023 unexpectedly turned out to be the hardest year of my life." But having taken the necessary time to heal, he was ready to dive into his next musical chapter, and within a matter of weeks, he was cryptically teasing Stampede.

Coming off of such a major reset, Peck explains that he views Stampede as a standalone "concept album" of sorts, rather than the latest entry in his canon of solo records. Instead of going it alone, he packed the album with a parade of close friends and music industry legends, both fellow rabble-rousers in the country scene and surprising GRAMMY winners from the worlds of dance-pop, American roots music, EDM and alt-rock.

The album's first single was a duet with Willie Nelson on "Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other" — a groundbreaking and subversive yarn written in 1981 by Latin country artist Ned Sublette that Nelson first recorded in 2006.

"I couldn't believe that Willie Nelson was singing a song about gay cowboys," Peck says of the first time he heard the country icon's solo version, which found the 12-time GRAMMY winner singing, "Cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other/ Say, what do you think all them saddles and boots was about?" with a wink over waltzing guitar.

It was Nelson's idea to update the song as a duet, which eventually led Peck to the idea of Stampede. In fact, he asked the younger singer to collaborate on the track the first time they ever met aboard the 91-year-old legend's famous tour bus. "It was overwhelming and validating," Peck remembers. "I mean, if we want to talk about feeling excluded from country, nothing makes you feel more included than Willie Nelson asking you to do a duet."

High off making magic with Nelson, Peck extended that same spirit of camaraderie to some of his closest friends and peers from all corners of the country landscape — from his My Kind of Country costar Mickey Guyton to neotraditional country trio Midland, as well as Canadian folk chanteuse Allison Russell and crosspicking bluegrass virtuoso Molly Tuttle, whom Peck touts as "one of the best guitarists alive."

The singer was equally intentional when it came to melding his sound with other genres, whether he was grooving to the chugging, celebratory "Death Valley High" with Beck, whipping up a whistling, disco-country bop in "Midnight Ride" with Kylie Minogue and Diplo or going toe to toe in a vocal showcase with Teddy Swims on the soaring, gospel-tinged "Ever You're Gone." Along with showing his versatility, Stampede also displays a rejuvenated Peck who is eager to continue pushing the boundaries of country music and beyond.

"I didn't intend for it to be in the usual vein of my solo stuff," Peck says of his approach to the album. "The intention was that I wanted to collaborate with each of these people. So take 50 percent of me and 50 percent of whoever the other artist is, and see what we could make together, you know?"

While Stampede kicks off on an unabashedly gay note with that Willie Nelson duet, it's bookended by a joyful cover of Glen Campbell's beloved 1975 classic "Rhinestone Cowboy." Peck assembled pals Waylon Payne, TJ Osborne of Brothers Osborne and Fancy Hagood for a "star-spangled rodeo" of a finale that felt poignantly momentous for all four trailblazers.

"Obviously, there are not that many out gay men in country music, so we all kind of have this bond together," Peck points out, noting that the quartet have cleverly christened themselves "The High-Gay Men" in their ongoing group chat. "So I knew that it was important to do something really historic in a sense, and meaningful that four, out, proud, gay men in country could get together and do a song together."

Now that the album is out, Peck is prepared to keep the Stampede raging. His sixth annual Orville Peck's Rodeo — a roving mini-festival the singer first dreamt up in the days of Pony — will take place later this summer as part of his touring plans in support of the LP. Hosted by the legendary John Waters and co-headlined by Tanya Tucker, the event promises to deliver three days of live music, drag performances, after-parties and surprises galore. And for the first time, it's taking over Nashville.

Triumphantly descending on Music City U.S.A. with a band of misfits and icons in tow might feel like nothing short of vindication for a masked vigilante who's spent his entire career playing by his own rules. But for Peck, it's always been about his dedication to the art rather than seeking approval from the industry that surrounds it.

"I'll say it like this: I don't feel like an outsider in country music," he concludes. "Because I love country music more than anybody."

