During his appearance on HOT 97’s Mornings with Mero, legendary producer and DJ Statik Selektah dived deep into the release of his 11th studio album, Expensive Taste.
The project functions as a massive, soulful boom-bap showcase, packing over 33 heavyweight artists—including Joey Bada$$, Freddie Gibbs, Ab-Soul, Westside Gunn, Busta Rhymes, and Raekwon—onto a rich, jazz-inflected canvas. Beyond his own solo endeavor, he generated major buzz by touching on his long-awaited collaborative project with 2 Chainz, tentatively titled Playaz Only Live Once, which pairs Statik’s signature golden-era production with 2 Chainz’s sharp southern-turned-lyrical poise.
Shifting from project breakdowns, Statik addressed a growing menace in modern music: A.I. laziness and the dilution of true craftsmanship. He expressed frustration over how artificial intelligence and superficial shortcuts allow artists and content creators to bypass the grueling, hands-on work of digging for samples, learning the roots of the culture, and developing authentic flows. To him, real hip-hop relies on human grit, sweat, and a reverence for the architects who built the foundation.