Tropkillaz is a Brazilian production duo formed by DJ Zegon and Laudz.
Combining old-school and contemporary influences, the two have created a powerful collection of club hits that have garnered hundreds of millions of plays across streaming platforms. We recently had the opportunity to speak with DJ Zegon of Tropkillaz on some of their most iconic releases and collaborations. Read highlights below, and check out their new “Tropical Riddims” sample pack to incorporate their distinctive sound into your own productions.
“Hide (Tropkillaz Remix)” – N.A.S.A. (2013)
DJ Zegon: “N.A.S.A. is my side project – it stands for North America / South America (I’m the ‘S.A.’ in N.A.S.A.). For the project, Sam Spiegel (the other member of N.A.S.A.) asked me to do a remix with Tropkillaz. It ended up being a three-point basket for me; as I got it right, I scored points in both places. I scored with Tropkillaz and N.A.S.A., and the remix ended up being used during the Superbowl for a Sonos advert. It also went to first place in the electronic music charts on iTunes and stayed there for a while. It was our first big achievement.”
“Vai malandra (feat. Tropkillaz & DJ Yuri Martins” – Anitta (2017)
“Anita connected with us directly saying she had an idea for this song. The music was already recorded with the funk part. She wanted us to do the crossover element to fatten the sound. So, there was already a part of it done – Mc Zaac’s part and the funk beat. We did the trap beat and the bridge, and organized the arrangement. We also helped create the lyrics and the vocal direction for Maejor, translating the English into Portuguese.”
“Que Calor (feat. J Balvin & El Alfa)” – Major Lazer (2019)
“With ‘Que Calor,’ the beat was inspired by the flute sample that Timbaland used in ‘Indian Flute’ (which is actually a Colombian flute).”
“We had made the Afrobeat funk version, and we went to the studio with Diplo, Kondzilla, and Mc Kekeu. We recorded, enjoying the sound, but it wasn’t the perfect vocal. Diplo returned almost a year later with the song recorded with J Balvin, and ended up releasing that heat. So, we signed the production together, but we were the ones who started this beat.”
Getting Tropkillaz’ sound
To close, we asked Laudz how the duo achieves their iconic sound. “Our studio setup is very simple,” he tells us. “We use a pair of Barefoot Sound Footprint monitors, a Native Instruments MIDI controller, the Universal Audio Apollo Twin, and a MacBook Pro. Our DAW is Ableton Live 10.”
On the creative side, Laudz stresses the importance of individuality. “Be creative,” he says. “Always focus on creating your own style, and try not to copy others.”
Explore Tropkillaz’ sample pack with Splice Sounds:
November 9, 2020
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