Since Ice Spice first caught our attention two summers ago, she's been nothing short of a rap sensation. From viral hits like her breakout "Munch (Feelin' U)," to co-signs from Drake and Cardi B, to a Best New Artist nomination at the 2024 GRAMMYs, the Bronx native continues to build on her momentum — and now, she adds a debut album to her feats.

Poised to be one of the hottest drops of the summer, Y2K! expands on Ice Spice's nonchalant flow and showcases her versatility across 10 unabashedly fierce tracks. She dabbles in Jersey club on "Did It First," throws fiery lines on lead single "Think U the S— (Fart)," and follows the album's nostalgic title with an interpolation of an early '00s Sean Paul hit on "Gimmie a Light."

Y2K! also adds more star-studded features to Ice Spice's catalog, with Travis Scott, Gunna and Central Cee featuring on "Oh Shh...," "B— I'm Packin'," and "Did It First," respectively. At the helm is producer RiotUSA, Ice Spice's longtime friend-turned-collaborator who has had a hand in producing most of the rapper's music — proving that she's found her stride.

As you stream Ice Spice's new album, here are five key takeaways from her much-awaited debut, Y2K!.

She Doubles Down On Bronx Drill

Ice Spice is one of the few ladies holding down the New York drill scene on a mainstream level. She's particularly rooted in Bronx drill, a hip-hop subgenre known for its hard-hitting 808s, high-hats and synthesizers — and according to the sounds of Y2K!, it’s seemingly always going to be part of her artistry.

"It's always time to evolve and grow as an artist, so I'm not rushing to jump into another sound or rushing to do something different," Ice Spice told Apple Music of her tried-and-true musical style.

While Y2K! may not be as drill-driven as her debut EP Like…?, the album further hints that Ice isn't ready to retire the sound anytime soon. The subgenre is the dominant force across the album's 10 tracks, and most evident in "Did It First," "Gimmie a Light" and "BB Belt." Even so, she continues her knack for putting her own flair on drill, bringing elements of trap and electronic music into bops like "Oh Shhh…" and "Think U the S— (Fart)."

She Recruited Producers Old & New

Minus a few tunes, all of Ice Spice's songs start off with her signature "Stop playing with 'em, Riot" catchphrase — a direct nod to her right-hand man RiotUSA. Ice and Riot met while attending Purchase College in New York, and they've been making music together since 2021's "Bully Freestyle," which served as Ice's debut single. "As I was growing, she was growing, and we just kept it in-house and are growing together," Riot told Finals in a 2022 interview.

Riot produced every track on Like.. ? as well as "Barbie World," her GRAMMY-nominated Barbie soundtrack hit with Nicki Minaj. Their musical chemistry continues to shine on Y2K!, as Riot had a hand in each of the LP's 10 tracks.

In a surprising move, though, Ice doesn't just lean on Riot this time around. Synthetic, who worked on Lil Uzi Vert's GRAMMY-nominated "Just Wanna Rock," brings his Midas touch to "Think U the S—." Elsewhere, "B— I'm Packin'" is co-produced by Riot, Dj Heroin, and indie-pop duo Ojivolta, who earned a GRAMMY nomination in 2022 for their work on Kanye West's Donda. But even with others in the room, Riot's succinct-yet-boisterous beats paired with Ice's soft-spoken delivery once again prove to be the winning formula.

She Loves Her Y2K Culture

Named after Ice Spice's birthdate (January 1, 2000), her debut album celebrates all things Y2K, along with the music and colorful aesthetics that defined the exciting era. To drive home the album's throwback theme, Ice tapped iconic photographer David LaChapelle for the cover artwork, which features the emcee posing outside a graffiti-ridden subway station entrance. LaChapelle's vibrant, kitschy photoshoots of Mariah Carey, Lil' Kim, Britney Spears, and the Queen of Y2K Paris Hilton became synonymous with the turn of the millennium.

True to form, Y2K!'s penultimate song and second single "Gimmie a Light" borrows from Sean Paul's "Gimme the Light," which was virtually inescapable in 2002. "We really wanted to have a very authentic Y2K sample in there," Ice Spice said in a recent Apple Music Radio interview with Zane Lowe. Not only does the Sean Paul sample bring the nostalgia, but it displays Ice's willingness to adopt new sounds like dancehall on an otherwise drill-heavy LP.

