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A$AP Ferg's 'Ferg Forever' Mixtape: A Track-By-Track Breakdown

Stelios Phili and Crystal Caines take us inside the creation of 'Ferg Forever'.

Fergenstein's back. As promised, A$AP Ferg delivered his new Gangsta Grillz-hosted mixtape Ferg Forever on the day after Thanksgiving. The 19-track project includes features from artists like YG and Big Sean with production from the likes of Mike Will Made It and Big K.R.I.T. But Ferg decided to showcase some new talent as well.

There's Harlem-bred rapper and producer Crystal Caines, who's been working with Ferg for years. She produced the Trap Lord cut "Lord," helped him lay down vocals for "Work" and "Shabba" and on this project she's rapping her a$$ off on the songs "Reloaded (Let it Go pt. 2)", and "Weave."

NYC-based producer and songwriter, Stelios Phili, met Ferg while working at GQ and on this project he produced multiple standout tracks including the insanely catch "Ja-Rule," "Dope Walk" and the single "Doe-Active."

Crystal Caines and Stelios Phili broke down some of the tape's highlights for MTV News:

Download Mixtape | Free Mixtapes Powered by DatPiff.com"Ja-Rule"

"All you need to know about 'Ja-Rule' is that the chorus––'What would I be without my baby!' doesn't sample Ja––that's all Ferg. It is amazing. Also, this beat is how Ferg and I started working together. A$AP Nast showed him the track, and then all these songs happened within the following year." - Stelios Phili.

"Real Thing"

"Three minutes after hearing the beat, Ferg and SZA had already beasted out the lyrics and melody for their choruses. No amount of prayer hands emojis can describe how awesome that was to see. For the music, I was inspired by Cameo, a baller R&B band from '80s. With that in mind, after the vocals were recorded, we jammed out to some Cameo classics like 'Candy,' 'Word Up,' and 'She's Strange' for at least an hour."- SP.

"Reloaded (Let it Go pt. 2)"

"Working on the M.I.A. record was crazy. We initially made a subtler beat, but Ferg wanted something crazy turnt! So on the production end, I pretty much Frankensteined––or rather, Fergensteined––the beat, combing three different ideas between me, The Understudy, and Stelios. For my verse, I remember Ferg telling me, 'You gotta get in there like a machine gun,' so I did my best AK impression. Also, because this track is a sequel to a Ferg song called 'Let It Go,' it would've been a crime not to sample the beautiful vocal stylings of Idina Menzel from Frozen. So we did. - Crystal Caines.

"Dope Walk"

"Ferg freestyled this track from start to finish. His approach was full-on rock star, from the distorted vocals in the chorus to the scream at the wildest point in the song. If I had to pick a Pokémon to represent him (there's a Pikachu ad-lib in this song), I would pick Ditto, since Ferg can mold to any genre. He's really experimental, so I had no doubt he'd body a track where I took cues from drum and bass, ratchet R&B, and the Neptunes. Oh yeah, and witnessing the 'Dope Walk' dance is a thing to behold." -SP.

"Weave"

"Weave" is the funniest record we’ve ever recorded. Just the imagery of a girl with a weave on the floor is hilarious. It came from a happy place. The song's meant to incite maximum butt jiggling, so on my verse, I of course had to reference one of the greatest booty-themed songs of all time, Juvenile's 'Back That Ass Up.'" - CC.

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