DJ Ready D Opens Up About How His Collaboration With AKA On ‘Monuments’ Came About #AKAFridays

As part of our #AKAFridays feature in a recent interview with legendary DJ, DJ Ready D he opened up about his unique collaboration with AKA on the track “Monuments,” featured in AKA’s Bhovamania album. As Ready D reminisced about the process, he provided insights into the challenges, inspirations, and the unexpected joy that came with this distinctive musical partnership.

The conversation unfolded with SA Hip Hop Mag expressing curiosity about Ready D’s experience working on “Monuments” and the circumstances surrounding the collaboration. DJ Ready D revealed that the collaboration occurred during the challenging times of the COVID-19 lockdown, adding an extra layer of complexity to the creative process.

Ready D disclosed that the collaboration was initiated with a call asking if he was interested. Despite initial reservations, he was intrigued by the prospect of working with AKA. Acknowledging the strength of the music as it stood, Ready D found himself impressed that AKA reached out to him for his scratching expertise, a skill often overlooked in contemporary hip-hop.

The DJ highlighted the rarity of his craft in today’s music scene, emphasizing the lost art of scratching within hip-hop. When presented with the instrumental, Ready D requested the acapella to integrate words into his scratches, opting for a unique approach rather than conventional sounds.

Interestingly, this method wasn’t a one-time occurrence. Ready D shared that he applied the same process in a recent collaboration with Youngsta CPT for the Reebok Back Like We Never Left campaign song. The echoes of working with AKA resurfaced, emphasizing the impact and influence of past collaborations on his current work.

Addressing his meticulous nature, Ready D admitted to being overly critical of his work, seeking feedback from his wife, the trusted critic. Despite the internal struggles, the final product received approval during the mixing stage, marking a satisfying moment in the creative journey.

Reflecting on the broader implications of the collaboration, Ready D acknowledged the opportunity to reach a new and diverse audience, bridging generational gaps. The realization that a different demographic would appreciate his work brought a sense of fulfillment and pride.

Closing the conversation, DJ Ready D touched upon his last interaction with AKA at Back to the City, expressing hope for future conversations and collaborations. The shared moment from their past encounter lingers, suggesting the possibility of rekindling a creative collaboration when the timing aligns.

Check out the full interview below

SA Hip Hop Mag 

You know, I was listening to your feature on AKA’s Monuments. You did the outro on that song. And I just wanted you to walk us through your experience working with AKA on that song, because I believe that was the last collaboration that you guys did together. Please walk us through that collaboration.

DJ Ready D 

“It happened at a very awkward time because we were  locked up ( COVID) when I got the call as well. So I didn’t personally meet with AKA to lay it down though. So they gave me the call and they were like, D, are you interested? And I was sitting there scratching my head and going, Jesus, man, I’m not sure if I want to do this with AKA, in all honesty. And I was like, this music, it’s really strong as it is. And then on the flip side, I was like, wow, I’m actually blown away that AKA reached out to me, to scratch on his songs, because we know that the art of scratching has been lost within hip-hop music for such a long time. And not that it’s completely gone, but we know you’ve got to go and dig for it, you’ve got to search for it in order for you to find the words out there, it just depends, you know, who you’re following, what your stream of preferences are, all these things. And when they sent me the instrumental, I then requested the acapella, because I wanted to use words from the acapella and scratch them back into the song, and I didn’t want to use, like, the conventional sounds that you hear in the music. And it’s interesting that you actually ask that because exactly that process that I’m talking about, I actually use that same process in a song that I just did with the Youngsta CPT right now for the Reebok Back Like We Never Lived campaign song. So I use that same concept, and I got flashbacks, you know, of working , not with, but collaborating with AKA in that manner. I had to do. They sent me the beat, I went back and forth. I had to chop up quite a lot of pieces because you know, my downfall is I’m extremely critical of myself. And I always go to my wife and ask her, You be the critic, you be honest, but she can be honest as well. And sometimes it’s like that, you’re overthinking, leave it, it’s right, it’s in the pocket, all these different things and when I eventually sent it out to them for mixing and they came back and they gave me the thumbs up, I was like wow this is actually really cool and then you know the artist and the hustle part of me was like oh you’re actually going to get a completely different generation of audience to listen to what you are doing so maybe you just need to own it and you need to be happy for it you know and I think that is what it did as well. And just getting back to AKA, the last time I spoke with him was at Back to the City, not this year’s one, but the year before. And we had a moment, and I’m hoping that somehow we can pick up on that conversation when the time is right, and all in the spirit of what was spoken in that moment. “