Taking the Y2K vibes up another notch, album closer "TTYL," a reference to the acronym-based internet slang that ruled the AIM and texting culture of the early aughts. The song itself offers fans a peek insideIce's lavish and exhilarating lifestyle: "Five stars when I'm lunchin'/ Bad b—, so he munchin'/ Shoot a movie at Dunkin'/ I'm a brand, it's nothin.'"

She's A Certified Baddie

Whether she's flaunting her sex appeal in "B— I'm Packin'" or demanding potential suitors to sign NDAs in "Plenty Sun," Ice exudes confidence from start to finish on Y2K!.

On the fiery standout track "Popa," Ice demonstrates she's in a league of her own: "They ain't want me to win, I was chosen/ That b— talkin' s—, she get poked in/ Tell her drop her pin, we ain't bowlin'/ Make them b—hes sick, I got motion." And just a few songs later, she fully declares it with "BB Belt": "Everybody be knowin' my name (Like)/ Just want the money, I don't want the fame (Like)/ And I'm different, they ain't in my lane."

For Ice, "baddie" status goes beyond one's physical attributes; it's a mindset she sells with her sassy delivery and IDGAF attitude.

She's Deep In Her Bag

In album opener "Phat Butt," Ice boasts about rocking Dolce & Gabbana, popping champagne, and being a four-time GRAMMY nominee: "Never lucky, I been blessed/ Queen said I'm the princess/ Been gettin' them big checks in a big house/ Havin' rich sex," she asserts.

Further down the track list, Ice Spice firmly stands in her place as rap's newest queen. In "BB Belt," she raps, "I get money, b—, I am a millionaire/ Walk in the party, everybody gon' stare/ If I ain't the one, why the f— am I here, hm?"

Between trekking across the globe for her first headlining tour and lighting up the Empire State Building orange as part of her Y2K! album rollout, Ice Spice shows no signs of slowing down. And as "BB Belt" alludes, her deal with 10K Projects/Capitol Records (she owns her masters and publishing) is further proof that she's the one calling the shots in her career.

Whatever Ice decides to do next, Y2K! stands as a victory lap; it shows her prowess as drill's latest superstar, but also proves she has the confidence to tackle new sounds. As she rapped in 2023's "Bikini Bottom," "How can I lose if I'm already chose?" Judging by her debut album, Ice Spice is determined to keep living that mantra.

Faith has been a driving force behind Alabama band the Red Clay Strays, both in their music and in their journey to stardom. With their new album, Made By These Moments, the quintet leans into that foundation even further, giving listeners a look into their walk with God and road to redemption — all of which has helped them become one of country music's most exciting breakout acts.

Despite the divine influence, lead singer Brandon Coleman insists they're not a Christian band. And their music proves that: The Strays' sound delves as much into high-flying Southern rock and gritty delta blues as it does country, sounding like Waylon Jennings or Johnny Cash one minute, then Lynyrd Skynyrd or Elvis Presley the next. As Coleman insists, what's most important to the group is making music that resonates.

"Most of the time we're not setting out to write a worship song… or anything like that," he tells GRAMMY.com. "We don't want to be a Christian band or even a country band — we just want to make music, plain and simple."

Born out of a cover band in 2016, The Strays grinded it out for years in bars around Mobile and the Deep South before hitting a breakthrough with 2022's independently released Moment Of Truth. Their budding acclaim led to opening slots with Elle King, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church and Old Crow Medicine Show, their first chart hit with "Wondering Why," and debuts on the Grand Ole Opry stage and on national television. And just one week before Made By These Moments arrived, the group were featured on the star-studded soundtrack for Twisters.

That all culminated in them signing with RCA Records in April 2024 and working with producer Dave Cobb, who helped the Red Clay Strays deliver their most polished and faith-focused set to date with Made By These Moments. Its 11 songs serve as a blueprint of how with hard work, patience and God in your corner no obstacle is too big to overcome. The band navigates everything from questioning oneself ("No One Else Like Me") and searching for purpose ("Drowning," "Devil In My Ear") to discovering and becoming grounded in faith ("I'm Still Fine," "On My Knees") and growing into the best version of yourself as a result ("Made By These Moments," "God Does").

