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.
