‪@zaytovenbeatz‬

We are back at Namm 2025 with a great showing from AKAI. Not only did they bring out legendary producer ‪@zaytovenbeatz‬ but they also introduced a great collaboration with their AKAI Keyboard lineup with built in Native Instruments "Play Series and Expansions" exclusive to the Akai Professional MPC Platform.
Native Instruments is also extending Native Kontrol Standard (NKS) tech to Akai Pro MPK Series: control all-NKS compatible plugins, including Komplete Kontrol which organizes and maps instruments and effects for intuitive play, Kontakt for sampling and sound design, and it extends over 1,800 instruments and plugins. Pre-mapped controls and intuitive navigation directly from MPK controllers including MPK mini MK3, Mini Play, Mini Plus, and MPK249
“This collaboration bridges two iconic brands to provide creators with a fully integrated ecosystem,” said Simon Cross, Chief Product Officer of Native Instruments. “By combining Akai Professional’s legendary hardware with our expansive sound libraries and tools, we’re pushing the boundaries of music creation. This partnership represents a milestone in our commitment to offering musicians an open, interconnected platform that unlocks new pathways for creativity and makes professional-grade technology more accessible than ever.”
Thank you to Zaytoven, AKAI, Native Instruments, and Namm
#namm2025 #akai #nativeinstruments #zaytoven

[@boomboombaby9140]

I have 2000xl that my uncle left me when he died, I’m about to blow the dust off and play with it 😊

[@marctronixx]

RIP to your uncle! i loved the mpc 2kxl. i had it maxed out - memory/scsi, fx mod.. built like a tank. got it when it launched back in the day. 🫡

[@RoomAtTheTopStudio]

I have the 200XL that my departed friend swapped for my S2000 a few years ago. I'll never sell it and I love using it still to this day.

[@BradForbes-s8k]

do that shit immediately

[@dafingaz]

Man...I was in that room. Legendary vibes the whole day!

[@arsonoptics]

i can always tell when it’s zay on the keys. he has such a unique style of playing. incredibly innovative and influential producer. 🎹

[@theonecalledvino8165]

I've been going to NAMM for over 20 years.. Not since The Gospel Chops Era have I seen this much interaction at NAMM. This feels like a New Generation of Players and Attendees making themselves known and I love it. Shout out to AKAI for moving with the times and acknowledging their market.

[@WhoisamSCCSG]

Bolo yelling workflow is crazy work lol

[@LaidbackSounds]

yes cause workflow is def not the forte of that machine lol. Homies take 5 mns to pull a little drum kit lol

[@LavaLampZone]

😅😂

[@mindovermuzic]

While working with Juvy he gave me a 2000XL, i wouldn't touch it. Then he went got a 3000 and something about it made me learn it so it was easier to annihilate the 2000xl nd made some dope beats.

[@fantaztikbeatz]

Dope live off the top beats and rhymes what a vibe!!

ZaytoKeys always on point

[@Champ7894]

Understand greatness when you see it. It anit even bout the beat.🔥💪🐐

[@trackstabba]

Dopeness! 🔥

[@reticleronin]

“How you get my drums “ LOL

[@WillieFourMilli]

Zay is great..i got a mpc live 2 but didn't really use it, i tried to get into it, buying the MPC Bible manual..but liked step sequencing better..really liking the RD-8 Mk2.

[@gwopin1]

Wanna sell the live 2

[@joshuagardner894]