"We're not trying to go out and preach to anybody, we're just singing songs about our lives and people can listen if they want," Coleman asserts. "I've had many people who aren't spiritual or religious come up to me and say that our music has gotten them to think and reevaluate how they go about their daily lives. That's all you can ask for if you're trying to inspire or help people with your music."

Before the release of Made By These Moments, The Strays' Brandon Coleman and Drew Nix spoke with GRAMMY.com about how faith influences their music, the album's range of inspirations, and more.

You guys haven't shied away from making your faith a focal point of your music. Mind telling me about the roots of that influence, particularly with how it relates to the 11 songs on this new record?

Brandon Coleman: I mean, God's really the driving force in all of it. He's why we do this. Everyone's wondering why they were put here on Earth and what their purpose is. Once you're able to get an idea for what that is, that's often what you end up doing. Our music is about our lives and living on the road, and God is a big part of all of it.

Drew Nix: When God gives you a gift you have to use it or it's wasted, right? The biblical things we talk about in our music are lessons that we've learned growing up. It's such complex and simple truths all wrapped into one, which makes it really easy to write about. There's victory and strife and everything else you go through in life. It leaves us thanking God at the end of each and every day for giving us another one.

It sounds like rather than faith seeping into music that it's simply been ingrained in your DNA long before you started making music?

Coleman: Exactly. We're always looking to put God above ourselves.

Nix: When I'm writing songs like "Drowning" — a song that came about when I felt like I couldn't get ahead in life because I kept slipping and falling — it's very therapeutic too.

Another example is "Devil In My Ear," which sees me dealing with a close friend and someone I considered to be family's suicide. It was our drummer's brother Jacob, who was an unofficial member of the band and one of the best musicians we knew. He took his own life in 2020, so that song was me trying to deal with that. The only thing I could come up with at the time was that the devil got in his ear because he really had it made — he was an incredible musician with a loving family around him. It just didn't make any sense to me until writing that song.

I obviously hate to hear that, but at the same time I firmly believe that one of the most beautiful things about music is the positivity that can radiate from even the most tragic of circ*mstances. It's a way to make others who've gone through similar experiences feel seen and not alone, easing the weight of the trauma that comes with it in the process. "Devil In My Ear" is a perfect example of that.

Nix: Not feeling alone, that's a huge part of it. On a related note, the song "Made By These Moments" touches on exactly what you're talking about. We go through all these horrible and beautiful things in our lives that make us who we are. It's also one of the songs that finally brings up the mood on the album as well.

Coleman: That's the beauty of this album. It starts out great a lot of times like life does. It starts with a good rock song before taking you down into the dark places that we all go to with "Drowning" and "Devil In My Ear." Then you come out of that with "I'm Still Fine" realizing "Oh crap, I'm down in the valley but I'm still fine because God's still got me" ahead of rejoicing with "On My Knees," and realizing that getting through all these bad things is what makes us stronger with "Made By These Moments." Closing out the album with a perfect ending is "God Does," a gentle reminder that even though you may not think something is possible, God does.

It's like a roller coaster ride to redemption.

Coleman: Addiction and survival, too — all of it.

You mentioned "Drowning" a moment ago, which is one of my favorites on the record due to both its message and Brandon's high-powered vocals — particularly during its chorus — that remind me a lot of Chris Stapleton. It's a little bit country, blues and rock with a heck of a lot of emotion.

Coleman: Thank you. "Drowning" was originally written in A, so we were singing the chorus, but it wasn't quite up there note wise. I felt like we had a lot of room to keep going up, so we walked it up to a C so it has more of that screaming vibe to it, which definitely helped the song.

It feels fitting and reminds me of when we were struggling in 2020 and 2021 and were driving for Uber. I finally scraped up $100 to get my car's oil changed. It was supposed to be free, but the place ended up charging me a $40 fee before convincing me to buy new air filters too, to which I said "go ahead" because I just can't say no. What was a $15 air filter I ended up getting charged $75 for, taking my would be free oil change up over the $100 I'd just saved up.

