Tag: Memphis rap

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Music Music Features

Meet Tyke T

CREDIT: CLE Event Photography

Tyke T isn’t the type of guy who waits for success to come to him. Since moving to Memphis for work in 2011, the local rapper has been recognized by ABC 24 and the Memphis Grizzlies, in addition to getting music placement on national TV shows on the Oxygen channel and MTV. I caught up with Tyke T before he played the Hi-Tone last Friday night to find out more about his recent success, his outsider status in the music industry, and what he has planned for the future.

The Memphis Flyer: What was the rap scene like in Smyrna where you grew up?

Tyke T: Being from Smyrna, there wasn’t a whole lot going on. Smyrna is not exactly the mecca of music. When I was 14, I started rapping over songs that my brother had. He was a DJ so I would just rap over his instrumentals. The first song I ever rapped over was Celly Cel’s “It’s Goin Down.” I guess a lot of people might think it was an overnight thing for me, but it definitely wasn’t. I remember at some point wanting to move out of my brother’s shadow and focus on making my own beats. My brother had a Casio keyboard, and at first I was my own producer, and the beats I made were terrible. The first song I ever wrote myself was called “S-Town.” Master P was really popular back then, so I tried to make it sound like one of his songs. I wish I could find that CD because I know it was bad.

So once you moved to Memphis, you started the company Driven by Music. Tell me more about that.

Driven by Music is honestly everything to me. When we first started doing this, the first thing we started thinking of was branding. I wanted people to immediately relate to Driven by Music as my thing, and that was before I even had real music. We had shirts, an idea, and a hashtag. Back in 2011 and 2012, I would go to all these music conferences, and all they would push is branding, branding, branding. So I waited until I had the branding down, and then I dropped the music. Eventually I’d like to turn it into a record label, but right now it’s just the easiest way for people to find what I do.

How did your song “Nothing to Lose” wind up on the MTV show One Bad Choice?

That MTV placement is the result of two years of hard work. I would ask all these music supervisors if they were looking for hip-hop, and, eventually, if you do that long enough, someone is finally going to be like “Ok man, what do you have?” It was also the continuance of people being like “No, you aren’t going to get this. Stop asking. It will never happen.” That kept me driven. Eventually, no matter how many times people say no, someone is going to say yes.

The thing is, all these music supervisors on TV shows are looking for music, but they may not be looking for the type that you make. It’s important to ask them from the start what they are looking for. If they need a classical ballad and you are a freestyle rapper, don’t waste your time. Truth be told, I don’t have anybody that’s helping me out, I don’t know anyone in the music industry. I moved to Memphis for work, and I just decided I was going to make this shit happen. I’ve done open mic shows, pay-to-play gigs, and after all that you start to figure out, “Ok, this works, and that doesn’t.”

What was that feeling like? Hearing your music on television for the first time?

Well, MTV wasn’t the first placement, so I’ll tell you about the first TV placement I ever got. I was at home, and my homeboy’s girlfriend was like “You know Tyke’s music is on,” and he texted me and told me “Man, your song is on Sisterhood of Hip Hop,” and I was like “No it’s not. Shut up.” When the show came back on TV at 9 p.m., and I heard my song, I got on my knees at my house and just prayed. I wrote that goal down on a piece of paper in 2012, and, after a lot of hard work, it came true. When I got the MTV show, I was like “Hell yeah. Let’s send this shit out immediately.” MTV is obviously huge, and I’ll have that forever.

How has the MTV show spot helped your career?

My SoundCloud and website are both blowing up, but I’m still trying to figure out exactly how to track it. People are figuring out where to find me, and then they hear everything I’ve done leading up to that song. It’s been turning on listeners to my other music.

What does the future hold for
Tyke T?

I have a 9 to 5, and I’m not afraid to admit that. The ultimate goal is for my music to generate my income. I’m just focusing on what I have to do to push my career forward. If somebody is winning, somebody is losing, and I’m trying to win everyday. My new EP is going to be called One Wednesday Night, and I think it’s the best music I’ve ever made.

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Music Music Blog

Rest in Peace Koopsta Knicca

Robert ‘Koopsta Knicca’ Phillips passed away early Friday morning.

