Producer Mike Will can remember his conversations with 2 Chainz in an Atlanta studio back in 2008.

“I would tell him, ‘You gonna be the shit one day’ and he’d tell me, ‘Mike, you gonna be the shit one day’ and now we’re damn-near the shit!” Will told XXL recently. “He’s the go-to guy on features, I’m the go-to guy for beats. We’re in a good space right now.”

That’s certainly true. And Will helped make that “space” even better, crafting the instrumental for “No Lie,” 2 Chainz’ lead single, featuring Drake. On Tuesday, Def Jam unleashed the banger off Chainz’ highly-anticipated solo album, Based On A T.R.U. Story, due August 14. Will may have landed more instrumentals on his friend’s impending LP as well.

“I played him four beats and out the four, he chose all four of them,” Will said. “This single is so special to me, though, because we have so much history. He’s gonna have one of the dopest albums this year.”

Will’s 2012 is shaping up pretty well thus far too. In addition to working with 2 Chainz, the ATL producer worked the boards on Gucci Mane’s single, “Plain Jane,” featuring Rocko and T.I. and also crafted three records on Future’s album, Pluto. He also produced, “Just a Sign” off B.o.B’s new sophomore album, Strange Clouds. The talented producer said he’s also talking to Kanye West with the hopes of building something real special soon and working on his new mixtape, Established in 1999 Part II, which features French Montana, 2 Chainz, Mac Miller, Drake, Gucci Mane and T.I.—Mark Lelinwalla

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