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45 King Making The Beat Dj Premier pt.2

Zaytoven Explains Producing Young Jeezy's "Trap Or Die 2," Lessons Learned From JT The Bigga Figga And DJ Quik

Exclusive: Gucci Mane's longtime hit-maker explains the charisma that led him to helping brand the Brick Squad sound, as well as the hustle he learned from J.T., and the musicology he saw in Quik.

You know trap music when you hear it but often times legitimate producers get lost in the sea of everyone trying to make it and in Atlanta, the process of finding that next new hot producer is as difficult as ever.

Just ask Zaytoven, the California native turned Atlanta beat master hasn’t just been made famous by working with some of the South’s most notable artists, they’ve been made famous by working with him.

With hundreds and hundreds of beats recorded with the likes of Gucci Mane, Young Jeezy, Pastor Troy, Twista, Yo Gotti and even Usher, Zaytoven knows what makes a hot record. The church pianist who’s transformed into a trap boss, 'Zay talks about his role as a producer and how West Coast artists like JT The Bigga Figga and DJ Quik have made him the Beethoven of the South. HipHopDX recently caught up with Zaytoven to talk about his career and what characteristics make a hot track.

HipHopDX: What originally drove you to the Atlanta area to produce for artists like Gucci and Jeezy?

Zaytoven: It’s most definitely a swagger and charisma with a guy like Gucci Mane. It wasn’t the Rap that impressed me, it was just the way he came across, the way he delivered his rhymes and the whole charisma behind what he was sayin’ and the way he was sayin’ it was the way he attracted me to that rap style and even today I am still attracted to that even more so than just lyrics in a song.

DX: You’ve got some work Thug Motivation 103 and I know you have some insight on how the project came about. Obviously this one was much anticipated with Jeezy being outta the loop for a while. The102 album came out a while ago, but from your perspective what was it like for you and him to get back in the studio?

Zaytoven: Well me, I only work with Jeezy just coming back, you know coming back into the Rap career. He was kind of out for a while and now he’s coming back and the song I did for him was "Trap Or Die 2" . You know, one of his biggest street songs was "Trap Or Die."

DX: Yeah most definitely.

Zaytoven: And you know his whole plan in music was getting back to the roots but still, not going backwards but still maturing as an artist but still giving that same street feel that the fans are looking for. I think he kind of shied away from it and I think he wants to get back to it.

DX: You’ve been in around the Atlanta Hip Hop scene for a while. Where do you think it is now compared to maybe when you got there?

Zaytoven: I want to say it has gotten very creative but yet robotic which is good and bad in a certain sense. For me, to my ear, it has digressed to the youth, the people under 20 and this is exactly what they’re looking for and their ears are tuned in different so I guess it’s a little bit of both and me being a producer, I’m trying to keep up with both. I like my roots to the music. I like remembering how it sounded growing up and the quality of it and I understand the creativity of it now. So I guess in the best of both worlds, I’m standing in the mix. It’s just pros and cons to it I guess.

DX: You’ve produced some of the more notable tracks on some of the artists that you’ve worked with so when you’re in the studio and you’ve finished off a song, how do you know that that cut is going to be a banger?

Zaytoven: You can’t describe it. It’s all about a feeling. It’s an “it” factor. For me, it’s the same way I seen in an artist. I can’t really put my finger on really what it is that makes them great but I know that that’s it right there so when you get that feeling, when you’re hearing that track back, it just makes you. You know, you shake on the inside and that’s it right there.

DX: This may be producer versus emcee but is it the rhyming or the musical rhythm that makes a song hot or a little of both?      

Zaytoven: Well me, it goes both ways. More so it’s 50/50 but telling you a lot of us producers making a lot of beats. I think some of the hardest, the best beats I’ve ever made has not even been a big song. I mean you can have a real nice track but if the right words don’t be said on it then you just have another song. Even the other way around, if you’ve got a real powerful song and something with the right lyrics and it don’t really fit it like a glove, you’re back at square one again so it’s all about a chemistry. It’s a mix of the vocals and that beat coming together so I’d say 50/50.

DX: Going back to your time in the Bay area, what were some of the turning points, young in your career that made you the producer you are today?   

Zaytoven: It’s really just the grind factor man. The guy who I was studying up on was JT The Bigga Figga. This guy was just the world’s all time greatest hustler and grinder. He just hustled and stayed at it all the time and to me, he wasn’t the best at what he did, he wasn’t the best rapper, he wasn’t the best producer or none of that but he was doing all that and making it work and making things happen. So it’s really, that that kind of got me where I’m at in the game. All that hustlin and grinding helps you get better and your craft and before you know it you’ve got a hit record coming out of the sky. I think all it takes is one good record where people start paying attention and then it’s easier for the rest of the record to come and that’s what that hustling and grinding is all about.

