Cyrus Langhorne
Atlanta producer Zaytoven recently talked about the return of longtime pal Gucci Mane from a lengthy jail stint and dished on his upcoming Everybody Looking album.
In Zay’s opinion, the new project will live up to recent “hip-hop classic” co-signs due to what Gucci brings to the recording studio.
“There are lots of reasons. He’s been gone for so long, the way the production came together was special, and if anyone’s a Gucci fan, you’ll know that sometimes Gucci makes music where it’s all spontaneous—he just raps everything off the top of his head—and you can tell there wasn’t time and thought put into it. But this is one of the projects where he had time. He sat and thought about each line he was writing. Plus, the simple fact that he wanted me and Mike Will to work on the majority of the project together was something special. Nobody else has put out a project where two producers like me and Mike Will, who haven’t really worked together before, are sitting down and putting a whole project together.” (Pigeons & Planes)
Recently, producer Mike WiLL Made It gushed over the highly-anticipated album.
“I feel like that’s what this album is. This is a classic hip-hop album. I haven’t really [heard] an album that felt this good since Get Rich Or Die Trying. That’s what everybody searching for. Me and Gucci had certain references that we were talking about with this album: All Eyez On Me, The Chronic. He mentioned Layin Da Smack Down by Project Pat. We were just talking about different, solid albums. And we was like, “We gotta bring that solid album of today.” It has to be somebody that’s gon elevate this trap sound, this down South rap sh*t right now. Everybody’s doing their thing, but elevate it in a different way.” (The FADER)
In mid-July, Gucci treated Apple Music listeners to the project’s opening song.
Listen to No Sleep (Intro) – Single by Gucci Mane on @AppleMusic. THIS IS SO FUCKING FIREEEEEEE https://t.co/hvFDDKZIea
— . (@1rhquvn_) July 15, 2016
The track, called “No Sleep (Intro),” is produced by Zaytoven and Mike WiLL Made It, according to HipHopNMore. The track finds Gucci in a reflective mood, repeatedly referring to himself as a “recovering drug addict.” It seems, however, that self-reflection and being released from prison has not softened Gucci’s attitude towards law enforcement. The hook of the song repeatedly takes shots at “the Feds,” the police, and even the DEA. (Complex)
Zaytoven recently hinted at the possibility of Gucci hooking up with rap star Drake for a project.
“We were doing the video for Gucci Mane’s first video for the album. It was featuring Young Thug but Young Thug wasn’t there yet. We were in there talking and Drake just came by because he was in town and wanted to stop through. We just got to talkin’ about doing a project together — Gucci and Drake together,” Zay said in an interview. “[Future and Gucci collabo coming?] Oh yeah definitely. I will try to make sure of it.” (XXL Mag)