I remember leaving there, going back home and kicking this drawer that I'd picked up on the side of the road. I ended up breaking it and screaming at the top of my lungs, and that's what the big notes in the chorus of "Drowning" remind me of.

If it makes you feel any better I literally got my car's oil changed this morning and they got me on the upcharge for an air filter too.

Coleman: It does, but it hits a lot different when you only have $100 to your name.

Absolutely. And thankfully that's something y'all aren't having to deal with anymore. What a difference a couple years can make!

Coleman: Even going through all that, despite how hard it was, we were never hopeless. We all just looked at it as going through a battle. We still had faith in God all the way, even when it was very hard to, which was very scary and stressful. People always say to never quit and to never give up, and that's turned out to be true for us too.

That leads me to "God Does." There's a lot of rockin' tunes on this record, but that song stands out from the rest, both in its message and the stripped back format you recorded it in. Was it always your plan to compose it like that or did you ever have a plan to give it a similar treatment to the rest of this project?

Coleman: I can't speak for Drew, but that was always my idea of how it would be. Working with Dave, he has his ideas too, and in the studio they all mesh together as we figure out and create it. He changed the whole beat up on ["God Does"] and gave the song more of a waltz-y feel that completely transformed it for the better, in my opinion.

Nix: I had a country-er imagination for it when I wrote and demoed it. I bought a pedal steel about a year ago to have it go more of the country route, but the way it turned out is better than I ever imagined.

Coleman: I like the way Drew came up with it, too. I actually still have that work tape on my phone because I remember how that song helped me out during that time of uncertainty and struggling. We played a show in Baldwin County [Alabama] somewhere and were using Jacob's old bus because our's was broken down. One of its tires went flat, so we had to leave it at the venue. Drew and I returned the next day to change the tire so we could get home. It was then that Drew told me about this new song he'd just written called "God Does."

I don't know if he knew, but I was sitting there just trying to hide my tears as I listened to it because of being in that time of life of not knowing what to do and feeling hopeless. That song came along at a very good time and really changed my trajectory mentally.

Every album comes with a backstory, but not many come with two. Rakim's new project G.O.D's Network (REB7RTH), out July 26, came together in a few quick months, from signing a deal in February 2024 to completion in June. The process was spurred by one dedicated A&R person frantically combing through his network of rappers to get guest verses over beats produced by the God MC himself.

But to hear that A&R man, Matt "M80" Markoff, tell it, creating the seven-song project didn't take four months. It took four years.

"I've known [Rakim's longtime manager] Matt [Kemp] and Rakim since 2007," Markoff tells me when I get him on the phone in late June. "They're used to getting calls from me a couple of times a year just for, like, show referrals, verse referrals, things of that nature."

Back at the beginning of the pandemic, Markoff had been talking to the folks at Fat Beats, the venerable record store-turned-distributor that's a huge name in independent hip-hop. He mentioned Rakim's name to the company, and Fat Beats responded that they'd love a project from the God MC. The original pitch, Markoff remembers, was "a three or four song EP with some remixes."

Rakim quoted his price, Fat Beats agreed, and the project was underway, with the emcee meeting with producers to look for beats. But Rakim, who hasn't released a solo album since 2009's The Seventh Seal, is not one to be hurried.

"Ra was having [DJ] Premier and Pete Rock and Ninth Wonder and some of these people come to the studio," Markoff says. "Because of scheduling conflicts and stuff and, you know, normal course of life, it just wasn't right. The vibe wasn't there."

That's where Jazzy Jeff came into play. Rakim and the legendary DJ began working together and, per Markoff, it "just meshed." It seemed like, instead of a handful of songs, a full-length record was in the offing.

"As soon as they finish the first song, I walk into Fat Beats and say, ‘Hey, this is what we're doing now,'" the A&R man recalls. "Instead of Rakim with random producers, it's Rakim/Jazzy Jeff. That'll be huge."

Then…nothing.