DX: Musically you got your start in the '90s playing church music on the piano. How much influence did that have on how you go about making a beat and choosing the different sounds that you want on a track?

Zaytoven: Well that still is a big part of my beat-making now because one thing about playing in church and being a live musician is constantly learning new songs, learning new chords, you’ve got to learn new melodies so it keep you sharp with the music. So it makes it so much easier for me so when I sit down at the drum machine and the keyboard, I’ve got so many melodies going through my head and so many chords so the music and it definitely help me out when I go in a do some producing.

DX: You’ve always been big with seeking out the new talent in the region and you’ve had some big collaborations yourself like Gucci/Jeezy, so people might ask, “Why is he going after the no names?” Why do you go after different and younger talent?

Zaytoven: I don’t know or I don’t know if everyone else knows but those guys were small guys when I was working with them so if it wasn’t for me working with the guys that was hungry at the beginning of their career, I wouldn’t be where I’m at. So I’m constantly chasing to find the next new artist or somebody that is hot that can possibly make it and they keep me in the loop. Like there’s a guy in Atlanta that’s hot right now named Future. Me working with him keeps me relevant in the streets and keeping me relevant with the new/younger kids cause the younger kids, Gucci and Jeezy, that’s old to them. They’re not going to listen to Zaytoven unless he working with the new and upcoming guys. That’s all they know, they don’t know the other stuff so you’ve got to do that to stay relevant so you’ve got to keep working with the new talent that’s on the rise.

DX: DJ Quik has always been someone you’ve looked up to. Why has he been such an inspiration to you and who are some of the others that have helped shape your sound as a producer?    

Zaytoven: The reason why DJ Quik was so influential to me was cause when I first started producing I was out in California and he was one of the top producers out and he just had a musical sound to his production. I can’t really tell you how but you can tell that when he was in there, he was playing those musical instruments live and it just had a funky groove to it and it just had a musician thing to it so I always admired that about DJ Quik. So back in the day, when I started making beats, if I could make a beat that sound like DJ Quik then I was happy. That’s how I really got started and then when I moved to Atlanta, guys like Shawty Redd, Drumma Boy, Nitti Beats, those type of guys influenced me too cause I’m coming from the West Coast and they from the south and they music sound totally different. So these guys was kind of the blueprint to say, “Okay, this is the type of music they like down here.” So in order for me to make it down here, I gotta have the music that sound like that.

DX: What are artists/A&Rs/producers looking out for today when it comes to sound?

Zaytoven: Uh, it’s really just originality and their own sound. The only way I can tell for a producer to make it in the game is finding these new rappers, these up-and-coming guys cause that’s how you develop a sound, that’s how they develop a sound. Me, I develop a sound working with a guy like Gucci day in and day out so our chemistry together has developed a sound. It’s developed the Zaytoven sound. You know it’s hard to just be out here and give your beats to A&Rs and travel out here 'cause it’s a million people making beats and there’s a million people trying to rap too. So it’s always been my advice to the younger guys to find younger guys who you feel has talent or that sounds good with your music and the beats that you do and y'all come together and try to make it cause once that artist get big, the producer get big and vice versa. Once you get big, the other artists will be looking for that sound and they’ll be like, “Okay, I want that sound that he got.” So that’s how it goes cause once Gucci got big, everybody came to me for that same sound.

DX: What has been your favorite producing collaboration so far?   

Zaytoven: Uh my favorite has to be the Usher. I remember when I was younger, back in school they used to call me Usher cause I used to look like him. To work with him and get a number one record with him is like the best thing that’s going so that had to be the best collaboration.

DX: What was that moment like when you we’re notified that he was working with you or when you finally rapped up making the song?

Zaytoven: Well believe it or not I was blown away the whole time. I was working with Sean Garrett and Sean Garrett called me and was like, “Yeah I want to get some tracks from you, I want to work with you.” At the time Sean Garrett called me I really didn’t know who he was. That’s how green I was to the game and how much I really paid attention 'cause I didn’t really pay attention to really anything except what I was doing in the basement of my house. So when he called me and said he wanted to work with me, I went down there and got with him on some tracks. Then he end up getting in a track or two with Usher. He kept telling me like, “Man the song I got for Usher was like the beat I did with your track.” And during that, I’m just blowing it off cause the music business is full of everybody saying everything with no action. So it really didn’t hit me till the track came on the radio. So even with everyone telling me, “Yo you got Usher’s first single.” I was like, “Okay, cool, that’s all good.” It didn’t hit me though until Sean text me and be like, “Ah boy we on the radio, we done it!” And when I heard them play it back like 10 times straight, “I be like, ah boy I can’t believe it.” [Laughs] I can’t believe it that be the first single. I didn’t want to even believe it and that was a great feeling. It was the same feeling I had when I had my first big song, which was “So Icy” with Young Jeezy and Gucci Mane. It’s like that first thing all over again.

