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IFCs new sketch-comedy showShermans Showcaseplays likeSCTVfor folks who remember R&B one-hit wonders likeAdina HowardandGregory Abbott.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
It was just a web show that they were doing.
He said they were big fans, they fuck with you, whatever.
I was having a ball.
We shot the pilot it was super-dope, and we got picked up, we got a series order.
And thenthey just axed it.
It was like we was on and then they were like no.
So we just kept working together, man, and they just kept me in mind for stuff.
And, finally, when it came time forSherman, they said, Listen, we got this thing.
Were doing this crazy show and theres a lot of music.
I think this is hilarious.
and its just maybe a voice note.
And from that point on, me and [frequent collaborator Lorenzo Zo!
Ferguson] will sit down and kind of flesh it all the way out.
They gotta sound like real songs.
And were producing them songs like theyre real songs.
I mean, were making that 808 hit like a motherfucka, you know what Im sayin!
So, to me, thats where the comedy is.
The comedy is in making these ridiculous premises actually jam like real songs.
How did that come about?
That Aint Right I think came from Diallo.
They literally just sent the lyrics and let me loose.
Lets just keep it and lets just ride with him.
I think comedy has to come from that place.
I think that shines through in the songs and the performances.
was a lot of fun.
So it was really fun to be trying to re-create thatDirty Mindkind of sound in a modern-day context.
Like, really re-creating that lo-fi, kind of raw sound.
I aint gonna front, man: Its really like musical college.
I mean, its coursework.
Are they gating the snare this way?
Every song, itll be a song that you think,Oh man, I can knock this out.
Well, the funny thing with that one is it was actually my idea to cast Vic Mensa.
That was just always a running joke we had, and wed be laughing about the shit.
This is years ago, even before [Prince] died.
He said, Who?
I said, Man, Vic Mensa!
He was like, Wow, I never thought of that.
And they reached out to him, he was with it, and he killed it.
You dont want to slander the person, particularly if theyre not here to defend themselves.
Were paying homage and having fun.
