

That first project came in the middle of an iconic run for Future. How do you think the rap landscape has changed since then and how does this project fit into that?

I think this project is definitely needed for what’s going on right now. As far as how it fits, and how he had his run last time, I think this is the spark of another run like that for Future. I listen to a lot of music — you know, there’s a lot of new artists coming out — but there still hasn’t been a project yet that touches me like Beast Mode has. Like a full project. 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. And that’s what this project is too. That’s why we chose to keep it short and sweet, ‘cause we want you to have to keep listening to it over and over again.

We’ve sort of seen albums start to trend that way now, especially with the G.O.O.D. Music releases.

It’s easier to digest that way. We recorded 100 songs just to give you nine. So that means we took our time to pick out what we feel like the audience would want. We could’ve put 20 songs on there and it’d seem like we guessing. Like we don’t know which songs are the good ones so we just put ‘em all on there and let the fans pick. That’s how I look at it when there’s just so many songs. Now, you’re just giving me too much music. 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.

Since y’all have that running catalog, were some of the songs that ended up making this project recorded in 2016, and others recorded a few months ago?

That’s exactly what it is. Some were recorded in 2016, ‘17, and this year. It’s just about finding the combination that works. The mindstate that he was in in 2016...there were a couple songs that were just like, This got to be on there. It’s classic. You can’t just throw this song away ‘cause it was done two years ago. It’s time for it right now.

Has the way that you and Future work together changed at all over time?

It’s the exact same, man. We’re both workaholics. 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. So, when I go in the studio, my mind is just tunnel vision. All the beats, even if he don’t use ‘em, are for Future. I sit there and watch him record and it just blows my mind every time.

To me, a lot of the beats on Beast Mode really put an emphasis on you and the keyboard — your playing was on a different level. Was that something you focused on with this project as well?

Yeah, you never really heard me do that as much back then. Beast Mode opened that up because it was like, Oh, Zay on the keys for real. Future gave me the liberty of saying, "Ay man, whatever beats you give me to rap on, that’s what I’ma rap on." So it was like, if I wanna show out on the piano and give him the beat to rap on, that’s what we’re gonna use and it’s gonna make me look good. That’s the way I was thinking. Most of the time, before that, a rapper is gonna pick the beat they want and that’s what they’re gonna rap on. It might have two sounds on it but that’s what they like and that’s what they wanna use. When you say, Whatever you tell me to rap on is what I’m gonna rap on, that gave me a chance to be like, You know what, since everybody’s been biting my sound, let me just play the keys a whole bunch on this. It’s the same thing here now.



