Zaytoven Talks Jay Z, Gucci Mane, & Future Collaborations
Zaytoven has big plans for 2017. The prolific producer has a movie, book, and several star-studded collaborations on the horizon, and that may include some work with Jay Z.
“I always looked at Jay Z and guys on the caliber of Jay Z like they just the big dogs,” Zay told Billboard. “I didn’t think they listen to my music or even know who I am. I was in L.A. in a meeting with [veteran publishing executive] Big Jon and he was like, ‘Me and Jay was just talking about you.’ So he text him and [Jay Z] said, ‘You have Zaytoven over there? Can he come to the house?’ And I’m like, ‘What? For real?’ This is me having no idea that he even cared about my music.”
In November, Zay shared a photo of himself with Hova. The caption? “JAYTOVEN.” Now, the producer confirms that they have at least one collaboration in the bag. “I feel like [the collaboration] is gonna be for both of [our projects],” he said. “I know it’s going to be a trophy for me.”
Jay Z, of course, has been rumored to be working on new music for quite some time. If he releases a new LP this year, it will be his first since 2013’s Magna Carta Holy Grail.
For Zaytoven, the Jay collaboration isn’t the only star-studded tag-team. He’s also planning to release new material with longtime collaborators Gucci Mane and Future. On top of that, he’s filming the sequel to his Birds of a Feather film and crafting his book, A To Zay: The Indie Guide to Music Production.
See more highlights from Zay’s interview below.
On Migos’ Culture: “It was nothing different — it’s just the fact that they got their heads back on straight. I feel like Migos has been consistent ever since they been in the game but now they just almost at a peak right now. So, to really come back in the studio and get with them on this project — which, I done been on every album, every project and every mixtape they ever put out — it’s just regular chemistry. I feel like every time I make a beat and the Migos rap on it, it’s gonna be fire.”
On Future’s Beast Mode sequel: “I’m moving on Future’s wave right now. He moves how he wanna move. I don’t know when his next project is. I just know that he got fire on top of fire. I can’t say exactly when Beast Mode is coming out. All I can say is when it does come out, it’s crushing everything.”
On Gucci Mane: “[Gucci Mane and I] haven’t seen each other in the last three, four years so it’s a whole new fire burning for us to work together since he been gone for so long. So soon as he got out of jail, it was something that I think the world was waiting on because they used to hearing Gucci Mane and Zaytoven together so that’s inspiration alone to just get in the studio, create new stuff, come with something new and at the same time, give them the same chemistry that you’re used to hearing from us.”
On Shia LaBeouf: “I’m waiting [to collaborate with LaBeouf]. I think that [might] be a nice project. He’s unorthodox in the way he even approaches music. It’s just dope to me.”