Zaytoven has perfectly sculpted the sound of the culture.
It’s not often you meet an all-in-one legend: from self taught musician, to super producer, and Grammy winning artist, however he checks all the right boxes. The heavy-weight Atlanta producer is responsible for a large portion of Billboard Top 100s and radio bops with top selling artist ranging from Migos, Gucci Mane, Usher, Lil Uzi Vert and more. Never doing anything halfway, he excels at whatever he lends his hat to and the same applies to his latest venture in discovering new artists and producers through Axe the LABEL x Soundcloud’s latest partnership
AXE the LABEL is the first in the U.S. under the new AXE Music platform dedicated solely to shining a spotlight on talented and emerging artists. Both Zaytoven and Lil Yachty have joined forces with the new-found label to discover the next best thing. The super-producer shared his excitement coming on board, “When they reached out to me, I’m like, ‘Axe. Axe The Label? Can’t wait to do it.'”
If you’re a young artist and curious as to what can catch the eye of a Grammy winning producer, well it’s simple, just be yourself: “I always look for originality”, Zay says, “I think we’re living in a time where everything has just been so mimicked and people just sound like somebody else, want to look like somebody else. Just somebody being unique, whether it’s the sound that they come across or even how they look, how they present their rap, their approach. All that is what stands out to me.”
Aside from joining forces with new found label, Zaytoven’s 2018 has been filled with churning out endless hits. The October release of his joint project with Usher pays homage to the duo’s hometown roots of Atlanta over 8 smouldering tracks, cementing and once again proving their longevity since the pair’s 2009 collaboration on their Raymond v Raymond single, “Papers.”
The project which shows the versatility of both creatives ranges from minimalistic trap on “ATA”, slow and sexy “Peace Sign”, with plenty of club bangers like “Birthday” and “Gift Shop. The album which came as a surprise release, was created in an astonishing time frame Zay says, “Well, it’s so crazy. Usher [has] never done this really before, but we created this project in five days tops. That’s from top to bottom. That’s me going in making all the beats from scratch, him and the writers are coming up with lyrics from scratch and performing it, getting it mixed down and mastered and putting it out.”
However the A producer is no stranger to producing quick hits, “That’s just how I’ve been doing it ever since I was producing music. I think the reason why I produce so fast is because I came up in the game with guys like Gucci Mane and Future where these guys just turning out projects. You know, it’s all about being spontaneous. It’s all about, okay, once you start making the beat, they ready to rap, so don’t take all day making the beat because they ready to rap. You need to be on the same pace at all times.”
His quick speed and adaptable energy has led him to work with G.O.A.T’s like Lil Wayne. More recently on the five-year-long-awaited-critically acclaimed Carter 5 album. Zay, like most of us, patiently awaited to see if his track would make the cut, he laughingly accounts, “That [Lil Wayne collaboration] was just amazing. I remember being nervous to see if I even made the album. So I remember calling them; to see if the song made the album and Mack Main was like, ‘It’s a strong possibility.’ And I was like ‘Man, I don’t want to hear that.'”
Despite his abundance of success Zay remains humble, wanting to give back and uplift future young artists. His best advice being, “More so than anything is being unique and being original. I always try to stress to the younger generation, me being a producer up in the game like 15 years now, and I think the reason I have stayed around so long is because I have a sound. I have my own distinctive sound. I always encourage up and coming creatives to just come in and bring your own unique sound. The game needs … Different things, needs people to be unique, so I always encourage that.”
You can get a chance to work directly over one of Zaytoven’s “GOLD” OR “PHOENIX” tracks, by following the two step process:
Phase 1 of the contest (running October 1 – October 28): Fans can enter for a chance to win the first phase of the contest by submitting their best lyrics for the hook of Lil Yachty’s newest track “ANARCHY” using the SoundCloud commenting feature. One winner will be chosen by Lil Yachty and will receive a co-writing credit on his track.
Phase 2 of the contest (running October 29 – November 16): GRAMMY-award winning producer Zaytoven will share two instrumental tracks, “GOLD” and “PHOENIX,” giving rappers the opportunity to flow over either track for a chance to win. Producers can enter to win by using the associated beat and stem packs to create brand-new tracks. Two rappers and seven producers will be selected by Zaytoven and a panel of music industry insiders to be featured on the playlist. Winners will receive a production credit on their final collaboration with Zaytoven.
