Miguel is back at Genius to discuss his latest hit “Number 9,” which has been streamed over two million times on Spotify today. The track features Lil Yachty and off the singers upcoming project Viscera. On today’s episode of Verified, learn about the inspiration behind the single and how it was a family affair.
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00:00 My favorite Yachty line is, "I am the grim reaper."
00:03 Top of the song.
00:04 Top of his verse, he came in knowing exactly what we were talking about.
00:09 That line right there was everything for me.
00:10 So number nine was primarily written and recorded at Sonic Ranch.
00:23 I went there with my brother, Nonchalant Savant and D'Lo.
00:28 D'Lo has been a good friend, a brother, and a collaborator.
00:32 And Nonchalant is my brother.
00:34 That's my blood brother.
00:35 He's my younger brother.
00:36 And this is the first time we've created on this level of trust where I had a melody,
00:42 I had some words, I had an idea, and he took that and he connected with something and really
00:48 made it work.
00:49 "Break lights off in the distance, don't follow me.
00:58 And the sky came crawling out beneath the waves."
01:05 The waves and us seeing the waves often during our childhood, especially in the summertime.
01:10 My dad was a teacher and that's when we got all of our time with him was during the summer
01:15 and he would take us to the beach, like religiously.
01:17 So we were in the water, we were watching the waves all the time and I think this is
01:22 something that grabbed my brother that he knew I would relate to.
01:44 There's a quote, this Hunter S. Thompson quote about life.
01:47 Not arriving at the finish line pristine, but arriving flames shooting out the back
01:53 and bruised and battered and scraped up was sort of what life was really about.
01:58 And that's how he wanted his life to be and how he wanted to arrive at his final, at the
02:03 final moment.
02:04 We should have these oscillations and it's not meant to be safe.
02:08 We should be pushing our boundaries and really pushing to the edge of ourselves.
02:13 This chorus is one of those choruses that just felt right.
02:36 And that's a testament to ultimate trust and creative collaboration.
02:42 It was a revelation for me.
02:44 I've never put a melody of mine fully in the hands of anyone else.
02:48 I don't think it's poetic.
02:49 That is my brother.
02:51 When my eyes shut wide and my mind goes blank.
02:56 When I don't know time and I don't know space.
03:01 When I number nine and I'm clean and safe.
03:06 There'll be no one else and nothing left of me.
03:11 There'll be no one else and nothing left of me.
03:13 It's almost like you've obliterated yourself from the me, the I, the ego.
03:18 Now you're a part of something greater.
03:20 You return to something greater.
03:21 And that's a little bit of philosophy.
03:24 Maybe it's what I hope.
03:25 Because I don't ever want to come back to this motherfucker.
03:27 I just want to keep going.
03:28 I don't want to return.
03:31 Call me crazy.
03:32 Let's go to the next level.
03:36 This whole thing has been an exercise of trust.
03:40 Trusting of self.
03:42 Trusting of choice.
03:43 Trusting of intuition.
03:44 That's very much in this album.