Koopsta Knicca, a founding member of Three Six Mafia, beloved Memphis rapper, and Da Mafia 6ix member, has died. It was confirmed by DJ Paul that the 40 year old memphis rapper (whose real name was Robert Phillips) died early Friday morning due to complications from a stroke he suffered on Sunday, despite reports on social media that the rapper had passed away on Thursday.

Koopsta, much like the late Lord Infamous, was known for his gritty verses on classic Three Six Mafia songs, and his solo album Tha Devil’s Playground is a perfect example of how Memphis rap from the mid to late ’90s has influenced current artists like ASAP Rocky and SpaceGhostPurrp. listen to Da Devil’s Playground below.

WARNING: GRAPHIC LYRICAL CONTENT!

Rest in Peace Koopsta Knicca

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Music Music Features

100% Fresh Juice

Juicy J has been on a tear since teaming up with Wiz Khalifa and Taylor Gang, releasing mixtape after mixtape in addition to the 2013 album Stay Trippy.

In the past few years, Juicy J has collaborated with big names like Miley Cyrus, 2 Chainz, and Lil Wayne, coming up with more catchphrases than all of those artists combined in the process. Since reviving his rap career, one of Juicy J’s strengths has been his ability to turn questionable subject matter into humorous material. If Stay Trippy was Juicy J’s coming-out party as a club-anthem rapper, then 100% Juice confirms that the Memphis rapper is still content to rap about drugs, sex, non-stop partying, and not much else. Yes, it’s safe to say that the era of bloody, gruesome, and offensive subject matter found on almost every Three 6 Mafia song featuring Juicy J is over. But that doesn’t mean Juicy J has become any less inappropriate. In the new world of Juicy J, blood and guts have been replaced by strippers and blunts. I dissected his latest mixtape to get a better sense of where the Memphis legend finds himself during his career.

For those unfamiliar with Juicy J, club rap, or most popular music in 2015, it’s important to realize that this is not your mom and dad’s “Rappers Delight” type of material. There are probably 2,000 F-bombs on 100% Juice, not to mention all the other words I can’t repeat here and the drug references Juicy and his guests use over and over and over. While Juicy J has definitely been the most successful Memphis rapper of the last five years (with his only rivals perhaps being Yo Gotti and Don Trip), he was not a part of the latest reincarnation of Three 6 Mafia (Da Mafia 6ix), nor does he play locally very often. But on “Shut Da Fuc Up,” Juicy sounds like he never left home. The beat sounds like a reimagined Project Pat song, particularly from the Ghetty Green- era. There’s also a line in the song where Juicy gives a shout out to “(La) Chat, (Crunchy) Black, (DJ) Paul, and (Project) Pat,” which squashes any ideas that Juicy J forgot where he came from after finding greener pastures. There are even a few Mafia-gang vocals thrown in on the song for good measure.

Perhaps this is the mass appeal of Juicy J’s new brand of mainstream rap. To stay relevant in mainstream hip-hop, and pop music in general, the artist must constantly reinvent himself, and while Juicy J has crossed over as a rap/pop star, he continues to utilize the tools that made Three 6 Mafia one of the biggest underground rap groups of all time. Sure, there was the questionable Miley Cyrus collaboration with last 2013’s “23,” but I can forgive him for that. And it’s not surprising that a mega-star like Cyrus would want to collaborate with someone like Juicy J for the “street cred,” even though I seriously doubt that anyone now considers Miley Cyrus to be “gangster,” “hard,” or anything other than a pop star. Let’s just consider “23” to be the modern version of Mariah Carey and Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Fantasy,” only sadly, not nearly as good.

On “Ain’t No Rappers,” Juicy J confirms that he still has gangsters on his payroll, even if he is hanging out with pop stars. “Ain’t No Rappers” sees Juicy J at his lyrical best, specifically the lines “my homeboys ain’t no rappers, they ain’t doin shows, they not in no videos, they too busy moving dope.” This cadence is similar to Juicy J’s flow on “Bandz a Make Her Dance,” making for one of the best songs on the mixtape. Khalifa appears on the song “Scrape,” along with the album’s most used special guest, Project Pat. Khalifa does sound a little bit out of place on this otherwise street-smart mixtape, but maybe that’s just because I will always associate Khalifa with the downright-weak rap hit “Roll Up.” Project Pat comes in on the third verse of “Scrape,” and the song gets its much needed tough-guy edge back.

