Zaytoven Quotes

Oh man, I love what the South brings as far as the soul, and I really have noticed from even the early days of listening to OutKast and Goodie Mob that Atlanta and the South has a diverse sound to it. You have bounce music. You have soulful musicians. You have artists with vocals who try to do different things.

With me being form the South, I wanted to make this album like a G Unit.

Crunk music is the music of the South, it pervades every club and nightclub not only in America, but all over the world.

I'm a dirty south goon - damn right, I ain't no West coast gangster.

I feel like it took artists like Pimp C and Andre 3000 with 'International Players Anthem' - I feel like it took the Memphis sound to a certain peak but it never really broke into the mainstream.

Every single place that's brushed upon me has made me the artist that I am - from Nigerian Highlife music and the vocal melodies that I grew up on when I would be sitting with my father and his fellow chiefs, to the funk and freeness of the Bay Area groove, to L.A.'s smooth G-funk legacy, Brooklyn's lyricism, and now Atlanta's trap history.

We grew up listening to music like that: we grew up on the snap music, grew up off the trap music, grew up on all the South sound.

I'm listening to early Cash Money, I'm listening to Juvenile, I'm listening to Waka Flocka, I'm listening to Lil B, I'm listening to Brandy, Kanye - that's my home playlist.

I'm a Southern guy, so Jeezy, T.I., and Outkast are always playing on my iPod.

Atlanta's my musical home. It really was the place where I really came alive.

People forget how dominant Public Enemy became in the mid '80s. No one talks about how transformative they were. And then that led to the '90s and the sort of East Coast v. West Coast stuff, which is kinda when I came of age.

I've been rapping on some crunk beats and getting down on the South music for years. I feel like I can do it all.

Yeah, I like Three Six Mafia and stuff like that.

When Wu-Tang came, Wu-Tang was for that era, right there. When Dre had it in the West Coast, it was for that time. Biggie and them, it was for that time.

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

Before Lil Jon and The Eastside Boyz, nobody ever said, 'I'm a crunk artist. I make crunk music.'

Being from the South, I was really into Southern rap, but I listened to a lot of stuff from all over.

I love playing Rick Ross' 'Port of Miami' album. Jeezy's 'Thug Motivation 101' is a classic in my opinion, and I still listen to that album to this day. I'm a big fan of OutKast, so pretty much any album they put out is great in my opinion, but I find myself listening to 'Aquemini' a lot. Anything Kendrick Lamar does is great.

I felt like when I got with Kanye, and we discussed me being on G.O.O.D. Music, he just really took me to a place in regards to music that I love and music that I had made previously. We had a clear understanding of what I wanted to make, and he just seemed like he was an advocate for hardcore, uncompromising hip-hop.

I was always into the West Coast rap, the production and the flows were always more appealing to me. I think my rapping days are over though.

I grew up in the area where we had Three 6 Mafia, and Playa Fly, and 8Ball & MJG. My parents and my family used to listen to it. I learned from them there, and got more into it - listening to the beat of songs, and just learning more about music.

Yo Gotti had some influence on me for sure. I would say Three 6 Mafia, too.

The South Side loves me - I've got a song with Jermaine Dupri - and I've got songs on the East Coast and songs on the West Coast. Now, if I could just find me a rapper from up North.

Atlanta can do crunk music, it can do snap music, it can do swag music. Atlanta has it all.

I know it sounds funny coming from me, 'cause I produced it, but that's one of my favorite bodies of work. That's what 'Beast Mode' was when it came out and still is.