Mac Miller Talks Working With Pharrell

"It's dope, man - a gold record, that's just an accomplishment," he explained. "I just happy that [the record] was able to go that far, and I'm just looking to build on that and keep growing, and hopefully have more gold records, maybe some platinum ones…it's definitely crazy to see where I was at a year ago and see where I am now, but at the same time, this is what I've dedicated my life to. I wouldn't settle for anything less, [and] I'm not even settling for this now…at the end of the day, this is nothing. I'm just working on building for the next step and to keep growing and take things to the next level."

Mac also revealed that he recently linked up with Pharrell to record a number of songs. He said that while he isn't sure where the tracks that the two made together will end up, he enjoyed the hands-on approach to the recording Skateboard P takes, saying that he even prefers building a song from scratch as opposed to receiving beats via email.  

"I did like, two crazy jams with Pharrell," he revealed. "It was dope. He's real good peoples, and I just came in there and we were just vibing. I like making songs from scratch with people. I'm not a big 'send me a beat type guy.' We came up with some real cool shit, and we did two joints…he raps on one, and on there other he just did the beat."

Yo Gotti Reveals Cover Art & Tracklist For "January 10th" Mixtape

Yo Gotti enlists Gucci Mane and Juelz Santana for the project.

Yo Gotti has revealed the cover art and tracklist for his mixtape January 10th, releasing tonight (Dec. 30th) at 7 p.m.

The tape, which precedes his upcoming album Live from the Kitchen, features guest appearances from Gucci Mane and Juelz Santana, as well as production from Lil Lody, Drumma Drumma, Silent Jay, Quantum Sound and Young Shun.

Check the tracklist below.

01. The Situation
02. Real Shit – prod by Lil Lody
03. Live From the Kitchen – Prod by Lil Lody
04. Legacy
05. Colors ft. Gucci Mane & Juelz Santana – prod By Lil Lody
06. I Got Dat Sack – prod. by Drumma Drama
07. My Fans
08. Real Niggas – prod. by Drumma Drama
09. 5 Years
10. Hold Me Back – prod. by Silent Jay
11. Industry
12. Zed Zilla ft. Yo Gotti – Fire Dat Bitch – prod. by Quantum Sound
13. Sylver Karatz – Kill Dem Hoes – prod. by Young Shun
14. CMG

45 King Making The Beat Prince Paul pt. 1

45 King Making The Beat Dj Premier pt.1

Chebit Making Beats

Pink Floyd and NI Maschine

Hip Hop: Emotional type beat

KILL3R-K WORKING ON A SET

NAS REFLECTS ON PRODUCTION FROM HIS CLASSIC ALBUM "IT WAS WRITTEN" 15 YEARS LATER WITH XXL

You worked with Dr. Dre in the middle of the East Coast/West Coast feud. What was the response on the East Coast?

It was unbelievable ‘cause Dre had The Chronic, he had Doggystle. And really that was it. So it was unbelievable. It was crazy.

So nobody was like, “Why you working with dude?”

Nah, they thought, “Wow, it’s amazing. It fucked ‘em up. Then Biggie had him and Bone Thugs. Nice move. I was like, “Wow, nice move.”

For “Street Dreams” what was the process like to clear the Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams” sample?

Oh, they took everything. They took everything. Word. For real.

Did you ever get a chance to meet Annie Lennox or did you get feedback from what she thought about the song?

Not really. You know, that song is such a huge record. I’m glad that it did get cleared, that’s all. I admire them. I admire her. It’s all love. I don’t think… I may have met her years later in passing, but it’s all love.

That song also partially led to ‘Pac taking issue with you ’cause he had the same track onAll Eyez on Me that he released that same year. What was your reaction when you heard that ‘Pac accused you of taking the same track?

See, I was always into ‘Pac early before his controversial side blew up all over America and the world. I was already into his music. I saw him as a kindred spirit, I saw him as a brother, so it was like beefin’ with your brother. Not even beefin’, it felt like, your brother over there’s a little mad. This is an issue right now, so you gotta deal with it.

What was your inspiration for “I Gave You Power?”

A Premier beat. Just a beat from Premier… in the studio. Back then I was around a lot more guns and my reality was that. There was no armed security back then, it was just us moving around so that was a lot more in my world.

T.I. released a trailer for his upcoming mixtape “Fuck Da City Up” and it showed him in the studio with Dr. Dre. MTV caught up with T.I. to ask him about their collaboration.

Get More: Music News

Platinum Selling Producer Dame Grease To Executive Produce DMX Next LP

New York, NY, December 28, 2011 - Vacant Lot Records is proud to announce that Multi-Platinum Selling Producer Dame Grease will be executive producing DMX next LP. 

