If you’re looking for insights into Kanye West’s creative universe, there aren’t many people better to speak with than BoogzDaBeast. The Grammy-winning producer is one of Ye’s oldest collaborators, having worked with him for nearly 25 years. The two first came across each other as teenagers, crossing paths several times in rap battle spaces, before formally meeting when Boogz’s rap group, the Euphonics, went to Ye’s home studio to record. During the session, Boogz and Kanye shared beats they were both making, and as Boogz tells Complex, “The rest is history.”