DJ Scream, responsible for all the interludes on 100% Juice, introduces the most star-studded track, the remix of the song “Film” featuring Boosie Badazz, Future, and G.O.D. Sadly, most of the lyrical content on “Film” is a little bit too explicit for print. Lil Wayne shows up on the next track “Mrs. Mary Mack,” a love song dedicated to marijuana. A song about loving weed on a Juicy J mixtape? Imagine that. Lil Wayne’s verse on “Mrs. Mary Mack” is forgettable until the mega-star gives his condolences to original Three 6 Mafia member Lord Infamous. Lil Wayne shouting out Lord Infamous? We must really be living in Juicy J’s world.

On the song “Real,” Juicy J shows he hasn’t lost his sense of humor. The rapper claims that Obama invites him to his barbecues in Atlanta and later claims that he will throw an alligator in your bed and watch you dance. Pretty awesome stuff. Most of the time, rap albums feature one to three legitimate hits, and mixtapes can feature even less. With 100% Juice, Juicy J offers a plethora of club-ready anthems, proving that the Memphis rapper is still one of the best in the game.

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Music Music Blog

Tyke T Featured on MTV

Tyke T

Local rapper Tyke T was recently featured on the soundtrack for the MTV show “One Bad Choice.” Tyke T is originally from Smyrna, Tennessee, but since moving to Memphis the rapper has been acknowledged by the Memphis Grizzlies and K97. Tyke recently released a video for “That’s all we Do” featuring Hippie Soul and is currently working on a new EP. check out the video for “Thats All We Do” below, and listen to the soundtrack from “One Bad Choice” here.

Tyke T Featured on MTV

Tyke T Featured on MTV (2)

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Music Music Blog

Preauxx Drops “Monday Morning” Video

Preauxx

Memphis Rapper Preauxx recently released Forever I Will, and to coincide with the release I interviewed him in last week’s Flyer. Earlier this summer, Preauxx dropped the powerful “Monday Morning” video, featuring a midtown staple who goes by Sid. If you frequent the P & H, Murphy’s, or the Buccaneer, chances are you’ve interacted with Sid, but you’ve never seen him like this before. Check out the video below, and if you like what you see, pick up a copy of Preauxx’s new album.

Preauxx Drops ‘Monday Morning’ Video

Preauxx Drops ‘Monday Morning’ Video (2)

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Music Music Features

Going Preauxx

Local rapper PreauXX (whose real name is Chris Dansby) has been performing in Memphis long enough to see the fruits of his labor pay off. Since arriving on the hip-hop scene in 2010, PreauXX has aligned himself with the local hip-hop collective TRDON and joined the likes of Tori WhoDat and Royal’T as one of the city’s hottest hip-hop acts. We caught up with PreauXX to talk about his new album, Forever. I Will, what he thinks about the rise of local hip-hop, and how the “Black Lives Matter” movement has affected his songwriting. — Chris Shaw

Flyer: The new album features almost exclusive production from Alexander Odell and IMAKEMADBEATS. What’s your history with them?

PreauXX: We’ve been working together since 2012, but I met Alexander when I was enrolled at the University of Memphis in 2009. I met IMAKEMADBEATS a year after when he moved down from New York. He was spinning records at a show that featured me and Cities Aviv, and I remember thinking that he was just killing it. I brought them together, and it just immediately clicked.

Was there a collaborative atmosphere in the studio between the two producers, or did they bring pre-made beats in separately?

Everything was collaborative in the studio. The session was very organic, and we came up with every track from scratch. I worked with the producers separately on a couple of the songs, but there are some where all three of us are working together based on conversations or ideas that we had at the time.

What studio were you guys working in?

IMAKEMADBEATS has a place, Dirty Socks Studio out in Bartlett. That place is going to be the new Motown in the next 10 years. If you can imagine a Shaolin temple mixed with a church, that would be Dirty Socks studios. IMAKEMADBEATS created an environment that immediately makes you feel comfortable. Sometimes I can get really anxious and want to immediately start recording, and it’s cool to go into a place where you just sit down and talk everything out first.

How would you describe the current state of Memphis hip-hop?

