I feel like it took artists like Pimp C and Andre 3000 with 'International Players Anthem' - I feel like it took the Memphis sound to a certain peak but it never really broke into the mainstream.
— Tay Keith
Yeah, I got a lot of inspiration from Three 6 as far as my sound.
It just so happened that the sound I've developed has the Memphis origins to it that made Drake wanted to work with it.
When you got a personal relationship with somebody, it's easier to work with someone.
When I hit 50, I want to go be a professor.
I grew up in the area where we had Three 6 Mafia, and Playa Fly, and 8Ball & MJG. My parents and my family used to listen to it. I learned from them there, and got more into it - listening to the beat of songs, and just learning more about music.
I'ma be on a lot of projects and hopefully I get to work more on my own project, too.
People like my beats because of the crazy flow with the hi-hats and the bass.
I actually got to work with TM88. He was one of my big influences as far as producing. It was pretty cool. I had met him in California at the crib and it was one of those random meet-ups and we got to working from that point on.
You gotta grind, you gotta make your way. Everybody's got their grind mentality in Memphis.
Some of the artists I've been working with it's been just work, you know what I'm saying? But in the industry I feel like the relationship is stronger than the work sometimes.
I used to put like, 'Yo Gotti type beats,' 'Future type beats' on YouTube. And uhh, I started getting paid off YouTube. Like YouTube started giving me Google AdSense checks.
We need more Memphis culture in the industry.
I feel like artists like Three 6 Mafia and 8 Ball and MJG reached a point in their careers where they were hot and underground.
Before I got my big hit, I was selling beats for $500.
You gotta trust a person to work with 'em.
Man, Dr. Dre just inspired me so much. Just him personally, outside of music, too. You know, him doing the whole Beats thing... People like him, they set the bar high for me to set the bar even higher, you know? It's more than just music when it comes to building a foundation and building your empire.
I plan to retire at 50. When I'm done, I ain't touching no more keyboards.
I always knew music was gonna be my outlet, I just didn't know when, or how it was gonna happen.
I'm working with a lot of artists.
I get advice from all the producers who have come out of Memphis. They just give me advice on the business side, because that's most important besides the actual music. Just staying at a point I know I can't mess myself up. I just got to be put up on game about it. Drumma Boy and Memphis Track Boy taught me a lot.
When I DJ, I got my own catalog to play in the club. I'm spinning my own records like it's my own show.
There's a lot of entrepreneurs out here who are in school, who just don't know what's next, or can't figure out what direction they should go in. And me graduating motivates them.
I was DJing for this party promotion called 1st Flight Entertainment, having to DJ on the weekends and then also going to school in the same week. So I just figured out how to balance that, then make beats on the side too.
I want people to see me as the entrepreneur, the boss, the public figure, the person who motivates.
Everything I do got that bounce to it, that addictive, repetitive sound.
As far as Memphis being underrated, I feel like a lot of people have slept on Memphis music when it comes to breaking through into the mainstream.
Whatever you make from music, you invest that right back into what you want to get into in life.
I talk to Drake all the time.
When I first started, all I had was the laptop and some cheap headphones. I ain't have no speakers. You know, no Rocket speakers or no MPC. No keyboard, none of that. It just was the laptop and the headphones. Going from there, it just teaches you a lot.
I was like 13, 14 years old. I had a Rock Band mic, and I used to record music and put it on YouTube and DatPiff. Then I started getting to producing my own music because I didn't want to keep rapping on beats I was getting on SoundClick.
I grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, born and raised. It was hard. I stayed with my momma, then I ended up moving with my daddy.
You know, as I'm progressing with my sound, I just realize when you got a simple sound with crazy percussion in the beats, it makes it. It kinda shapes my sound when it comes to what makes a Tay Keith beat.
Yo Gotti had some influence on me for sure. I would say Three 6 Mafia, too.
Music was my way out. School was the plan B, just in case music didn't work out. I didn't know it was gonna work out. I just felt like, 'If I'm doing these two things, something's going to get me up there. Something's going to make me successful.'
I want to prove that you can go to school and still chase your dream, too.
Most people when they rap usually have their homies in the studio who rap with 'em, but they homies don't usually be producers.
I don't want to be labeled as just a producer. Producers have little control and they get little respect. And I'm a man of respect.
