How One Sound Became a Staple in Hip-Hop Production

In 2020 alone, multiple hip-hop tracks featured a clear and recognizable rattle. It sounds like a bottle of pills, or a shaker, or a cabasa. (See, for example, Rico Nasty's "Smack a Bitch," G Herbo's "PTSD," and Ty Dolla $ign's "Universe.”) I've been hearing it for years, but its lyric-less sound made it difficult to pinpoint with a Google search. It's common that in hip-hop production, certain sounds become ubiquitous over time, and become like a sonic Baader Meinhof phenomenon, haunting a listener with a particular noise once they hear it. I, for one, haven't been able to get the pill bottle shake out of my head since I first figured out what it was. 

Top producers, including D.A. Got That Dope, Kenny Beats, Rio Mac, Chasethemoney, Chopsquad DJ, Maaly Raw, have songs featuring the shaker. But one producer is connected to this sound more than the others. 

The sound is sometimes called the "Zaytoven shaker," named for the Atlanta-based producer known for his beats with piano-driven melodies and knocking 808s. 

"I had to start using that sound around 2002, 2003," Zaytoven told VICE, "When me and Gucci were just working heavy in the studio in my mom's basement." An early example, Gucci Mane's "First Day Out," produced by Zaytoven in 2009, prominently features the shaker. Even Zaytoven-type beats that mimic the producer's style include the sound. Every year, Zaytoven makes a drum kit, as a way to pare down sounds he's no longer using. The shaker has been part of every drum kit he's ever made. 

Gucci Mane and Zaytoven have collaborated on hundreds of songs since their first meeting; Gucci Mane has gone on the record saying he'd "rather rap a Zay track than a Dre track." When the two first linked up, Zaytoven was still producing records from his parents' house in Atlanta. But the sound of the pill bottle shake, much like Zaytoven's career in production, started out west. 

In the late 90s, JT the Bigga Figga, a Bay Area rapper and producer, met Zaytoven after hearing him play Ludacris's "Move Bitch" on the keyboard during a high school football game in San Francisco. Soon after, JT was teaching Zaytoven how to use a drum machine. "He's the one that gave me all my first early drums," Zaytoven said. "He'd have drums from different producers, and stuff that he sampled. All my drum sounds I had from him." When he started producing on an MPC2000 XL, the shaker was part of the drum pack he'd been practicing with. Almost two decades later, in part because of Zaytoven's prolific output, this specific shaker is still being used, and not just by Zaytoven. 

He's happy to hear the sound used by other producers. "For me, I never just took any sound just too seriously," Zaytoven said. "As long as the 808 was nice and bumping, everything else was just extra to me. It's almost like icing on the cake." 

"If you hear a Zaytoven beat, you know it's mine, or somebody trying to mimic mine because of the sounds being used," Zaytoven said. The shaker is part of that; there's also a bongo he often uses (see: "FEMA" by Migos, "Real Sisters" by Future) and a breathy "ahh" sound (see: "Lay Up" by Future.")

Explaining his signature sound, there is a swing in Zaytoven beats, which he attributes to his MPC2000XL. "People try to mimic it, with plugins and software, but it's a piece of hardware you can't really get that same swing using software."

Other producers have made little sounds and flourishes a signature part of their songs; such as 808 Mafia's sampling of the "Kill Bill" siren, or producers—including 808 Mafia, Zaytoven, and Timbaland—using the ethereal “Aaaah! (169)" sound. These sounds, which Zaytoven describes as a way to "fill holes" in the beat, have taken on a life of their own, not limited to one producer, sound, or genre. And Zaytoven doesn't mind hearing it, even when he didn't make the song. 

"I feel like it strengthens the brand of Zaytoven, it helps my music live on, even when I didn't do the beat. I always tell that to producers: try to find your own signature style. Because that's what's gonna give you longevity in the game."                                                                     

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