HNHH and the legendary DJ Paul have officially joined forces to enter the podcast game, and we’re proud to present the premiere episode of the brand new Mafia Radio. Hosting the series is none other than the Three 6 Mafia veteran, who has watched the game evolve for decades while acting as a key contributor to countless classic tracks — not to mention locking down an Academy Award in the process.

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Boasting an immaculate track record behind the boards and a willingness to tell it like it is, DJ Paul is set to hold it down as the Mafia Radio host, where he’ll be chopping it up with artists of all eras — beginning with Xzibit, who recently dropped off the brand new Serial Killers album Summer Of Sam. After breaking down their shared history on Loud Records, the pair reflect on the motivation behind making music for as long as they have.

If you take pride as an artist in being able to write your own records, we gon’ hear it. The real people that’s listening know when they’re hearing. So you can hear when somebody is writing for somebody else. It’s a thought pattern.” – Xzibit

“At this point, making music for people who support me and love me, no matter where they are or who they are,” explains X. “That’s who I do it for. I’m not trying to compete with anyone. Only competition I have is myself. I push myself to that limit, and look. As long as it’s crackin’ and it’s mixed right and it feel right, there’s no time limit on music. There’s no age limit on music.” X argues that only hip-hop is burdened by this perceived “shelf life,” and that nobody would ever tell The Rolling Stones to hang it up. “Stop acting like there’s only seven seats,” laughs X. 
There’s a gang of seats!” 

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The pair also touch on ghostwriters, one of hip-hop’s most controversial topics. “Some of the greatest records we’ve heard have been written by other people,” says X. “For hip-hop, because of its roots — because of the aspect of battle rap, because of being able to come off the head — these are things done by you. People who are really into that, are like Samurais. They like Caine from Kung Fu walking the Earth. If you take pride as an artist in being able to write your own records, we gon’ hear it. The real people that’s listening know when they’re hearing. So you can hear when somebody is writing for somebody else. It’s a thought pattern.”

Though as X declares, one cannot be the best rapper alive if they don’t write their own bars. “That’s a problem,” he says, letting fly his signature laugh. “He going to lose by default. N***as ain’t taking his money, they ain’t taking his plaques, but he can’t have this one!” 

For more from Xzibit and DJ Paul, check out the full episode of Mafia Radio now, and stay tuned for many more to come.