Q&A: Hit-Boy talks Grammy producer nod, rapper aspirations

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr.
AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hit-Boy won top Grammy rap honors with some of hip-hop’s biggest heavyweights, from Jay-Z, Kanye West, known as Ye, to Nas, and now he is ascending into a new musical weight class as a producer. The Southern California native is only up for two nominations for the April 3 Grammys. Both are major, including album of the year for his work on H.E.R.’s “Back of My Mind.” The other is his first nomination ever in the producer of the year, non-classical category for Nas’ “King Disease II” and the “Judas and the Black Messiah: The Inspired Album” soundtrack, which featured him on one song as a rapper. Hit-Boy says you don’t get a Grammy “by just playing around.”