With the release of “Everything Designer,” his third single since the release of “Movie” in June 2024, Your Old Droog continues to maintain a reputation as one of the most prolific rappers in the music industry.

Released under the pseudonym Droogie Otis, the track featuring Boldy James marks the first song from Droog’s upcoming album-length collaboration with Madlib (nee Otis Lee Jackson, Jr.), the acclaimed producer for MF Doom, Freddie Gibbs, De La Soul, Kanye West, Erykah Badu and dozens more. It’s also the first work from Madlib since he lost his home, studio and legendary record collection in the fires that destroyed much of Altadena, California in Jan. 2025.

“I think, just on a personal level, it’s a horrible thing,” Droog tells Variety. “But we keep working. I think when things like that happen, it pushes you to be greater and try to keep going.”

With both his and James’ verses, the track showcases the kind of lyrical dexterity that’s become a cornerstone of Droog’s music. “Remember all them days we stepped out, left to wander / Bumping Jimi Hendrix Red House over yonder,” Droog raps. “Flunking out of grammar school, fucking up some commas / Slow at math, always going half like Arnold Palmer.”

Droog says that the Droogie Otis project fulfills a goal he set for himself at the beginning of his career. “When I recorded my self-titled debut, my mindset was, I’m in here trying to showcase what I can do from a lyrical standpoint so I could get beats from somebody of the caliber of a Madlib,” he says. “So I kept turning out projects year after year. Then in the fall of 2021, I get a text from [rapper and producer] Edan, who got a text from [former Stones Throw Records manager] Egon saying that Madlib wanted to get in touch with me and work. So we immediately started working on joints.”

Insisting “it’s not rocket science,” Droog says their collaboration quickly bore fruit. “His beats are pretty great, so they’re easy to write to.” But even after releasing a number of tracks produced by Madlib as a solo artist, the rapper says that the idea to create a full album evolved slowly. “Personally for me, the bar is always ‘Madvillain’,” he says, referring to Madlib’s supergroup team-up album with MF Doom. “But we’ve kind of got our own thing. We’d dabble in a lot of different sounds and stuff, but it’s almost been just making music for the love of it.

“Eventually you’ve got to snap out of it and be like, ‘Okay, we should probably make some money’,” he says. “But I don’t think money is the motive with this … it’s just making great art with somebody you consider a brother.”

Fusing together the rapper’s stage name with Madlib’s government name, Droogie Otis was born. Droog says the album doesn’t have an official title yet, but it’s due out “this summer.” Part of the uncertainty, Droog says, is because he has been taking his cues from Madlib, who shares a spontaneity that frequently supersedes more traditional release plans and marketing strategies.

“We do it because we love it regardless of what’s going on in our lives. There’s always been that approach where he’s hit me multiple times like, ‘Yo, drop this joint,’ and the song will come out that week or the following week. The business comes after. We’re centered around the art.”

In the meantime, Droog continues to develop projects with other collaborators; he says that he’s got tracks in the works with Edan, who produced his December 2024 single “Suspects,” and with rapper-producer Count Bass D. Otherwise, he remains part of the group of colleagues and collaborators helping to raise money and resources so that Madlib can rebuild his record collection and studio. “We did the tribute shows, I think they’re doing one in LA,” he says. “I know [producer] Pete Rock said he’s going to give Otis some records. So we’re all coming together.”

“I think when things like [the fires] happen, it pushes you to be greater and try to keep going.”