Sheek Louch Is on His “Beast Mode Sh*t” on ‘Silverback Gorilla 2′ Album

Sheek Louch is on his "beast mode shit." The Yonkers, N.Y. native is ending the year strong by releasing his sixth solo LP, Silverback Gorilla 2, this month. The new 17-track project is his first release under the Tommy Boy Entertainment imprint and features guest appearances from some of the most elite MCs in the game including Pusha T, Ghostafce Killah, Fabolous, A$AP Ferg and, of course, his Lox family members, Jadakiss and Styles P.

With three well-received tracks already buzzing -- “Bang Bang,” “Hood Nigga,” “What’s On Your Mind” -- Silverback Gorilla 2 is a solid follow-up to the rapper's 2010 solo LP, Donnie G: Don Gorilla. With both Styles P and Jadakiss dropping individual projects in 2015, it was only right for Sheek to close out the year with one of his own.

XXL got a chance to speak with Sheek Louch about Silverback Gorilla 2, the possibility of a Lox album in 2016 and the idea of a Lox biopic after the success of Straight Outta Compton.

This is the first LP you released under Tommy Boy. How did you end up linking up with the label?

We were on tour in Australia and Tom Silverman was doing some work with Ghostface and he seen how I was killing the stage and he was a fan of the Wu-Block project and when we got back, Silverman was like, “Yo, we gotta do some work together” and I took a meeting with him and it just took off from there. His knowledge on everything that he knows in hip-hop is incredible.

You dropped the first Silverback Gorilla in 2008. Why did you choose to drop the sequel of the project in late 2015?

I wanted to get back to that state of mind when I made that first project. On my beast mode shit. It just made sense as far as all the stars being lined up with Styles dropping his project and Kiss dropping his project and then mines, so it made sense for all of us to attack at once. The only thing next is that Lox album.

How long was this project in development for?

It took a while because I was touring like crazy, so I would get certain tracks just sent to me from all over the place, and I’d write songs on the tour bus, in the hotel room, in Japan somewhere, and finally I got off tour and put it all together man. I added a few more pieces, and then my features, and it was all done.

Who are some of the artists featured on the project? And what producers did you work with on this?

I got some dope producers on there. My man Shroom came through big time. He’s out of the Netherlands and he gave me this banging track and it was so different. I just heard Pusha T all over it. And then tracks like my man Jimmy Dukes out of Buffalo. He gave me the track with Jadakis and A$AP Ferg, “What’s On Your Mind.” And you know, I got M.O.P. on there, Trae tha Truth out of Texas, of course, Styles P and Jadakiss, Raheem DeVaughn, Fabolous, Dyce Payne and a lot more names on there. It’s a dope project. Everybody I got on this project, I’m a big fan of. I love hip-hop.

What would you say is the difference between this Silverback Gorilla 2 project and the one you put out in 2008?

More growth. Seeing more things and going through different things, you know. Everything from production to lyrics shows growth.

Were there any challenges you faced while recording this album?

Nah, but I told someone recently, everybody that I got on this project, man, I mean they actually did their verse that day and sent it back like the next day. For real man. That’s a blessing, man, everyone delivered immediately. There was no “club talk” when I was working on this.

I'd like for you to break down the following tracks and how they come about.

“Obamacare” Feat. Dyce Payne: My man Dyce Payne is on that one. You know it’s about the everyday struggle, just talking that shit. The beat was incredible and my man Termanology produced that. It came out crazy.

“Bunndy”: "Bunndy" is just an intro. Me telling you about some of my life and certain things that I went through. From me and my moms to the single parent struggle.

“What You Want the Money For” Feat. Swizz Beatz : I remember he called me late night like, “Yo, I finished the hook and I layed verse. You can throw it away if you want.” I was like, “Nah, man I’m using that.” You want all of that hype crazy shit from Swizz. He did something real crazy on this joint and he told me had fun doing the record, you know.

“Legends”: It’s just me talking that…”Legends” is like, you know what it is with that one, I’m not a grumpy OG. I salute and support all of the new artists coming up and tell everybody don’t be angry at these new motherfuckers coming out, let them shine and hopefully they have some content in their lyrics and make records that they are supposed to.

“Bang Bang” Feat. Pusha T: My man out of Netherlands called me and told me he had this joint, and you know Pusha T, he has this crazy flow with him. His shit is just hardcore and he’ll throw you some shit that only he knows about. Like it's crazy and I just heard Pusha T on the track so I gave him a call and he immediately took care of the verse. That’s my dude.

How was it for you to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Bad Boy with Puff and the Family?

It was dope, man. The energy was up. Seeing all of my peoples on stage with me was dope. We’re actually going on tour soon. Puff is going to make an announcement soon if he hasn’t already. It’s going to be crazy.

What’s the update on The Lox album? Should we expect one next year?

Honestly, it has to be, and please quote this, let the fans know we are sorry for the wait and the delay. We’ve just been working on our solo projects and moving around chasing that money, but it’s like written right now for us to make this project. And you know, we got offers from everyone, but we still haven't taken a deal yet, but we gonna take one of these deals that’s being offered to us and we going to put this music out because the wait is over. We gotta give it up.

Has there been talks of a possible Lox biopic?

Oh man, I know, I know. There’s a lot of pressure for that and you know, we went through a lot throughout our whole careers and nobody every brought that up, but after that Straight Outta Compton movie came, people were like “We need a Lox one,” but I don’t know. They did a great job with that Compton one. I was excited to see that film.

Listen to Sheek Louch's Silverback Gorilla 2 Album

See Best Rap Performance Nominees & Winners at the Grammys Over the Years