Jaasu Recalls Missing Flight Before Don Toliver’s “Body” Sessions

Jaasu missed his flight to the sessions that helped shape Don Toliver’s “Octane,” then drove north from Los Angeles and got straight to work.

He recalled the trip in a Music Business Worldwide interview published Tuesday.

An ID issue kept him from boarding. Sickamore had invited him to the Northern California camp, and Jaasu said he drove there despite his car’s poor condition. The first beat he played there became “Body,” with several songs taking shape over two days.

Those sessions fed a major breakthrough for Toliver. “Octane” became his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, and all 18 tracks reached the Hot 100. Jaasu’s credits included “Body” and “E85.”

The growing list of hits followed years of trying to make studio access affordable. In a separate March interview with AfroTech, Jaasu recalled paying $500 to $600 for studio time early in his career. He sometimes exchanged beats for time or relied on relationships to get into rooms.

He also described turning down an early offer from Electric Feel founder Austin Rosen because he wanted to build his skills and catalog before signing.

After college, he and friends bought a home that became a workspace where he produced Remble’s “Touchable” and Coi Leray’s “Overthinking,” featuring H.E.R.

By March, he said, his company, Jaasu & Friends, had already signed producers while he weighed a publishing deal.

That history gave his current business plans a clear starting point. He said he wanted Jaasu & Friends to become a small production team able to work across genres, and confirmed projects with Quavo, Offset, Victony and 24kGoldn.

His work with Offset already reached listeners last week. “Every Night,” featuring Toliver, arrived October 9 with Jaasu handling production. The song sampled Jodeci’s “Freek’n You,” bringing a 1995 R&B record into Offset’s next album rollout. “GMFU” is due October 23 through Motown Records.

Jaasu also discussed his Sony Music Publishing partnership, crediting relationships built before the deal. His ambitions went beyond one-hit wonder status.

“Anybody can have a hot year. I’m trying to build something people are still talking about 30 years from now,” he said.