DX: Take us through a studio session with Wayne. Is he a difficult or easy artist to work with?
D: Wayne is very easy for me to work with. When I'm working, I end up having to wait for the computer, and Wayne is like that. Wayne moves really fast, with his mind going, running, racing; the dude is a genius. When you're working with a cat whose mind moves that fast, you gotta be moving that fast. If you and your boy are running from the police, and y'all are not running at the same speed, somebody is getting caught. So, when you're working with Wayne, you got to be running. Your mind has to be ready to go change and go to a different zone. It’s exciting for me, I love working with dude. I don't get bored, because if I’m chilling and waiting for an artist, at that point I'm bored. Going back to working with Wayne; I've heard people say, “Man, he's so hard to work with.” But, they just obviously aren't at the level that he's at.

The beautiful thing about Tha Carter III is that a lot of the songs on the album were songs that were done in one night at the studio. Wayne would have an idea, and 30 minutes later the track is there and his ideas are flowing. It's fun man! It’s what music really is, people coming together and making harmony.

DX: With Tha Carter III being one of the most anticipated albums ever, did you and Wayne feel any extra pressure in the studio?
D: You know what, I only knew about that because that's what my friends told me. No offense to the magazines, but I don't have too much time to read magazines, or watch too much TV, so I don't find out about these things until they're happening. One of my boys kept calling me like, “When is the [album] coming out?” I told him, “We're still working dude.” He was like, “We've been waiting for this shit, come on man!” [Laughs] I was like, “Man, y'all waiting like that?” He said the whole world was waiting. Then he said he’ll let me finish working.

DX: When the album leaked, did it bother you that your name was one of the many floating around linked to the leak?
D: I didn't know my name was linked to the leak, because they kept calling me to come to work! Anybody who thinks I would leak my own songs is a fool, what sense would that make? I love music and I do this for a living. I'm going to leak the songs from the most anticipated album in a few years, that I know is probably going to go platinum? So I'm going to risk losing at least a half-million dollars? You do the math.

DX: Is there any more work with Wayne in the future? Who do you see collaborating with in the future?
D: [Wayne and I], we working now! This is what we do. I just got out of the studio with Sean Garrett. I got a lot of things bubbling that I don't want to speak on yet. I hope this doesn’t come off as cocky or arrogant, but when you're in the position that I'm in right now, everybody calls you; even the people who don't want to.

DX: Going back to your New Orleans roots, how has being a survivor of Hurricane Katrina affected your life?
D: I lost everything, man. When I got back to my home to check it out, I had three classic cars that were under 13 feet of water. My home was destroyed, and my dog, where it was chained to the leash, it was just the bones. The only things I didn’t lose were my family and my equipment, and that's because I took those two things with me. Imagine starting life as a baby, but you're a grown man with responsibilities, that's what Katrina was for me. Now I have the number one record in the world, thank God. So I call it a blessing.

DX: Any there any offers from the majors to distribute Drum Major Music?
D: Yep, I won’t say who, but yes. Also, I am looking for artists, so you can put that out there. I have several people that I'm working with, but nobody is on paper yet.

DX: As a label head looking for artist, what would be your advice to any producers out there trying to break into the industry?
D: For cats trying to break in, my advice is to give yourself a deal. If you don’t give yourself a deal, nobody's going to give you a deal. Buy yourself some equipment, buy yourself a studio, send yourself places to work with people. It's called paying dues. If you don't pay dues, you won't be around.

DX: What do you want your legacy to be as a producer?
D: Well, I don't do this for myself. I used to, but now I do it for people. Donald [Harrison] told me in order to be a great musician, you have to love people. We do it for the people; we can't do it for ourselves. At the end of the day, I'd like to know that at least one person will sit down, and gain something positive from my music. Whether it's an instrumental, or somebody rapping or singing over my music, that they will be able to connect that in some way to something higher. I hope they realize what's real, and that life is bigger than just homes, cars, work and themselves.