Two recommendations, update your Live 2 to the new V3 software, then literally force yourself to write a few simple tracks, nothing complicated. Dont get crazy into anything in particular, just go with it. If a track aint hittin, just try something different. The biggest thing is, force yourself to write a couple of tracks, simple things. It will take about three before it clicks. Do one in the morning, one at night, and one the next day. Dont get all crazy into anything like sound design or chopping samples up, or anything like that, like, dont try to write a masterpiece, just try to put something together. It doesn't have to be amazing, and what I mean about the sound design and chopping is, do what you need to do, but dont aim for perfection. Dont spend an hour on any on thing when you are trying to learn this thing. Dont spend an hour trying to create that sound or spend thirty minutes trying to chop that sample up perfectly. Instead, spend your time trying to wrap your head around how to use the basic functionality, how to move around the UI, how laying down the framework of an idea works, how to get to different areas of the MPC, etc. The v3 software is critical. It simplifies alot of things that were kind of difficult to understand. When just getting started, on the main screen after starting a new project, lower left corner, add new track. Thats where to begin. Keygroups are a single sound that will stretch across the 16 pads that will be pitch shifted, each pad one sound with a different tone. Think of this as an instrument. One sound, pitch shifted. Drum tracks are 16 different sounds spread across the pads, each pad a different sound. A plugin is similar to a keygroup (with exception to the drumsynth plugin), except, it uses a synthesizer engine to create the sounds that will then be timestretched. Your second friend when just starting is the Menu>Browser button combo. This is how you load your sounds. Grab your phone, hit the New track button I described above, and the menu that opens will ask you what kind of track to make. Take a picture of this menu. Now, do the Menu>Browse combo. See all those icons in the upper right corner of the screen? Those correspond to what kind of track you are making. The drum tracks, well, you want to pick the one with the picture of 4 drum pads, keygroups, audio samples, all of the others, they have an icon that matches with the kind of track you are making. One more protip, I just learned this a couple weeks ago and Ive been using the MPC for a couple years now, if you are an experienced user, this basic thing might even be something you didnt know about. See that little magnifying glass to the left of the search box on the browse screen? Tap it. It opens a menu allowing you to search for generic filters similar to what the Maschine does. The tabs above the columns on the left, dont forget about those, they will help you navigate to the different storage locations on your MPC. If you are having trouble finding the thing you just copied over, you need to hit that expansions tab and browse to your external storage devices. Last tip, dont be afraid. You arent going to mess anything up. You cant overwirte presets (but you can make your own). You cant delete anything you arent supposed to delete (unless you really try, dont go into the browser section and delete stuff, never, never delete any files from your MPC, always do that from your PC). Legit, you cant screw anything up. The power button is your friend. Got yourself kinda screwed up and just want to start all over again? The power button. The Undo button, also your friend. Did something and cant figure out what you just did and its definitely not a creative accident? Undo baby, and you can undo to your hearts content. The next thing I highly recommend people do right now, check Ebay for a used Force cause right now, they are running for $500-$600 and while they are a little different than the MPC world, they are a whole lot of fun, especially if you are into having a full featured step sequencer. I would call the Force a playground and the MPC world more of a DAW in a box. Both are fun in their own right, and the Force is a whole lot different than the MPC. The way you do things is different, the creative process is different. The approach is different. I love both my Live 1 & 2, and my Force, I use all three of them together, all loaded with a terabyte of expansions installed on a 2 TB spinning drive.

[@BradForbes-s8k]

but you can step sequence on the mpc tho

[@marshallchristy537]

Dude said a "whistle" and got his ass roasted ahaha

[@Kdogg1030]

i woulda left 😅😅😅

[@Minnesota_kingnizzy1]

Zay definitely my idol

[@Mr12time]

I love it

[@manicmusicpresents4480]

HARRRRD

[@djlaggz]

this is 🔥🔥🔥

[@freealitytv6086]

Shout out to the female producer who don't rap but went up there and freestyle anyway 🔥🔥

[@BDAILEY702]

That’s my brother SONIC The Dope Seller on stage rapping!!! We showed up for NAMM on friday from Vegas!

[@rickeymorton6414]

Man I so proud of this dude right here

[@Taprecords]

Very dope!

[@Dconcepts2024]

😮MAYNE THESE YN'S SO DISRESPECTFUL AND UNGREATFUL. 😡 THEY DONT EVEN REALIZE THAT THESE SOUNDS AND CREATIONS WERE DONE ON LESS AND SLOWER EQUIPMENT. WHEN THE PRODUCER CAN EMULATE AND EVEN REDO HIS MUSIC LIVE ON NEW EQUIPMENT TO TEACH YALL, AT LEAST BE GREATFUL AND LEARN THE TECHNIQUES DAAM. THATS WHY I CHOOSE NOT SHOW ANYBODY SHAAT AT ALL. THANK U ZAY I APPRECIATE THE CRAFT.

