Hey there, it's Steve Levit. I'm an economist at the University of Chicago, a co-author of

the book Freakonomics, and also the host of the podcast, People I Mostly Admire, from

the Freakonomics Radio Network. I interview guests that range from Nobel laureates to

mathematicians from bestselling authors to NBA referees. People who are smart, reflective,

and sometimes a little bit weird. My guests include bestselling author John Green,

conservationist Jane Goodall, psychologist Danny Coniman, and Jennifer Daudna, the

scientist behind the gene editing technology crisper. I even interviewed my own

daughters. Listen and follow people I mostly admire wherever you get your podcast.

For Hit Boy, it's all in a name. Niggas in Paris by Jay-Z and Kanye West,

Sikham Ode by Travis Scott, Thick by Beyoncé from her newest album Renaissance, as

well as songs from Frank Ocean, Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, and so many more.

Hit Boy's production has powered some of the biggest hits off the best

projects over the last decade, which makes it all the more remarkable that his

actual crowning achievement has nothing at all to do with radio hits or the latest artists.

But the thing that ensures Hit Boy's enshrinement and whatever hall of fame exists

twenty-thirty years from now is dropping back to back to back masterpieces with one of

rap's most legendary figures, Nas. Nas just won his first Grammy a few years back

from his album King's Disease, a project that was fully produced by Hit Boy.

Since then they've gone on to release together KD2, Magic, and KD3, each album better than the last.

And as a follow of that in the span of a few years wasn't enough, Hit Boy's also just released

a new solo album as a producer rapper called Surf or Drown. I talked to Hit Boy on today's

Broken Record about his new solo project, how he's recently just introduced a new but old piece

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