In a new interview, Atlanta producer Zaytoven spoke about why he turned down Jeezy’s offer to buy the beat for 2005’s “Icy” in favor of giving it to Gucci Mane.
As the debut commercial single from Gucci, the song proved to be a minor hit on the Billboard charts and successfully launched the trap rapper into the mainstream. While Guwop and Jeezy have had their disputes about whose song it is—one of the drivers of a beef they only squashed last year—Zaytoven has long maintained “Icy” belongs to Gucci through and through.
“Maybe it’s the ownership of the song, or not being able to share the song equally maybe became the problem,” said Zaytoven in a 2015 interview with DJ Vlad, suggesting the song is what led to their issues:
In a new interview with Vlad, Zaytoven revealed Jeezy approached him at one point to buy the track for his own album. Asked why he chose to give the song to Gucci over Jeezy, who was the bigger artist at the time, Zay made it clear where his loyalties were.
“Well you gotta think, Gucci, this is my guy,” Zaytoven explained. “This is the guy that comes to my house, 7:30 in the morning every day. We working on music with each other every day. We going to the club every day. … Nobody can come in and…have me betray Gucci just because they got a bigger name, or who they are.”
Even though Guwop hadn’t commercially released any music at the time they were working on “Icy,” Zay explained Gucci Mane was his favorite rapper at that moment. “I was gonna ride with him regardless,” he continued.
It’s long been known that Jeezy wanted “Icy” on his album Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101, but instead it was included on Gucci’s Trap House. That same month, the two started trading shots on a series of releases including Jeezy’s “Stay Strapped” and Mane’s “Round 1.” Gucci was later charged with the murder of Jeezy’s associate Pookie Loc, although he was acquitted just nine months later.
They were finally able to put their beef behind them last year with their Verzuz battle, where they even performed “Icy” together.