[@notchillustgrhymecity5904]

BLESS UP KING "CHURCH"

[@BkBkkk-f1q]

low key this was turnt

[@khalilroukoz]

😀

[@SonicDopeSeller]

You make music?? 🎹

[@khalilroukoz]

Yessir, mostly recording and mixing nowadays, and some beat making

[@TheRealCalijokes01]

Fav producer, we crush every we touch

[@Flugamefilm]

is that big boi in the audience?

[@timothysoprano140]

Where the congregation at?

[@austinnichols3557]

just because he cant rap dont mean his feelings hurt

[@jonwhite549]

lol he actually can, he has a song with Gucci mane.

[@BDAILEY702]

so much hate in the comments, yet yall weren’t there. And probably are trash yourselves at producing 😅 the audacity to talk shit about a living legend is craaazzzyyyy 😂 gotta have haters though or something not right 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@SonicDopeSeller]

My brudda!! We did something right lol

[@donovanfisher6945]

I understand but he is not a legend nor ever will be, his beats are not iconic like Scott Storch or Timbarland, they are just very good rythmic beats

[@SonicDopeSeller]

@@donovanfisher6945 you big trolling. You showing you don’t know 3 songs by Zaytoven. You being fishy Donovan 🎣

[@ivoryviking]

A legend?!? 😂 I’ve never heard more the. 30 sec of one of his tracks. Prob more like 10 and skip

[@joshuagardner894]

I just have one question, where is the love for the Akai Force Akai?

[@marctronixx]

R.I.P.

[@Birdmane79]

Right here I still use it with my non Akai products

[@Parialated]

Ehm nah....but yet he get paid good for him i guess...im here tho Akai just saying

[@MuppetManization]

Wak

[@SunlightOfTheSpirit]

No trap hats, no trap hats, no trap hats please.....NOOOOOOO, trap hats, dagnabbit, traps hats, and loud ones too

[@RickRijuanaPro]

😂 Unfortunately he's 1 of the pioneers of the Trap sound.

[@marctronixx]

@@RickRijuanaPro interesting… Never heard of this cat before. only found out about him once the NI/MPC integration came out. his/trap style of music is not my bag, but It's cool to know his roots and where he came from. respect. 🫡

[@Birdmane79]

@@marctronixx have you heard of Gucci Mane?

[@dwaynemusik]

I tripped lol some dude screamed plug and play that is a absolute lie lol I wish it was😅

[@emaculateplayz3057]

Hell yeah it is.

[@dwaynemusik]

Plug and play from the standpoint of plugging it in and working standalone but plugging and play with a daw as a controller no

[@Bashanvibe]

When learning I can understand why that would be a lie but if you know MPC work flow

[@boomboombaby9140]

It is plug and play , everything is in your face . When I first got my MPC I was able to put together a beat . The amount of bars , tempo , track selection all in your face . Out of the box I selected 4 bar set my tempo made a drum pattern which was loaded already , hit new track selected plugin and it took me to instruments and I repeated the simple fool proof process and had a beat . Then you figure out the rest which was simple but it was literally plug and play . My 9 year old sister put together a beat structure right away .

[@dwaynemusik]

Trap noooo lol

[@timothysoprano140]

Naw Sus 🤦🏾

[@timothysoprano140]

He tried tho

[@RadarFromTha305]

Is that Macklemore with Zaytoven?🤷🏾‍♂

[@ksager123]

i hope some day these guys stop makin beats that all sound alike with no feel...

[@bbyjungles2011]

Let me hear your beats….?????

[@bbyjungles2011]

Your beats are hardly even mid lol man go sit yo ass down 😂

[@ksager123]

@@bbyjungles2011 bych they're remakes. I wasn't trying to make my own

[@ksager123]

@@bbyjungles2011 bch at least everything on my page doesn't sound the same 😭

[@180deuce]

Maschine has the best work flow but MPC

[@GarfRichards]

I’m 1000% with you on that. MPC menus seem overly convoluted to me.

[@180deuce]

@ right especially the software I can’t use it at all