When you hear Tay-K’s “The Race”, the last thing you might expect is for him to love pop music. After all, the song is filled with the energy of an outlaw, daring authorities to catch him and building a massive folklore around him. That’s not the kind of record you’d hear in your typical Billboard Hot 100 fueled radio station. But apparently, while serving an 80-year prison sentence, he’s come to love a vast array of music.
In an interview with Jordan Rose for Complex, the rapper shared how connecting with officers in prison have allowed him to open up his taste in music. Anything that they play over a speaker opened his eyes to the kinds of artists that exist in the world. “You have the officers when I was in the county, they’ll come in and they’ll have a speaker and they’ll play their own music and s**t like that,” Tay-K said.
“That kinda opened up my ear to different types of music that I hadn’t heard before. Like, Linkin Park, Nirvana. That kinda opened my eyes. I love all music. If I told you the s**t I listen to, you wouldn’t expect none of it. I ain’t gonna lie.”
Tay-K Has Gotten Into Rock and Pop Music While in Prison
Naturally, this begged the question: who is he tapped into that might throw fans off guard? Apparently, he’s gotten extremely into the pop and neo-soul duo Loaded Honey and their latest album. Then, he happily mentioned some of the most underrated, compelling underground hip-hop acts working today in Rio da Yung OG and FattMack.
But then, he threw a huge curveball in mentioning Olivia Rodrigo. Tay-K didn’t specify any particular songs he loved but he stressed how much he loves the massive pop star. “I love Olivia Rodrigo,” he emphasized.
Initially, his only exposure to new music was through the prison officers or through any phone conversations he might have. However, admittedly, he hated the latter because he couldn’t fully appreciate the music with all the distortion in the feedback. Nowadays though, Tay-K has access to YouTube through a tablet he was given for his cell.
Currently, the 26-year old rapper is slated to release his new album #MonstersUnderMyBed. It will mark the first body of work he’s released in nearly his decade since #SantanaWorld in 2017. His latest singles include “Punch You Down”, “Everywhere I Go”, and “Erupt”.
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The post Rapper Tay-K, Who Is Serving 80-Year Prison Sentence, Reveals Surprising Love for Nirvana, Linkin Park and Olivia Rodrigo appeared first on VICE.