I like where it’s going. I’ve been on this scene since 2010, and I remember when it was just me, Cities Aviv, and Knowledge Nick. There wasn’t any media coverage back then. But now in 2015, I’m loving where it’s going. The scene is changing, but people are still fighting through the Memphis politics to get the coverage they deserve. That being said, I love where it’s at, because I’ve seen where it was a few years ago, and I’m excited to see where it goes in the future.

Where did the title Forever. I Will come from?

It derived from trying to kill that underdog mantra that I’ve had. I’ve always had this underdog look to my career, and I hate the underdog look, because once the underdog accomplishes something, his story is over. Forever. I Will means that I will forever have dreams, but don’t look down on me because I’m a titan. I’m going to make you notice everything I’m doing. The album covers everything that I went through in life from 2012 to 2015 — from love to social injustice — just everything that I went through that made me who I am today.

We touched on it a bit earlier, but where does your connection with Cities Aviv come into play with your career? He’s on two of the tracks on Forever. I Will, but I feel like it goes deeper than that.

Yeah, man, I really feel like he’s my brother. We came up together, and people used to call us the “Memphis Rap Gods.” He’s just someone I can trust in the music world.

How did the “Black Lives Matter” campaign have an affect on your new album?

I come from a strong black household. I know a lot about where I come from and my heritage, and I’m proud of that. I grew up in an area where there was a lot of segregation, and it’s something that sits heavy on my heart. I care about people in general. Everyone deserves a fair chance, and we are too far as a society to be going through the bullshit that went down in the ’60s and ’70s. Society is changing, and people need to let it go. As a leader in the Memphis music scene, it’s my job to talk about things like that.

Can you talk about the politically charged song “Benjamin” that appears on your new album?

I named it “Benjamin” because that’s Trayvon Martin’s middle name, and I wrote it from his perspective, as if he were speaking from the grave. I’ve never written a song like that before, and my vocal tone was all over the place because I wanted you to feel the panic and the emotion of not being able to speak for yourself when someone is having a trial about your life.

Do you think your music is becoming more political as a result of the cases of Trayvon Martin and Freddie Gray and the incidents in Ferguson?

My music will always have a political context to it, but I don’t want to just be boxed in as a political rapper. I’m always going to be active in letting people know where I stand, but I can’t really help if someone is going to label me something.

What’s next for you? How quickly are you going to get back into the studio?

Man, I’m in the studio every day. I’m always writing, always cultivating, always crafting. Right now, my mind is focusing on getting Forever. I Will out there and playing some shows to promote it, but I’ll always make time for the studio. For me, the studio is like a basketball player going to practice. It’s my job to be in the studio.

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Music Music Blog

Slideshow: Yo Gotti’s Birthday Bash at Mud Island

CREDIT: Cole Wheeler

Cole Wheeler

Yo Gotti thanking the crowd at Mud Island Amphitheater.

Yo Gotti celebrated his birthday this past sunday at Mud Island Amphitheater with five thousand of his closest friends. Flyer Photographer Cole Wheeler covered the night from start to finish, capturing shots backstage and of all the performers. Be sure to check out our review of the show in tomorrow’s edition of The Memphis Flyer.

[slideshow-1]

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Opinion Viewpoint

Played Out

It has been obvious to anyone who takes a moment to look that funding the Memphis Music Commission has been a waste of money for some time.

The biggest problem with the commission is that it treats other Memphis music organizations like competition and duplicates their efforts in an attempt to appear relevant. The best example is the fact that they think they need to provide local musicians with performance opportunities. There are plenty of clubs, house shows, and organizations, such as Rocket Science Audio, Goner Records, Ardent Studios, Memphis Rap, and Ditty TV that are better equipped to accomplish that mission and have a greater reach.

The commission’s amateurish performance videos have a very low number of views on YouTube, which are tangible, measurable stats for what these programs are contributing to Memphis music. They have no platform, fans, or following. Who do they think they are helping? 

To put it into perspective, my former organization, LiveFromMemphis.com, has been dormant for three years. In our time, we filmed and recorded thousands of Memphis music performances. The content we created is still generating views on our YouTube channel. Around 1.4 million views and counting. If Live From Memphis had been granted $250,000 a year (the Music Commission’s annual budget from the city), we could have more than quadrupled our output, as well as our reach. Can you imagine what would happen if MemphisRap.com, Goner Records, or RocketScienceAudio.com were similarly funded?

