B.o.B. Talks T.I. Record, Working With Charles Hamilton

As soon as T.I. was released from prison in December, the Atlanta rapper headed straight to the studio to begin work on his next album. One of the first people he called on was Grand Hustle artist, B.o.B. 

The song they collaborated on? Something B.o.B. actually had in the stash for a while. T.I. later expressed interest in it when it came time to record. 

“It was just a song I did that I had [saved]. A lot of songs start out with just playing around,” B.o.B. told VIBE. “You may hear a beat, have a melody and then just cut one demo track singing the melody and then you move on. But slowly it’ll be developed if it’s an idea that sticks, and people will remember in the studio and be like, ‘What’s up with that song, that idea you laid the other day?’ It kinda gets its own push internally and then it ends up being a song.” 

While B.o.B. remained hush on the song’s title and concept, he said the producer of the track is Cutta, who also helmed B.o.B.’s Amy Winehouse-sampling mixtape cut, “Grip Your Body.”

The rapper also confirmed that he’s been in the studio with Charles Hamilton, who recently returned from hiatus with new material after reportedly being dropped from Interscope. The split followed a series of troubling incidents, including a viral video of Hamilton being punched by a woman, though no official reason was cited.

“I have worked with him. I feel like he kinda got grounded [now],” said B.o.B of the fellow freshman. “A lot of artists go through that. It’s just that his situation became more public. His production team is just awesome and the engineer that he works with. I didn’t know he could play the bass and the keys like that—he could just go nuts on the keys out of nowhere and it’s like, ‘What? Where’d this come from?’” 

The pair previously collaborated on the song, “Change Gon Come” with Asher Roth.

B.o.B.'s debut album, B.o.B. Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray hits stores on April 27. —Clover Hope