Last year, Larry Sanders, of the Milwaukee Bucks, retired from the NBA and walked away from $27 million to pursue other ventures, including music. Since stepping away from the game, Sanders has found peace in life and learned to better deal with his onset depression. He's made waves with his own music and videos, but last week came more substantial validation when the production credits for PARTYNEXTDOOR's latest album, P3, were released on Friday. Sanders was credited for work on "Don't Run," which also features production from Sevn Thomas, who was behind Rihanna's hit song "Work."
"Don't Run" is one of the best songs on the album, and a sign that Sanders is on the right path. He spoke with Complex about how the collaboration came about.
How did you connect with PARTYNEXTDOOR?
I moved to L.A. about a year ago, and thought about really getting into music and learned how to produce in FL Studio. I had a couple of producers, including Seven Thomas, around me and we were messing around and there was a track that was, at first, just a sample. They were like, Let me use your laptop and add to it. Eventually the beat came about. Later, Sevn sent the beat over to PARTY. A couple months later, he sends the record back. It was exciting.
When did you know you were going to be on the album?
Honestly, probably like a week or two weeks ago. You know, they do a tracklist and they told everyone who made the album, so it eventually got back to my camp.
What did you feel when you found out?
I mean, it's amazing. You know me, I just started getting into making beats like five, six years ago, honestly, while I still was in the NBA. But I never had an artist that really cut a record from something I made. For a major artist like PARTYNEXTDOOR to do that, it was exciting. When I heard he put it on the album that was the icing on the cake.
What was going through your mind when the album dropped?
My thought was, here are the vibrations that came out of me, from my ear, that I truly found, and now so many people are listening to it. It’s amazing to think about how many ears will hear this record, potentially—it’s amazing to me. My vibrations are out there like that.
Do you think this will silence some of your doubters?
Yeah, but there will always be doubters no matter what you do. Nobody is going to manifest my dreams for me through their thoughts and opinions. I have to manifest my dreams, and then they’ll get it. They’ll understand soon enough. But I just need to do my job and try to be the best at what I’m trying to accomplish.
What's next now for you?
I’m almost finished with my personal album, which I produced every song for it. There are some more tracks I plan to release soon, and just keep working, with the music developing and getting better. I'm working to perfect my craft around this music.
