Zaytoven Biography
Zaytoven (Xavier Lamar Dotson) is an American record producer, DJ, and pianist from Atlanta, Georgia. He has released collaborative projects with artists including Usher, Future, Gucci Mane, Waka Flocka Flame, Lecrae, Young Scooter, Young Dolph, and Shy Glizzy.
He won a Grammy Award in 2011 for his contribution to Usher’s Raymond v. Raymond album, as a co-producer and writer for the single “Papers” along with Sean Garrett.
Zaytoven Age | How Old Is Zaytoven?
Xavier Lamar Dotson was born on January 12, 1980 in Frankfurt, Germany. He is 38 years old as 2018.
Zaytoven Family
His father was stationed in Frankfurt in the U.S. Army. Lamar spent alot of time at church growing up since his father was a preacher when not working for the army and his mother a choir director. He learned to play instruments through the church bands along with his three younger siblings. Lamar gravitated towards playing the piano and organ.
Zaytoven Wife
He got married to Stephanie in 2008.
Zaytoven Career
He was introduced to rap in middle school by a friend. Lamar learned to produce music while attending high school at Galileo Academy of Science and Technology in San Francisco. In his free time between basketball and school, he played the keyboard during halftime at his high school football games. He played the keyboard during his halftime at his high school football games. One day while he was performing at the game, local rapper JT the Bigga Figga liked what he heard, and invited Lamar to his studio. There, Zaytoven had unlimited access to his keyboards.
Lamar truly began to utilize his skills as a producer while making beats in JT’s studio before he even started making a name for himself in Atlanta.
Lamar started going over to JT the Bigga Figga’s studio every day to make beats and learn how to use the equipment. Lamar began to sell beats to JT, and then went on to collaborate with Bay Area artists such as Messy Marv and E-40 while still in high school.
During his senior year in high school, his family moved to Atlanta, Georgia due to his father’s retirement. He then decided to stay in San Francisco, finish his senior year, and also continue his producing for local rappers. Lamar realized that he needed a studio of his own where he could produce with his own equipment and also work at any time of the day.
Having saved up money from his day job as a barber, he began to buy equipment for producing. Lamar would ship this to his parents’ house in Atlanta, to which he eventually moved, and set up his own studio there. He then enrolled in a local barber college in Atlanta and he there got a job as a barber to help finance the rest of his studio.
Gucci Mane Zaytoven
While he was attending barber school, a classmate introduced him to Gucci Mane, who would become his right-hand man in his career as a producer. Lamar and Gucci Mane began to work together everyday after meeting each other. Dotson said in an interview with Fader that Gucci Mane would call him at 7 in the morning asking if he was then ready to start making music for that day.
They both spent the majority of the early 2000s making music together and selling mixtapes out of the trunks of their cars in Atlanta. It wasn’t until 2005 that the duo gained mainstream recognition from their hit song “Icy”, with features from Young Jeezy and Boo. The recognition gave his career the boost it needed to take off, landing the hit song “Papers” with Usher in 2010 on Usher’s certified platinum album Raymond v. Raymond.
Zaytoven Producer
His work on Usher’s album Raymond v. Raymond earned him a Grammy Award in 2011 and also a serious reputation in the hip-hop world. Lamar started to work with more artists as his popularity grew in the Atlanta rap scene. He also helped shape the careers of artists such as OJ Da Juiceman, Yung LA, Yung Ralph, The Shop Boyz, Lil Scrappy, Jagged Edge, and also Gorilla Zoe.
His keen eye for talent led him to collaborate with a young group named Migos. Lamar produced several tracks on the Migos 2013 mixtape, Y.R.N., including the hit track “Versace”, which peaked at 53 on the Billboard chart. His collaboration with Migos continued; he also helped produce their followup mixtape No Label II, which was released on June 3, 2014.
He provided exclusive production for ten mixtapes in 2015, including Future’s Beast Mode, released on January 15. Lamar also worked on Future’s album DS2, which debuted on July 17.
In July 2016, Lamar produced or co-produced seven songs on Gucci Mane’s first album since being released from prison, Everybody Looking. That same month, Lil Uzi Vert’s The Perfect Luv Tape was released, containing the Zaytoven-produced songs “Money Mitch” and “Sideline Watching (Hold Up)”.
Lamar contributed to projects such as Gucci Mane’s Mr. Davis, 21 Savage’s Issa Album, Migos’ Culture, Moneybagg Yo’s Heartless, and Yo Gotti’s I Still Am in 2017. He also released two independent projects, Wake Up & Cook Up and Where Would The Game Be Without Me.
He was scheduled to release his debut album Trap Holizay on May 25, 2018, and also a collaborative album with Lecrae called Let the Trap Say Amen on June 22, 2018.
Zaytoven Movie
- 2018 – SuperFly
- 2014 – Finesse
- 2013 – Birds of a Feather
Birds Of A Feather Zaytoven
Zaytoven Net Worth
He has an estimated net worth of $6 million.