A few years pass, and the Rakim and Jazzy Jeff project is still unfinished. (Rakim described its status as "We have a couple records already done.") Fat Beats, which was on the auction block (it was eventually sold in March 2024), wants its money back. Rakim obliges, and everyone seems set to forget about the whole thing.

Markoff, however, was not about to give up on working with the man he calls "my favorite emcee of all time."

The revamped album started its life as not an album at all. Instead, the original conception was a model Markoff had used before: licensing beats by people not typically thought of as producers. In this case, he'd be offering aspiring rappers the chance to get beats by arguably the most influential rapper of all time.

"He's taken people who are not necessarily known as producers and put together beat packages for them," manager Matt Kemp says of Markoff. "And then, one of the things he does is he goes out and he licenses those beats through a company that he has. If you're a European artist that wouldn't necessarily have access to things like that, you can get it."

So that, as of February of this year, was the (revamped) plan: have Rakim do six beats and one verse, and sell non-exclusive licenses, so that any rapper, anywhere in the world, who wants to use them in a song of their own could do so. This, indeed, was a vision that was followed through all the way to the finish line — you can see the end result released July 12, priced between $700-$1,050 depending on what you want to do with the beats and the rhyme, here.

But along the way to creating that package, things got significantly more complicated. As Rakim was making the beats, he found he really liked them. In some cases, he even wanted to rhyme on them himself.

"As the beats started coming together and Rakim was really in the studio and we started putting the rhymes onto them, we realized that it was bigger just than that [original vision]," Matt Kemp said.

The wheels started turning. Rakim, the God MC, as a producer? That would be a project worth sharing with the world, not just a few aspiring artists.

As it turns out, unbeknownst even to many Ra fans, the rapper has been making beats since the beginning. In fact, he produced — and played drums on — one of Eric B and Rakim's classic songs, 1992's "Juice (Know the Ledge)." So producing an entire project didn't seem like such a big stretch after all.

"I always was attached to making beats," Rakim explains to me. "But I got to the point where I'm confident with my production now. I got the chance to produce the album and jumped at the opportunity."

Rakim, as has been well documented over the years, comes from a musical family. His older brother Ronnie was a keyboard player of some note with his own claim on rap history, his other brother Stevie is also keyboardist who performed on some Eric B. and Rakim songs, and the rapper's aunt is the late R&B legend Ruth Brown. So when making beats, Ra will often play drums, bass, guitar, or piano. (He cops to enlisting one of his brothers if the keyboard part gets too complicated.)

He describes his production style this way: "You try to add on to the sample, and enhance certain sounds that you hear. Or you might just add a melody that you feel enhances the sample as well."

In addition to playing instruments on the project, Rakim also plays the turntable.

"I always knew how to DJ, and I like being able to enjoy the project from a different seat," he tells me. "I enjoyed putting the music together, coming up with the scratch patterns."

So with the musical side of the equation firmly in place, what about the vocals? Rakim was inspired to add verses on a few songs, and hooks on a few more.

"It's mostly a project that I was supposed to be producing," he explains. "In the midst of that, there's certain beats that I'm playing and I'm like, ‘I gotta rhyme on this one,' or, ‘I got a rhyme that fits this one perfectly.'"

The question was, what to write about? After a decade and a half without an album, the rapper had a lot to discuss, and needed to find new ways to say it.

For the project's lead single, "BE ILL," he got in plenty of internal rhymes. And the song's tempo allowed him to come up with different rhythms.

"When tracks are at that speed, I'm able to manipulate time and space to come up with different rhythms because I have so much time and space to deal with," he says. "It was one of them songs I loved rhyming to. Just having fun with words and phrases, and at the same time having so much on my mind to say."

"I'm trying to say a lot of things," Ra admits when discussing his writing on the album. "It's hard to just come back and say a verse when you've been gone so long. So I tried to be very specific and cautious with the words that I chose, and try to be entertaining at the same time. So it was a little nerve wracking."

Even with Rakim's vocal contributions (he ends up with either verses or hooks on six of the project's seven tracks), more was needed to complete the songs. That's where Markoff really got going.

"Literally, I didn't waste a single day," he remembers. "I was calling the artists in my network. I reached out to each artist one by one, and let each artist go through the folder [of beats] with me and make their picks."

