TIA: Memphis producer Tay Keith has had an impressive career so far.
He’s gone from being an up and coming local producer to having multiple Hot 100 hits with
big name artists all in a matter of months.
Tay Keith got into music as a teenager, and his early influences included fellow Memphis
natives like Drumma Boy, Three 6 Mafia, and also New Orleans’ own Lil Wayne.
TAY KEITH: I had like a piano and I used to remake songs that I’d hear from the melody
on the piano.
One song that I can remember remaking on the piano was “Lollipop,” Lil Wayne “Lollipop.”
TIA: His influences, including Jim Jonsin and Deezle who produced “Lollipop,” informed
his signature sound, which in turn helped establish Tay Keith as a growing force in
the Memphis scene.
His memorable high-hat patterns and of course, his famous producer tag, both helped him become
not only a creative force, but also a meme.
TAY KEITH: My boy Tay Beezy hit me up saying he could make a tag for me.
He sent me the 'Tay Keith fuck these niggas up' joint and I just ran with it. I was like, ‘Yeah, I need it.’
TIA: Tay Keith began to slowly build a name for himself in Memphis, working with the likes
of Blac Youngsta and Moneybagg Yo, and produced their 2016 track, “Gang Gang.”
TIA: By the next year, Tay Keith was working closely with another Memphis star, BlocBoy JB.
Together the pair fired off their local hit, “Shoot” during the summer of 2017,
which put BlocBoy on the map.
TAY KEITH: He took that to a whole other level he just started doing his videos and shit.
He was doing freestyles and shit.
He just took it to a whole other level and folks started catching on to it.
TIA: In the months following, the pair kept dropping music, and by the end of 2017,
things started to really take off with the release of their cut, “Rover.”
BLOCBOY JB: Tay Keith sent me that beat. I just be like, 'Man, send me some shit, bruh.'
I heard them lil’ mutherfucking pianos, I liked them pianos and shit, so I just danced like
man, fuck it.
Ridin’ in the motherfuckin’ Rover.
TIA: But 2018 proved to be an even bigger year for Tay Keith.
He and BlocBoy linked up again for their hit “Look Alive,” which shot to #5 on the
Billboard Hot 100, with some help from Drake.
TAY KEITH: Drake reached out to me and he was like he liked what me and Bloc got going
on so when he was like he wanted to do something, that shit was just unexpected. I ain't expect him to just want to work with us.
I made that beat for Drake.
I made him a beat pack and that was just the beat he wanted to ride with.
TIA: As 2018 went on, it seemed like Tay Keith was everywhere.
His tag could be heard on tracks by everyone from 6ix9ine…
to Eminem.
And in August, he surprised fans with an appearance in the middle of Travis Scott’s
#1 hit “Sicko Mode.”
TAY KEITH: It's crazy 'cause I ain’t ever know that I’d work with Travis like that but I had been bumping
his shit too.
Me and Travis had worked together in LA when I had went out there like in March.
Then we had cooked up two days straight type shit.
TIA: By the end of the year, Tay Keith had become a force on the charts, racking up producer
credits on more than 6 different hits on the Hot 100.
In the midst of all this success, Tay Keith finished college and graduated from
Middle Tennessee State University in December 2018.
TAY KEITH: I was doing this before the music happened in school I was just that guy in school already.
So when that happened it just made it like add fuel to the fire.
TIA: So far in 2019, Tay Keith’s continued to collaborate with a number of different rappers.
But he made headlines in April when he produced Beyonce’s cover of Maze and Frankie Beverly’s
classic, “Before I Let Go,” for Yonce’s surprise project, ‘Homecoming: The Live Album.”
And the unexpected collaboration had fans thoroughly impressed.
And while Tay Keith’s already made headlines in 2019, fans could expect an entire
project from the Memphis producer sometime in the near future.
TAY KEITH: It’s gonna be big, we ain’t just gonna put out no anything for no streams.
We gonna make it like real music and art.
TIA: I’m Tia with Genius News bringing you the meaning and the knowledge behind the music.