Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Trap music, to me, is hustling music.
I've been doing this since 'So Icy' back in 2005.
I play the piano, but I'm not classically trained.
For a producer, I've been behind the scenes my whole career.
If you know Gucci Mane, controversy is always surrounding Gucci.
I can do R&B, pop, gospel... whatever genre of music that's out.
The music business, a lot of times, has a big finesse mentality to it.
When people wanna come buy beats or wanna record a song, I'm trappin'.
Most artists value my opinion a lot, and I think that's due to 'Beast Mode.'
Gucci is a guy that promoted me to the fullest. It don't matter where we go.
I like to introduce people to each other, especially in the hip-hop community.
I started with the organ and drums, and I later got into drum machines as a teenager.
When me and Gucci sit down, I make tracks real fast, and he can write songs real fast.
There's no record that you done heard me produce that I spent more than ten minutes on.
Atlanta can do crunk music, it can do snap music, it can do swag music. Atlanta has it all.
When I was a youngster, I might have been about 17 or 18 when I first started making beats.
You listen to something like 'Beast Mode,' and it's almost like looking at a pretty painting.
I think that the sound that the world knows as trap music is the sound that Gucci and I created.
I have a church background. I've been playing piano and keyboard and organ all my life in church.
In Atlanta, I went to barber school. That's how I met everyone I know in Atlanta, by cutting hair.
I was listening to Young Jeezy and Shawty Red, and to me, the trap music they had was something special.
Trap is being added to everything. It seems like every genre wants that bit of trap to what they're doing.
I listen to a lot of music... but there still hasn't been a project yet that touches me like 'Beast Mode' has.
The most memorable part of filming 'Finesse,' I'd have to say, was the kissing scene. It was just so odd for me.
I'm the type of guy, I make a lot of different beats, but sometimes I might stick to a sound for a little while.
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.
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.
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.
When I think of trap, I think of something that is unrehearsed. It's something that's edgy, not too well put together.
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 was a military brat. My dad was in the military, so I was born in Germany. I moved around a lot; I was in church a lot.
Al Nuke is almost like a real brother to me. Our chemistry is crazy because we're like night and day, but we blend so well.
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.
It's been a blessing that I can provide for my family just by doing music. I never thought this would ever be my occupation.
I'm always up for the challenge of doing more and doing different things. I love being inspired like a new producer all over again.
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.
We did 'Bricks' and 'Ridiculous' all in one day. Gucci came here, like, 8 in the morning - we were done 4 the morning the next day.
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.
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.
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.
When Zaytoven and Future are working together, then Future's not working on no other tracks, and Zaytoven's not making no beats for nobody but Future.
I can show these folks I can do more than just the 'trap.' But what I realized is the trap is what they really recognize me for - that's what they want to hear.
The reason I still go play the organ at church every Sunday and dedicate my talents to God first is because I feel like that's the reason why I'm who I am today.
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.
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.
I approached my career like a rapper. I would go to every open mic, every studio session, bringing my beats. I would almost do exactly what a rapper would do to get on.
When I was cutting hair, I felt like that was my trap. I started selling haircuts. I started selling beats; that's me trapping. So trap music is like hustling music to me.
I like V-Nasty a lot, and I know anytime I like an artist and the majority of people really don't like her, I know it's something special. That's the same way I felt about Gucci.
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 you work with Drake, you don't really work with Drake. You send him the song, he rap on it, then y'all done worked together. So it ain't like me and him sitting in the studio.