Swizz Beatz, the veteran rap producer who’s married to Alicia Keys and recently started the popular Verzuz series with Timbaland, just broke a lot of records in the highly competitive world of Middle Eastern camel racing. He was already the first African American and the first Westerner to own a camel racing team. And when his team Kaseem Abu Nasser — meaning “Kaseem Father Of Nasser,” named after himself and his son — won their race in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, they also became the first team to ever win their first race. Jay-Z and Nas both wrote and called to congratulate him on his accomplishment.

How does camel racing work, exactly? I’m glad you asked! “There are robot backpacks that go on the back of the camels. I love that there is technology involved,” Swizz Beatz explains to Variety. “Previously, it was just like horse racing, where you had a jockey on the camel’s back, but that slows them down. Now, my jockey and trainer can speak to the camel during the race through a walkie-talkie in the backpack. That’s how you give the commands. My backpack has the Ruff Ryders logo on it, and there’s a microphone in there giving the camel direction. It’s like telling a dog during training, ‘Sit down.’ It’s serious stuff.”

Swizz Beatz has apparently been interested in camel racing for a while, and he finally decided to buy and assemble a team during COVID. “This was something my whole family could participate in,” he says. Although his family hasn’t actually met the camels yet due to the pandemic, he “named all of the camels after my family members — my mother, my grandmother, my wife, my children and me. I also named one of the camels, ‘Bronx,” as that is where I started. It’s a nice reminder. There’s a family element to the whole venture. My camels’ trainer, he’s treating my camels like he would another family member. He kisses the camels on the mouth. That’s real love. And the news media is all over this team over there. So much love.”

The camel named after his daughter, Nicole, was one of the winning camels on Thursday. And yes, there is also a fast camel with a robot backpack out there named Alicia. “I have four more races coming up this week. Up at 5AM!” Swizz Beatz says. “My wife, Alicia, is racing tomorrow, and so is my grandmother, Mabel. My mother is funny. She wanted to know how we picked the names for each camel. She wanted to know which camel was faster than hers, or if I went and gave her a slow camel. She’s hilarious. It’s a male and female thing. It doesn’t work like that, Mom.”