Then there was the not-for-profit Memphis Music Foundation, which, over four or five years, provided many of the same services as the Music Commission while blowing through somewhere around $4 million of private funds. Can anyone tell us what those funds did for the local music industry?

As for Councilman Jim Strickland’s proposal to fund Memphis Music Town, how will they be different? While I agree with Strickland that the Memphis Music Commission, in its current state of over-paid staff and lack of any measurable accountability, should not continue to receive funding, I fail to see how simply shifting tax dollars to a not-for-profit organization solves the problem. One glimpse at the Memphis Music Town web presence tells me that it’s a bureaucratic bad idea.

Why continue to provide educational resources to musicians when there’s no infrastructure for success? What’s the point of equipping musicians with industry knowledge when very few opportunities to put that knowledge to use exist? Without a focus on developing local industry, we are simply better preparing our musicians for when they eventually leave town in search of opportunity.

Memphis musicians don’t need another resource center that teaches them how to manage a MySpace account or to sign them up for antiquated organizations such as NARAS. Memphis certainly does not need to turn over its only source of music funds to an organization serving only one genre of music.

Memphis musicians need innovation. They need a way to be seen and heard beyond local showcases at the Hard Rock Cafe. They need an army of online content creators with as many avenues to get their music out to the world as possible. There are shows going on in all parts of the city. Go film them. Go record them. Help them get their stuff on the internet, where fans discover music today.

Don’t give millions of dollars to one organization. Instead, fund smaller, grassroots content creators, because you never know when one of those may blow up into something bigger. Maybe if Darius Benson (a 20-something content creator and the cover story subject of the Flyer’s May 7th issue) had received local funding or had an infrastructure to help move his career forward, he’d be staying in Memphis instead of heading to Los Angeles in search of greener pastures.

Fans don’t get behind an educational institution. They get behind artists, their favorite bloggers, records labels, studios, and TV/web shows. It takes a lot less capital to fund these kinds of style-curators and content producers and raises the community as a whole.

Please don’t throw money away on old industry or a not-for-profit educational model. Fund excellence, fund risk takers, fund innovators. The Music Commission, Music Foundation, Memphis Music Town or whatever they may call themselves in the future, are the old guard from a dying industry model. Getting rid of them is a no-brainer. Fold Memphis music and film into business and economic development and quit treating music like a charity case.

Instead, invest in its development by putting money in the hands of artists, content developers, and the infrastructure that directly supports them.

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Calling the Bluff Music

Throwback Thursday: DJ Squeeky Talks Memphis Rap

One of Memphis rap’s most iconic figures, DJ Squeeky talked with me back in 2012 about his indelible contributions to the city’s music scene. He also opened up about his past issues with DJ Paul and Juicy J, revealed the equipment responsible for his subwoofer-satisfying production, and shared some advice for up-and-coming artists and producers. 

The interview can be read in its entirety here. Below are several excerpts from our conversation.

How did you get into music?

I have a lot of family members that go to church. Some sing. Some play instruments. I used to play drums at my church, so that really gave me a lot of good interest for the music game. Everyone was a fan of music back then. Either you were rapping or you were beat-boxing or you were DJing. You were doing some form of hip-hop. I started off being a DJ, but being a fan of hip-hop, I didn’t just want to play the music. I wanted to be involved with making the music.

What inspired you to primarily focus on the production aspect of hip-hop?

I think production came when I started doing mixtapes. I was DJing at the clubs but I wanted to start doing the mixtapes, too. I really got inspired by DJ Spanish Fly (legendary Memphis DJ and rapper). He used to be on the radio at 12. Club Expo. If you were a young cat, you were waiting to hear the Spanish Fly mix. You knew it was fixing to go down. I used to be like, ‘I want to do that too.’ I was still more curious with producing, because everybody was involved with the rapping part. [That’s] what everybody got into, but you had to have music to rap.

How old were you when you first started producing? And who were some of the first artists you produced for?

I was probably about 15 [or] 16 years old. I did some work with 8ball & MJG, Criminal Manne, Project Playaz and Tom Skeemask. We all kinda grew up together in the same neighborhood. My house was the place that we came and put it down at. I had [Kingpin] Skinny Pimp, Al Kapone. Anybody that had a little name back then was at my house. 