When DMX, made his mark in 1997, it was Dame Grease aggressive sound that provided the rapper with a podium to dominate the rap industry to the tunes of platinum records . Before becoming a stable on every mixtape, The LOX relied on the sounds of Grease in order to acquire the street buzz that landed them their deal on Bad Boy Records in 1996. Fellow Bad Boy Mase sought out Grease’s distinctive sound and gave him the opportunity to provide production on Mase’s triple platinum Harlem World. This led to Grease’s work as the primary producer on DMX’s classic debut It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, where Grease helped the Ruff Ryders mold both their image and their sound into what would become one of the most well-known Hip Hop crews. During this time Grease chose to create his own Vacant Lot production company. 

In 2001 Grease made the accession from producer to composer by providing the score for the Steven Segal/DMX blockbuster Exit Wounds. In addition to his work on the film, Dame Grease also reunited with DMX on the soundtrack for X’s top-ten hit “Ain’t No Sunshine”, an updated, yet much darker remake to the Bill Withers 1972 classic of the same name. Grease continued his work as a composer in on the 2003 box-office hit Cradle 2 the Grave, starring Jet Li, DMX, Gabrielle Union, and Anthony Anderson, as well as 2004’s Never Die Alone.

Coming Back into the game hard DMX is considered by many to be one of the greatest heavyweight rappers to still do it . Back in July Grease revealed to HipHop Dx that he's currently working on DMX's album, but it was announced recently DMX has appointed Grease to executive produce his next LP. as told to Hip Hop Dx Grease says: “First and foremost, I’m pretty sure the world know about it,” said Dame, who produced the bulk of X’s debut It’s Dark and Hell is Hot. “[DMX] came home two days ago, we’re working on a brand new album with [him] right now. Was in the studio last night, we back in the studio tonight. We’re working on a brand new album, good energy, the songs is phenomenal. It’s actually a good dose of what we need in Hip Hop right now.” Since the interview the album has been completed. 

Grease is multi-tasking, currently he released 75 tracks for lease on soundcloud and continues to put his Signature on every Wave Mixtape Release on datpiff. Aside from releasing a slew of mixtapes Grease recently put his gritty beats on Jae Millz & Lil Waynes song "Forever Winning" and colloborated with the white girl Mob Kreayshawn on the track "Rum & Coke. In preparation for 2012 Grease is not only executive producing DMX LP but also putting out his own LP Martial Law with a soon to be released date.

Redefining the traditional definition of Harlem Renaissance Dame Grease cutting edge style marks him the musics brand ambassador.

Brother J Talks "The Best Of X-Clan" And Blending With The Drake Sound

Sadly, very few Hip Hop acts ever make enough of an impact on the masses to warrant releasing a greatest hits collection. Thankfully, one group that did leave an indelible mark on the Rap game – and did so in just a few short years – is finally releasing their most memorable songs (along with some lesser known catalog cuts) together in one album as The Best of X-Clan.  


“[Sir] Jinx has worked with [Ice] Cube and Xzibit and all that, and he respects where the [X-Clan] catalog should be,” said Brother J of his co-executive producer. “He was a listener to the Clan back in the day, so I’m sure he knows what to do and who would wanna see and hear what we got to offer.” 


While Dark Sun Riders cuts made the cut for X-Clan’s greatest hits, selections from the revamped Clan’s 21st century releases, 2007’s Return from Mecca and 2009’s Mainstream Outlawz, were intentionally omitted from The Best of X-Clan to keep the focus on the group’s early work.

“I wanted [listeners] to see the bridge and the transformation of the music from us from sampling to now coming without samples, or a fraction of the sample base we used to use,” he continued. “‘Cause, you know the ‘90s, bro’, we were sampling everything. An album like [To The East, Blackwards] would cost a million dollars to do right now.” 


“This is strictly a ‘90s project,” explained Brother J. “I’m not even confusing it with what I’m doing [now], because it’s two different worlds. This is for people who enjoyed our music of the past, and dug that vibration and frequency [of] that sampling, ‘cause I’m not gonna produce like that again. It’s not only too expensive, it’s just that frequency – it’s not played out, it’s just not accepted. If Drake was rhyming on the samples I used for ‘Verbal Milk’ it wouldn’t be the same. This generation is caught up on an Electronic sound, an Electronic frequency. And, we kind of have to blend [into that]. That means the older generation has to start composing.” 


Brother J has already begun blending new compositions – alongside Madlib, Buckwild, and the aforementioned Sir Jinx – for X-Clan’s forthcoming new album, Suited N Booted. The project will mark the first since Brother J reconstituted the Clan five years ago to not be released by indie powerhouse, Suburban Noize Records. From his discussion with DX, it is apparent that the Grand Verbalizer holds the label responsible, at least in part, for why X-Clan’s return to the game has been met with far less fanfare than the group’s triumphant introduction to the Hip Hop masses twenty years ago.