For a label that held down the South's underground in the mid-2000s, it's been a rough ride recently for Trill Ent; since 2008, label co-owners Melvin Vernell Jr. and Marcus “Turk” Roach have seen jail time for a shooting that took place in 2009, rapper Lil Phat was tragically gunned down in 2012, and Lil Boosie has been in jail on drug charges, beating a murder rap along the way. But today, news has been confirmed that Lil Boosie finally has a release date, set for August of 2014. His imminent release is one of the bright spots to look forward to in 2014, with the possibility of new Boosie tracks a mouth-watering proposition.

Another recent loss for Trill, however, has been longtime in-house producer Mouse On Tha Track, who worked for the label since the 2004 Boosie and Webbie album Gangsta Musik and helmed a number of huge hits throughout the years. Mouse's contract was up, leaving him a free agent, and he's since found himself working with artists like Rocko and Kevin Gates on new material. But when Boosie gets out, Mouse wants to get back in the studio. "He like to work, he like to get it in, and it's just fun," Mouse says. "That's what we want to do—make music, get paid for it... I wanna make sure he puts together a quality album."

XXL hopped on the phone with Mouse to talk about some of his favorite tracks with Lil Boosie, from classics like "Wipe Me Down" and "Zoom" to deeper cuts like "Swerve" and "Cartoon," one of the last tracks the two made together. "We recorded in Motel 6's, we were recording in Days Inn Hotels, we were just getting it in," Mouse says about that time period. "It was the grind that we was on. Aw man, we coulda had a reality show for real, and I think that would've been very entertaining to these people." —Dan Rys (@danrys)

Related: Lil Boosie's Release Date Confirmed For August 2014

"Swerve"
Album:
 Gangsta Musik (2004)

Mouse: That was the first beat I gave him, the first time we met in the studio I gave him that "Swerve" beat. He was like, man, what do you hear on that beat? I was like, man, I don't know what I hear, but I could see somebody coming through and swervin' on it, and that's how he came up with the song. He just laid it down, he came up off my energy, off my vibe.

That's what got me signed. Together when Gangsta Musik came around, that's what got me signed. Just bringing them hits, they wanted the joints, and we made it official. They had an in-house producer at first, but I don't know what happened, he went another route, and I just stepped up and held it down.

"Wipe Me Down" (Remix) featuring Webbie and Foxx
Album: 
Bad Azz (2006)

Mouse: Aw, man, we were just playing around beating on a locker in the office. We were just chanting, I was beating on the locker, and we were singing, "Wipe me down," and all that good stuff. I came back and had a beat for it, and Boosie just went in and laced it up. We put it together. We were just having fun in the office, beating on the locker, freestyling, drinking that good liquor, just chanting, and we made a couple of lines. I had the beat already that I made, but we didn't have a hook for it yet. And we sat down and were like, man, we were chanting this in the office earlier, let's try to make that a song. And then we put it together, we pieced it up.

"You Ain't Bout What We Be Talkin' Bout"
Album: 
Gangsta Musik (2004)

Mouse: Yeah, that's a good song. And to be honest, that was all Boosie, Boosie did that one all on his own. But that's a classic, because the streets love it, they picked up on it. They love Boosie so much, they love when Boosie talks to them on that level. So that's all Boosie, that's all his creativity. I made the beat and gave it to him.

"Goin' Thru Some Thangs"
Album: 
Bad Azz (2006)

Mouse: That was another, I made the beat, we was sitting in the studio in the duplex, man. Boosie was sitting there trying to come up with something, and he was really going through some things, man. He spoke his emotions on tape, on the track. He just poured his emotions on the track, and that's the type of rapper that Boosie is. He just speaks his emotions, and puts them on the track. Sometimes I would make something with him, but a lot of times I'd just get a vibe from being around him, he'd come into the studio and I'd know what he be going through, I'd know what mood he was in, and I'd try to match that with my sound and make something that was compatible with him, try to complement everything he's got going on at the time.

"Zoom" featuring Young Joc
Album:
 Bad Azz (2006)

Mouse: Yeah that was one that I laced up. Matter of fact, that was one that I laced up at the house and put the hook on it, and I brought it back to him, and they was feeling it, they loved it. That's one of them feel-good songs, you didn't have to do too much to it. People could enjoy it from 8 to 80, so people could just feel it. He would sit down and write just on the spot and go into the booth as soon as he get through.

"Top Notch" featuring Mouse, Lil Phat and Lil Trill
Album:
Superbad: The Return of Boosie Bad Azz (2009)

Mouse: I laced that beat up at the studio and put the hook on it, and Boosie ran with it. He ran with it. He loves to talk about cars, and he was stuntin', he loves stuntin', that's why he got his name on it. He's Boosie Bad Azz, he's gonna hold it down. So when he came up with that, that's his lane, he worked hard to get it so he's gonna talk about it. He came up from nothing, and he's gonna talk about it. He was feeling it. Around that time, we had received some money, some show money had gone up. He had talked about the struggle enough, so he was gonna talk about some of the rewards we had received, talk about some of that good shit.

"Cartoon" featuring Shell and Mouse
Album: 
Incarcerated (2010)

Mouse: He wasn't in jail, we did that one at his house. I would say that was the most exciting song we ever did. That was the most fun we ever had, at his house doin' that song, man. I don't know, on "Cartoon" he was on another level. Got some chemicals in your system and whatnot, and that makes the experience even better. [Laughs] And then we had that skit at the end, that was really classic, man. I'll never forget that night at the studio. Boosie on the hook too, we did that hook together. We just recorded it at his house, and that's how it went down. That's my favorite collaboration, personally, that we all did together. Classic, I'll never forget it.

That was one of the last ones we did, one of the last times we recorded together. He was doing more shows, wasn't at home as much, and he started building his own empire as well, as far as the Bad Azz Entertainment crew. We were just working more. He was putting different artists in the position where they could come up too, he was putting his clique on. He was doing a lot of stuff. He was just bringing his label along, bringing his label up.

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