Mike WiLL Made-It is one of two people primarily responsible for the production on Gucci Mane's hotly anticipated new album, Everybody Looking, and he knows better than most what fans can expect from the release when it drops later this month.
"This is a classic hip-hop album," Mike told Fader. "I haven't really [heard] an album that felt this good since Get Rich Or Die Trying. That's what everybody searching for." Mike went on to say that while crafting Everybody Looking him and Gucci looked towards certain artists and specific albums, including All Eyez On Me, The Chronic, and Layin' Da Smack Down by Project Pat. "We were just talking about different, solid albums," he said. "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 shit right now. Everybody's doing their thing, but elevate it in a different way."
Everybody Looking was created in six days immediately following Gucci's release from prison, which isn't hard to imagine considering the wall of raps he wrote while behind bars. The chemistry was also already there because Gucci, Mike, and Zaytoven have their method locked down to a science, according to Mike. "Mike Will gon lay down the drums right quick, [Zaytoven] gon take it somewhere else with the melody. It's natural vibes. Then when Gucci come in. He's the last instrument, he's the vocal. Boom. It's like a cookout session. My first vibe, Zay's first vibe, Gucci's first vibe. Lay it down, don't overthink it. We'll overthink it later."
We've already heard a few tracks off the album, including "First Day Out Tha Feds,""All My Children," the Young Thug-assisted "Guwop Home" that came equipped with a video featuring a very lit pool party showing us that Gucci is clearly making the most of his current house arrest terms, and "No Sleep (Intro)"—all of which have all been bangers in their own right. Mike insists that the rest of the album follows suit and promises that it will be something bigger and better that we will understand once we hear it.
"It just sound all the way new," he said. "It don't sound remotely like nothing else that's going on. But it still sounds like classic Gucci. It don't sound like he changed up or he's chasing a sound or he's trying to change. But bar for bar, he's just snapping. Bar for bar, bar for bar, bar for bar, bar for bar." You can read Mike's full interview here and look for Everybody Looking to drop July 22.
