You're listening to song exploder where musicians take apart their songs and piece by piece tell the story of how they were made. I'm Rishikesh, your way.

One of the weird things about making a podcast is that I spend most of my time by myself in front of a computer

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This episode contains explicit language.

Kenny Beats is a hip-hop producer who's been producing songs and making beats for other artists since 2010.

He's got a long list of collaborations with rappers like Vince Staples, Freddie Gibbs and Denzel Curry.

But in 2022, he did something he wasn't really ever expecting to do, which was to release an album of his own.

The album is called Louis and it's a tribute to his father.

I talked to Kenny about the song Still, the first song he made specifically for this project.

It features guest vocals from JPEG Mafia and O.R. Apollo and a sample from gospel singer Linda Kemp.

Louis includes a lot of tracks where you can hear Kenny's dad's voice.

And even though Still isn't one of them, as Kenny explains, his relationship with his dad is deeply embedded in the song's DNA.

My name is Kenny Beats.

It was early 2021.

I was in Bath, England recording a band called Idols.

And my dad calls me and tells me he has cancer.

My name is Kenneth Charles Bloom III.

...