I noticed you haven’t done a collaboration with Three 6 Mafia. Why was this? Were you guys in competition with each other?

It really wasn’t a competition, it was an issue with them re-making my music. They were really on the ‘stealing people’s music thing back then.’ Their whole style, their beats, hooks, everything were based on shit I did. All the hooks that you heard from them [earlier on] were samples they took off my mixtapes. They were making their own songs off them. That’s how they got started.

Did that cause an issue between you guys?

I had a real big problem with it back then. I felt like, I’m just a dude over here in the ‘hood trying to do my own thing with my music, and I see another guy trying to jump in on what I’m doing, sample what I’m doing, and steal the style of what I’m doing. Then you want to make beats like I’m making and everything. It was like they weren’t sticking to their own shit, which is what they should’ve been sticking to instead of trying to be a DJ Squeeky fan. I know they couldn’t help but be a DJ Squeeky fan, because I was the only thing around back then. But the thing about it was instead of sampling me, [they] should have been apart of what I was doing.

Are you referring to DJ Paul and Juicy J in particular?

I’m referring to both of them. I just look at them like they took what another man worked hard on doing. You want to be like him. You want to sound like him. You want to work your music like he works his music. And try to be me. Every album by Three 6 Mafia that’s came out to date got some DJ Squeeky on it. It’s got a DJ Squeeky hook, a DJ Squeeky sample, a DJ Squeeky beat pattern. It’s got something on that record concerning me.

Would you say that you helped establish the early Memphis sound production-wise?

Fasho, I did. Back then, everybody was doing it, but I took it to the streets. I was doing the mixtapes, putting them in the stores. Nobody was putting rap mixtapes into stores. Everybody was trying to get into record stores. I was going to Mr. Z’s, the stereo shops, and all that. 

What are some of the machines that you use to produce?

I’ve used the SP-1200 [drum machine]. I had a Boss Dr-660. I had an old Roland keyboard before Mini came out. My music back then was more like a sample thing. I was sampling things that I heard and was putting beats to it. I’m still using the drum machine to make beats. The MPC-3000. I’ve been dealing with Fruity Loops too. 

What advice would you give for up and coming artists and producers?

All I can tell you is that you’ve got to believe in what you’re doing, and the best thing that you can do is to try to keep loyalty with the people that you’re dealing with. It’s hard trying to keep people in a group or a situation when you’re trying to make a dream come true. You have to really be focused on what you’re doing. I’ve had a lot different distractions from people who just tried to get me out of my direction in life. You just have to stay focused. If you don’t believe in yourself, nobody’s going to believe in you. 

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Music Record Reviews

Local Record Reviews: Help Is On The Way by Don Trip

Memphis rapper Don Trip is a deft MC with a distinctive, raspy flow, a sharp, often playful use of wordplay, and a wry sense of humor. But what most sets him apart is that he always has something to say. Trip not only knows what it’s like to live in a world of everyday want and scarcity but describes it in gripping detail.

Trip’s latest mixtape-style album, Help Is On the Way, opens with “Shelter” and a consideration of his own mother’s daily struggle.

This is a world where unemployment checks don’t go far, and even fast food can be a luxury. It leads into the menacing, swaggering, in-the-moment single “Prolly,” featuring fellow Memphis rapper Yo Gotti, the song’s seductive celebration of an outlaw image implicitly connected to the struggles established in the opener.

And so it is with most of Trip’s work. Here, the sensitive relationship look-back “Too Little, Too Late,” which might be a sequel of sorts to Trip’s breakthrough single “Letter to My Son,” is balanced by the tag-team banger “She Want,” where Trip trades rhymes with local scene-setter Juicy J. The coming-of-age showcase “Hold Back Tears” informs the defiant, plain-talking “Trap Shit.”

An Interscope Records signee, Trip remains stuck in the major-label limbo that’s almost become the norm for rappers. But that hasn’t slowed him down. Trip’s released roughly a dozen mixtapes over the past three years and this marks one of, by my count, four that have the consistency and focus of a legitimate album. — Chris Herrington

Grade: A-

Don Trip and Starlito perform at Minglewood Hall on Saturday, November 17th.