What Zaman actually means
Zaman in Turkish means time, but the word carries a register English doesn't quite have. It's the time that holds things — the slow, accumulated kind, the hour after midnight when nothing changes outside but everything changes inside. It's the time you spend remembering people who aren't around to be remembered with you.
That's the register this remix is built around. Not the time of clocks. The time of memory at its real work.
Why 2Pac for this
Read 2Pac's catalog with the word zaman in mind and something opens up. He wrote like someone who knew the clock was against him. The verses don't just describe events — they're working against time itself. Trying to make sure what he was saying outlived the moment of saying it.
That's the deepest connection between him and the kind of producer I'm trying to be. Both of us — for very different reasons — are making things designed to be remembered. Zaman is the track where that intention becomes the structure.
"Time forgets the loud. It keeps the patient."
The production
I built Zaman around a Turkish-leaning melodic figure that runs underneath the whole track — not loud, never dominant, but always there. It's the closest I've come to letting my heritage sit visibly in a production without falling into cliché. No oud loops. No shisha-lounge percussion. Just one melodic phrase that could be from Istanbul, and a deep house architecture around it.
The bass is the slowest I've ever written — patient in a way that requires real low end to translate. Phone speakers will miss what this track is doing. That's not a flaw of the track; it's the point. Zaman is the kind of track that asks you to listen properly.
The bass on Zaman is the message.
The patient low end is where most of the emotional weight sits. If you want to hear what I mixed, here's what I designed it for:
- JBL BassPro Hub — a powered subwoofer in the spare-tire well. What I tested this mix on. The deep low frequencies land the way they're meant to.
- Sony WH-CH720N — wireless over-ears with deep bass response. Best for late-night listening when the car isn't an option.
- Audio-Technica ATH-M20x — studio monitors if you want the honest, no-coloration mix.
Full setup details and links on my Gear page.
View the night drive gear →Who this is for
The late-late drive. The hour where you don't need a destination. The Turkish kid in Berlin or Cologne driving home after the second shift. The Russian commuter at 3 AM with the only car on the highway. The Montréal night, the empty 40, your reflection in the rearview, the people you're driving toward in your head.
- Best heard between 1 AM and 4 AM
- Best heard alone, in motion, on a road you've driven a hundred times
- Best heard with the people who aren't there mentioned out loud
Part of the Murat Koff × 2Pac series
Zaman is the third track in the series with explicit ties to my Turkish and Mediterranean side — alongside Kral (Turkish for king) and Habibi (Arabic for beloved). If you want to feel the geographic identity of this catalog, listen to those three back to back.
The whole 2Pac × Deep House series is a catalog of different angles on the same legacy. New drops every Tuesday and Thursday at 14:00 GMT.
// Copyright noticeThis is an independent tribute remix produced by Murat Koff. It is not affiliated with the official labels or estates of 2Pac. All original copyrights belong to their respective owners. If you're a copyright holder with concerns regarding this content, please contact via the YouTube channel — we will respond promptly and act in good faith.