Among the artists Markoff reached out to were several members of the Wu-Tang Clan. He has a long relationship with the crew, having worked with them on several projects including the well-regarded 2005 album Wu-Tang Meet the Indie Culture.

Markoff recalls the exact moment when he lined up Wu member Masta Killa for his appearance on what became "BE ILL."

"I was at the first ever Wu-Tang Clan residency in Vegas, and I told Masta Killa, ‘Dude, I just got these Rakim beats 10 minutes ago.' I played 10 seconds of the second beat, which was the beat for ‘BE ILL.' And he was like, ‘That's the one.'"

A different Wu-Tang show was responsible for one of the album's other notable guest appearances, Cash Money stalwart B.G. The two met at the concert, and the Louisiana rapper was in the studio "48 hours later," Markoff recalls.

For a handful of artists he had good long-term relationships with, Markoff let them choose which of Rakim's beats they wanted to rap over. In addition to Masta Killa, he names Chino XL, Hus Kingpin, 38 Spesh, and TriState as being on that short list. After that, he says, it was all his decision.

The end result is a list of some of the top rappers in his Rolodex: Kool G. Rap, Method Man, Kurupt, Canibus, KXNG Crooked, Skyzoo, Joell Ortiz, and many more — including an outro from Snoop Dogg. But one of the most surprising things on the tracklist is that a number of the guests aren't alive anymore.

Nipsey Hussle, Prodigy, DMX, and Fred the Godson have verses on the record. All of them were people Markoff had worked with in some capacity over the course of his career. He says that all of the verses were "in my stash or under my ownership." So when he was looking for material for the Rakim project, they were a perfect fit.

The Nipsey Hussle contribution in particular stood out so much that the entire song, "Love Is the Message," was designed around it. The project's engineer placed Neighborhood Nip's verse first, and everyone else listened to that when recording.

"We kind of glorified who he is, and came up with the title ‘Love Is the Message' to put everything in perspective," Rakim tells me. "So everybody vibed off of that and everything that we implemented had to have that feel or had to be in that direction."

One thing Rakim noticed as he was listening to the contributions coming in? Many of them were paying tribute to him. In particular, B.G. says in his verse that he's "on a song with the greatest."

"To hear things like that from my peers is a beautiful thing," says Rakim, who also admits to tearing up when hearing Snoop Dogg praise him on the outro of one of the album's songs. "Hip-hop is one of the more, I guess, feisty genres. It's hard to get that love from your peers. So it's a real blessing to hear it from people like that, to hear what they think of you and to say that on records. A lot of people might think that of you, but would never say it on a record."

For Markoff, B.G.'s tribute was particularly meaningful because of the rapper's history. He began his career in a duo, and later a quartet, with another rapper sometimes considered the greatest of all time, Lil Wayne.

"For B.G. to have that history, but acknowledge Rakim — I was speechless," Markoff confides. "It was really cool to see. It's like, ‘I'm not just going to say my partner, my friend, my confidant Lil Wayne's the best because we grew up together.'"

Finally, after all the guest verses came in, the project was ready. Seven songs, entirely produced by Rakim, with raps by him and a broad cross-section of artists. The question, then: what exactly is this project? An album? An EP? Rakim's big comeback? A teaser for his eventual full-length return?

To Markoff, none of these labels are important. He's not concerned about fans being disappointed that a project under Rakim's name features only a handful of the rapper's verses.

"The fan is going to look at it however they want to look at it," he says. "The negative people will stay negative. It wouldn't matter if it was the greatest album of all time. The positive people that are so grateful that I stepped up to the plate to help bring new Rakim music to the world are going to love it."

After all, he continues, "The whole point originally when we started making it was letting his peers shine on Rakim beats. The fact that this project morphed into something that Rakim literally is on 95% of, I couldn't have asked for more of a blessing."

So Matt Markoff, the boy who fell in love with Rakim's music at 12 is now, three decades later, putting out music from his hero.

"Dream fulfilled," he says right before we hang up. "Now I gotta figure out what I'm going to do for the rest of my life."