ZAYTOVEN

It always surprises me and always makes me proud when I see people that I know I worked with at the house in the basement on TV being superstars.

I tell people that it's one thing to have the gift and the talent and work hard but another thing to have the favor of God in making it all work, and I think all those are factors.

When me and Gucci sit down, I make tracks real fast, and he can write songs real fast.

I use a lot of piano riffs in my production, and someone who I was working with said that I played so good that it sound like Beethoven.

You can always know, when it comes to a Gucci Mane or Migos project, there is no such thing of them putting out a project without me being a part of it. These are guys that I'm really close with, and we built a sound together, and we got a certain chemistry.

When I think about 'Beast Mode,' that's what I think about. I don't think about just a hard project; they just created some art together.

I like to introduce people to each other, especially in the hip-hop community.

I'm content with what I've got from the industry, even though sometimes it seems like I might not get the proper credit.

I feel like every time I make a beat, and the Migos rap on it, it's gonna be fire.

When I actually first moved to Atlanta, I was cutting hair. I was making beats and making music out in the Bay Area. But I came here to make - you know, I had to get my barber license, so I was cutting hair.

I've been doing this since 'So Icy' back in 2005.

A lot of people want to blow up as a producer, but what helps you blow up as a producer is an artist that matches well with your music. When that artist gets popular and blowing up, and people start knowing them, that's when they start knowing you.

When I work with Future, it's almost like a work of art.

People looked at me - people still look at me - as 'this is Gucci Mane's producer.' But the music that me and Future put together was so different than what me and Gucci do, it just made people look at the music like, 'Hold on - Zaytoven is the real deal.'

What's so crazy is I always looked at Jay Z and guys on the caliber of Jay Z like they just the big dogs. I didn't think they listen to my music or even know who I am.

Now, I made the most money I ever made in my life with 'Papers' - I think my first check was like $101,000, my folks couldn't even believe. At this time, this is like 2010, I'm still in the barbershop cutting hair, still being the regular Zaytoven because I felt like after 'Papers,' it wasn't going to get any bigger than that.

When you take your music around to your people in the city or your label, and don't nobody like it, but you really like it, and you like, 'Dang, these folks don't hear what I hear.'

Anything that me and Gucci do is never thought out or planned real deeply. We always just go off of what we feeling. It's sporadic.

To me, my studio is my trap house. That's where I trap out of; that's where I hustle. That's where I make my money.

I'm the type of guy where, if I see, like, 20 songs, I don't even wanna listen to one of 'em 'cause it's too much.

Music is about feeling.

When I was in high school, the girls used to tell me I looked like Usher, so to be doing a song with Usher was mind-blowing.

For a producer, I've been behind the scenes my whole career.

If you listen to my early music, I didn't know how to mix. I barely knew how to record for real, and I didn't care.

My formula is not thinking about what I'm doing; it's about still having fun and making music. I don't go into the studio with a thought pattern or certain goals in mind - sometimes I'll start with drums, other times I'll start with the piano - but it's all done spontaneously, so nothing is premeditated, and nothing takes a long time.