MC: In your book you stress the necessity of taking action and not making excuses. Can you elaborate on that?
Zaytoven: I hear more of that than anything. “All I need is one Zaytoven beat.’” That’s not how it goes. I’m about action and taking the hard or the long way. I never got into this trying to advance myself faster than I needed to go, or take certain situations to try to get on top. If you watch Zaytoven’s career, I’ve been slow rolling for the past 10 to 12 years, just gradually getting bigger and better. Zaytoven never came out of nowhere and just blew up. That’s not my story. My story is working hard on a consistent basis and moving up a notch gradually as the years go by. I was looking at longevity. I want to be here for a long time. I don’t want all of the money at once so I can spend it and be broke and forgotten. I want you to keep hearing about Zaytoven. “Man, is that the same Zaytoven we heard about back in 2004? The same guy who is still one of the hottest producers out there?”
MC: You are well known for working incredibly fast and putting out a huge amount of recorded work. Is this still the way you record and produce?
Zaytoven: Yes. It comes from back in the day when Gucci and me were trying to figure out how to make our mark in the game. So he’d come over at 10 o’clock in the morning and rather than try to work on one song to listen in the car later that day, we’d try to make five songs to figure out which was the best and come out with different flavors and styles.
At the time, Gucci wasn’t as popular. Even when we made “So Icy” we’d try to drown out the other artists. That’s why Gucci started dropping so many mixtapes. Zaytoven was the producer of every beat on every mixtape, on every song. Same with OJ Da Juice man, it was the fact that we were trying to make the mark. If we feel we weren’t as good as them, we’d put out more music. That came from working fast. If we made 100 songs we’d have a hit somewhere in there. I’m still like that now––every record that’s been a big record, I never spent more than 10 minutes making the beat.
MC: Tell us about some of your gear.
Zaytoven: I learned on the Akai MPC and I don’t think I’m ever moving from it. I think it’s because I learned on the MPC 3000 and I got accustomed and I got used to making beats on it. And it worked. I never thought about changing it. Fruity Loops and all of these different programs came out and people used them to make beats, but I have a sound and a formula already. I stuck with it.
MC: You created a virtual instrument plug-in called “Funky Fingers.” What is its purpose?
Zaytoven: I consider it more of a gift to the producers who look up to me. There are a lot of producers who mimic my sound and the way I play piano or the way that I play the organ, or the drums. Every producer in the game was already finding a way to use my stuff, so I said, “Let me put out a plug-in where they can officially have the sound.” That was the whole thing.
MC: You are still an advocate of analog sounds?
Zaytoven: I love analog. That’s what the MPC is for me, the Korg Kronos 6 10 Key Music Workstation. I love the Roland Phantom Module, the Yamaha Motif, the Virus T12 Desktop synthesizer. If you come to my house where I make beats it’s all analog. I do use the digital stuff. MPC has made a version that works both ways––analog and digital, which is perfect for me. But analog sounds are what separates me from everyone else.
MC: Do you enjoy tracking vocals?
Zaytoven: I do when it’s somebody I enjoy recording. A lot of times the artists take forever and they record and want to be extra perfect. I’d rather have another engineer do that. When I’m recording Gucci Mane or Future at the house I enjoy that. We’re moving through songs. I will make a beat and record the vocals and they will almost freestyle the song, so there’s not a lot of hard work to do.
MC: Do you have a studio at home, or do you use other facilities in Atlanta?
Zaytoven: I have another studio downtown. When I make beats for the most part I make them at my home studio. The home studio is meant for special people that I work closely with. I’ve got the other studio for people I don’t really know. The house is where Gucci and I came up with all of our hits.
MC: You won a Grammy in 2011 for your work as a co-writer and producer on the song “Papers” by Usher from his Raymond vs. Raymond project. The Grammy nominations have just been announced, and hip-hop is the predominant genre in the top awards. What are your thoughts on this evolution?
Zaytoven: I think it will be the biggest genre. The guys who created this music are super heroes. Rappers now are like basketball and football players used to be. Kids want to be rappers now. They look cool; they carry themselves with a certain type of swagger. Now the basketball and football players want to be rappers. It’s such a strong force of music. It intrigues people.
MC: You now have your own label through Motown/Capitol, called Familiar Territory.
Zaytoven: Yes, sir. It’s a new chapter. I’m excited. I get to deal with Capitol and Motown. This is where Zaytoven becomes a new artist and a new producer all over again.
Zaytoven: Throughout your career you have excelled in A&R. Will your label provide an opportunity to go deeper into that world?
Zaytoven: That’s exactly what I will be doing. All of the guys I found before: Gucci Mane, OJ da Juiceman, Migos, Bankroll Freddie, these are my real artists. I never had to wait and sign these guys. The new batch of guys I’m running into, I have my new situation and I can’t wait to apply my A&R ears.
MC: You’ve made films: Finesse The Movie and Birds of a Feather, and now you’re completing Birds of a Feather 2. You write songs, produce and also act in the films. How does this enhance your position as a producer?
Zaytoven: I’m a producer that’s been around for a long time. Sometimes you’re not as hot as you were. You might have been super hot in 2013, but a new producer came in. I use the movies to draw attention to myself and to brand myself in a different way. Let me do something else, use my relationships. I’ve never been an actor or the guy who wants to be on the big screen, but these are the things I have to do to continue to make Zaytoven relevant and popping. When I started doing it and had such a great response, I knew this was something that I had to do.
MC: Most producers are invisible. The films, which are fictionalized but autobiographical, cast you center stage.
Zaytoven: It made me famous! People have been hearing “Zaytoven on the track” for 10 years, but they didn’t know what I looked like. This is a chance to show my style. I feel like I’m a pretty handsome young guy. This is a chance to make the world know who Zaytoven is.
MC: Do you make these plans in advance?
Zaytoven: No, sir. I really just go with the flow. That’s what keeps me excited, not knowing what tomorrow holds. I can plan I want to have a great 2018, to put my album out, and put my artist’s album out, but something might come up. That’s the way God works. I have to be ready.
Contact Joanne Hunter, Capitol Music Group, Joanne.Hunter@umusic.com.
