Mustard’s Studio Rules

1. DO NOT COME IN MY STUDIO IF YOU’RE FUCKING UGLY.
2. IF YOU DID NOT HIT THE GUM TODAY. GO THE FUCK HOME.
3. DO NOT COME IN MY ROOM TO JUST LOOK AT WHAT THE FUCK I’M DOING.
4. NO NEGATIVE NANCY BITCH SHIT.
5. BE HAPPY TO EVEN BREATHE THE SAME AIR AS A GRAMMY AWARD WINNING, 100 MILLION RECORD SELLING NIGGA LIKE ME.
6. HIGH VIBES ONLY. NO NEGATIVE SHIT.
7. I HAVE NO SYMPATHY FOR LAZY NIGGAS
8. DO ME A FAVOR– DON’T DO ME NO FUCKING FAVORS.
9. NO SMALL TALK… COME TO WORK.
10. THINK BEFORE SAYING DUMB SHIT… MY SECURITY IS ARMED…. AND HE WILL DRAG YO ASS OUTTA HERE.

Though Kendrick Lamar is no longer, back in 2017, ScHoolboy Q posted on his Snapchat story a photo of the hilarious TDE rules which is taped to the door of the studio. Four years before ScHoolboy Q posted the rules TDE’s in-house engineer MixedByAli posted the rules on Instagram (the post is now deleted or archived).

Their studio rules start with;

IF YOU NOT THE HOMIE, DON’T COME IN HERE.

IF YOU ARE THE HOMIE BUT WITH SOMEBODY THAT’S NOT THE HOMIE, DON’T COME IN HERE.

DISREGARD THIS AND GET THE TIPS PUT ON YOU HOMIE.

then it reads…

TDE’s Studio Rules:

1. If you ain’t one of the homies don’t be Instagramming you creepy muthafucka. I don’t wanna look on yo twitter and find a creepy ass pic of me or one of the homies, matter of fact, No Twitter or Instagram in the studio! Act like you been around a bunch of rich niggaz from the bottom before!
2. If the homies just met you and decide to clown your bitch azz, sit there and deal with it. It’s part of the creative juices.
3. Don’t touch, ask, or reach for Q’s weed, unless he thinks you cool enuff to pass it to you. We only smoke stersonals around here boy.
4. Shut up and look ugly for the homies.
5. Remember these rules and you might get a meal out the food budget!

Isaiah Rashad also posted this later to his Instagram story.

TDE affiliate Doebuger also posted the rules to his Snapchat story.

These are the interesting rules and guidelines for being in the TDE studio. Kendrick Lamar wrote these rules.

During the recording sessions for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye West had 12 studio rules printed on white printer paper and tapped across a wall of the studio him and his collaborators were recording at. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was recorded from 2009-2010 with most of the album recorded in 2010 and also released that same year.

Pusha T, who was featured on two songs on the album (So Appalled & Runaway), spoke on the experience working with Kanye saying,

“Once we hit the studio, it was just all focus on the music. All focus was one hundred percent on the music. There were rules: no Twittering, no e-mailing, no blog-watching – no stupid questions. All of this stuff is posted all over the walls. A wall of questions, for inspirations. ‘What would Mobb Deep do?’ All types of stuff.”

Pusha T

via Rappers In The Stu

Kanye West’s 12 studio rules from MBDTF sessions:

1. NO TWEETING
2. NO HIPSTER HATS
3. ALL LAPTOPS ON MUTE
4. JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP SOMETIMES
5. NO BLOGGING
6. NO TWEETING PLEASE THANK YOU (AGAIN)
7. NO NEGATIVE BLOG VIEWING
8. DON’T TELL ANYONE ANYTHING ABOUT ANYTHING WE ARE DOING!
9. NO RACKING FOCUS WHEN MUSIC IS BEING PLAYED OR MUSIC IS BEING MADE
10. TOTAL FOCUS ON THIS PROJECT IN ALL STUDIOS
11. NO ACOUSTIC GUITAR IN THE STUDIO
12. NO PICTURES

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was recorded in multiple places across America, including Avex Recording in Honolulu, Electric Lady & Platinum Sound in New York, and Glenwood Place in Burbank, California. There is no confirmation of which exact studio the photo with the rules was taken at.

If you’re looking to book a studio near you, Stufinder is a good place to start.