Jahlil Beats, the producer from Chester, Pennsylvania, is behind Meek Mill’s “Ima Boss” and Bobby Shmurda’s “Hot N*gga.” His credits also include Chris Brown and Tyga’s “Holla @ Me” and Anderson .Paak’s “Bubblin,” which he co-produced with Antman Wonder.
He has a clear answer when the jewelry choices come quickly: Plain Jane over bust down, and tennis chains over Cuban links. In a short interview with Erica Diggs for Drip With Diggs, he described a lasting interest in jewelry even while keeping his own look understated.
“I mean, it's art,” he said when asked about his view of jewelry. “I've always been a jewelry guy.”
His taste draws on the artists he watched. Jahlil recalled seeing Jay-Z wear tennis chains in the late 1990s and said he and Meek Mill began wearing them again around 2010 or 2011. Diggs, in turn, told him Meek had inspired her to wear tennis chains.
Watches remain part of that interest. Jahlil mentioned Audemars, Patek and “Rollie” while describing his appreciation for a good watch. Asked to choose between a bust down and a Plain Jane, he chose the latter. His next answer was just as direct: tennis over Cuban.
The conversation turned from what he likes to why he buys. Asked whether he regretted a jewelry purchase, Jahlil said he did not. He described choosing pieces intentionally and said selling them back was not his purpose in buying them. For him, the appeal begins with the object and the pleasure of owning it.
“Jewelry is a piece of art,” he said.
He also pushed back on the criticism that buying tennis chains or other jewelry is a waste of money. “We express ourselves that way,” he said.
