Defend Your Ballot: Drew Millard, Pazz and Jop 2012 Contributor

Well, you already told us you half-assed the ballot so a mistake like that isn't too surprising. Let's talk about your singles. How many times do you think you tweeted the word "swerve" in 2012?

Oh god. Forty? Fifty?

I feel like that's low.

Probably not a hundred, but maybe sixty. I did tweet a screencap of my drafts that only contained a bunch of tweets with the word "swerve" in it. That was a meta-swerve I guess?

Because of those tweets, I was pretty surprised "Mercy" only landed at number 9.

Well, I kinda got sick of "Mercy" to be honest

Oh, really? But it still made your Top 10!

Yeah, well, "Mercy" was a movement. And kinda signaled the full ascension of 2 Chainz.

Totally. Let's talk about 2 Chainz a bit. Even after his somewhat disappointing record, people still love the shit out of him. What is it about 2 Chainz that is so appealing?

2 Chainz gets it on a subatomic level. Literally everything he does is amazing. Also, there was an opening in terms of a ubiquitous cameo-doer in hip-hop after Weezy fell off and his rates went up

Outside of his ridiculous looks and actions, what does he bring to the table as a rapper?
I don't think 2 Chainz is that ridiculous, actually. I think he's doing everything in a really calculated manner. Consider his last line on "No Lie": "YSL belt buckle, y'all n--gas sure is lookin'." The thing is the way he pronounces it makes it sound like like, "Y'all n--gaz Sho-is Lookin'," which is an acronym for YSL.

That is some real rap nerd shit right there, and I love it. You reviewed his album for the AV Club, and if I remember correctly, didn't quite love it like you expected. Is that true? Why do you think he struggled on a solo record?

Because he willfully made a singles album, which I guess is what I should have assumed was going to happen. There's a lot of great stuff on that album and a lot of hot songs, but then there's a some dogshit. And it found 2 Chainz adapting himself to beats in ways I haven't seen him do before. Like, he decided this Young Jeezy song was not, in fact, about selling crack, and instead was about 2 Chainz.

I kind of think 2 Chainz just thinks everything is about 2 Chainz.

That's fair. I am actually about 2 Chainz.

Well then I guess the 2 Chainz album was a bit feature-heavy for even a major-label rap debut, and also it featured a few unfortunate production decisions. (Read: Mike Posner guest spots, unfortunate use of dramatic rock guitars.)

Do you think 2 Chainz will continue his role as Awesome Guest Verse Guy in 2013?

Erm, maybe. Off the top of my head I think he's probably the most exciting single-serving rapper since Wayne or Nicki, and it's not like guys like Tyga or French Montana are exactly known for their punchlines. Maybe people will start throwing money at Earl Sweatshirt? But he seems like he doesn't really care about getting money so I dunno.

What do you think will be in store for Pazz & Jop 2013?

Pazz & Jop will turn into a resource for cat videos.

I think that will only happen if we get bought by BuzzFeed, which... actually, they probably already own us.

Pazz & Jop will turn into an elaborate system for ranking 2 Chainz guest verses. Pazz & Jop will be struck down and become more powerful than you can possibly imagine. Pazz & Jop will be topped by this.

Welp, we'll go ahead and end on that because I can't really think of anything else right now except dick puns. Thanks for defending your ballot, Drew Chainz!

Was I a good interview? Did I make you giggle? Did I come off as a smarmy, self-satisfied piece of shit with an overinflated sense of self-worth?

You did. But that's okay, because, as music writers, we are all Very Important.

Yes.

Interview by Eric Sundermann.

See Also:
- Pazz and Jop 2012: Top Albums
- Pazz and Jop 2012: Top Singles
- Pazz and Jop 2012: Critics' Ballots
- Pazz and Jop 2012 Table of Contents