2 Chainz‘s sophomore album will continue the saga he began on his debut last August, and he points out that there’s some pretty literal meaning in the title B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time. In an effort to keep the focus on himself as an artist, the Atlanta rapper took Kanye’s advice and passed up on a feature from Jay Z.
Though 2 Chainz was tight-lipped about the collaborations he’d actually confirmed for the album, he explains to MTV News’ Sway Calloway that he decided not to lock down a feature from the God MC because it was too soon.
“I went to the Justin [Timberlake] and Jay show in London, so I hollered at Jay,” Chainz explained. “And when me and ‘Ye talked I said, ‘You think I should put Jay on this song? And he was like, ‘Me time. It’s your time, maybe next time.'”
And just like that, he scratched the possible collaboration with Hov.
“For people that I’m huge fans of like Jay Z and Andre 3000, I feel like [there are] certain times in my career to do these songs,” 2 Chainz explained. “You don’t want them to be too early — you want them to be movies, you want them to be events. So for Me Time, I have a few features but I’m really showing my ass on this.”
The Def Jam rapper revealed that the title track “Me Time” is one of the songs he’s most proud of on the album, but don’t expect him to reveal the tracklist or other preliminary information anytime soon.
“When I came up I feel like people didn’t put out their tracklist before the album dropped. I feel like it was an event,” Chainz said. “When I became this popular I looked back on what I used to like so much about hip-hop, and what I liked was features that you couldn’t believe was really happening. Today a lot of the features are kind of cliché and everything is so microwaveable. Everybody’s gotta be so quick, so I try to cook mine a little longer.”
Slowing down and staying focused certainly has its perks. “I still try to be in my bubble as far as doing me, not subconsciously taking anybody’s flow and not switching nobody’s line thinking it’s mine.”
B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time is due on September 10.
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