I still think Drake’s “Nonstop” music video is one of his best. Directed by longtime collaborator Theo Skudra, the black and white epic captures the bts rhythm of a superstar in action. Tay Keith, the record’s producer, executed the mafioso Drake texture in the instrumental with such finesse that when the composition aligned with Skudra’s visuals, the combustion resulted in something that could only make Tony Soprano flash a knowing smirk. Without Keith’s guttural pulse, the world would not have been able to materialize with such slickness.
This post to highlight Tay Keith’s sonic mastery is long overdue. Thus, I did not want to quickly commemorate his career in slaps right up against his passing without taking the proper time. I’ve taken the last two and half weeks to deeply listen to his entire catalog. What I expected was some unexpected heat and a plethora of re-reminders of great tracks. What I found beyond that was a masterclass in chemistry. The subtle shifts that Keith made in percussive pockets, formed with scientific precision, opened up flow patterns that mirror that same deftness for a vast community of rappers. How consistently Keith urged spitters into new acrobatic sweet spots over a decade and a half is dazzling.
I did not take the task of ranking his best songs lightly or without clear intention. I ranked the songs not just off my personal taste but also through the lens of synchronicity. I put the songs highest which displayed how Keith’s transcendent potency spurred vocalists into peak signature styles and inventive cadences. Where the songs felt like musicians in a flow state passing rhythms back and forth like Nadal and Federer. I had to give myself a single rule to make the list more varied: one song per project, but if there was a deluxe, one from that could qualify. The rest was based of pure excellence. Long Live Tay Keith through the beats that will never stop thumping.
50. “First Person Shooter” by Drake feat. J. Cole
49. “AUTOMATIC” by Denzel Curry
48. “Came From Scratch” by Gucci Mane feat. Quavo
47. “Johnny Bravo” by Lil Juice
46. “Cashday Freestyle Pt. II” by Co Cash
45. “Jimmy Cooks” by Drake feat. 21 Savage
44. “Tic Tac Toe” by Meek Mill feat. Kodak Black
43. “Rain” by Aitch & AJ Tracey
42. “Ball Forever” EST Gee
41. “Family Matters” by Drake
40. “Cash Talk” by Fast Cash Boyz feat. Co Cash
39. “Back Then” by Moneybagg Yo
38. “Don’t Come Out The House” by Metro Boomin feat. 21 Savage
37. “What Did I Miss” by Drake
36. “Golden Ticket” by Co Cash
35. “Krazy Krazy” by Nardo Wick
34. “Batman” by Ugly God
33. “TOAST” by EST Gee
32. “DUMB” by Rican Da Menace feat. Moneybagg Yo
31. “Publicity Stunt” by Gucci Mane
30. “100 Shooters” by Future feat. Meek Mill & Doe Boy
29. “Loop Hole” by Tee Grizzley feat. 21 Savage
28. “Stay Down” by Marlo feat. Young Thug
27. “Rich Flex” by Drake & 21 Savage
26. “ART” by Nemzzz feat. Latto
25. “City On Lock” by City Girls feat. Lil Durk
24. “Right Now” feat. Megan Thee Stallion
23. “From The Jump” by Big Scarr
22. “Presidential Rolex” by Key Glock
21. “Exotic” by Lil Baby feat. Starlito
20. “Over The Top” by Smiley feat. Drake
19. “Watch Da Throne” by Key Glock
18. “No Topic” by Blocboy JB
17. “SICKO MODE” by Travis Scott feat. Drake
16. “Look Alive” by Blocboy JB feat. Drake
15. “U Played” by Moneybagg Yo feat. Lil Baby
14. “Nonstop” by Drake
13. “Lullaby” by Nardo Wick
12. “Bipolar Bear” by Starlito
11. “SkeeYee” by Sexyy Red
This is the greatest song by a duo of Memphis guys whose working relationship goes back a decade plus. The intro features a mini skit of presumably fellow Tennessee brethren in the middle of a game that the song’s named after. This then catapults into an everlasting bounce that Moneybagg Yo can’t help but trampoline flows off of. The specific flow in the hook feels completely distinct and as sticky as a rack of Memphis BBQ ribs. The mix of glimmering synths and thumping 808s evoke vocal cadences that go from rolling to staccato in a back and forth pattern.
Throughout the catalog of Tay Keith, there are gloomy beats that mimic the intensity of the street circumstances rapped about. This beat, however, feels like a trap Hitchcock horror film, but uplifts elastic flows by three rappers obsessed with the grind and flexing the wares of their success. The electric door creaking synth propels Scott, Nav, and Baby to each begin their sections with mirrored flows that they each then expand upon in ways that highlight their best qualities. For Scott it’s the semi melodic slight turns on a dime, for Nav it’s cheeky lyrical punches, and most fervently for Baby it’s urgent spitfire proclamations.
As I engulfed myself in the world of Tay Keith instrumentals, this song was my most exciting completely new find. It’s rare to find a vocal loop sample in a Tay Keith beat as he traditionally stuck to dynamic synths and drums with intentional left open space. This one has not only a warped child voiced pattern, but also a swirling flute which provides an eerie background. Keith adds and takes away the drums at will, spurring ever evolving flows from Bloodbath and Gee which outline street tales and self-psyche analysis.
It may surprise some to not see the nuclear Sexxy Red single “SkeeYee” in the top ten. I get it. That’s the best song from the main album it came from, Hood Hottest Princess. But the deluxe has this on it, an absolute scorcher which in fact displays even more Keith and Red chemistry. The beat feels like the stampede from The Lion King. Red deftly mixes signature adlibs and sharp one liners and aligns them with clap sounds inserted into the hook. There’s sections where all the drums drop out and just 808s, boxing ring bell sounds, and electric strings remain provoking Red to suddenly get even more umph in her delivery. She commands the instrumental like a dominatrix.
Key Glock and Tay Keith are another Memphis duo that have made countless heaters. This record with a mystifying flute sample shows them at their synchronistic peak. It is pure capitalistic motivation spurred by a grind addiction. Keith uplifts Glock’s vigor like a crane via choppy yet sturdy percussion that never lets up.
Tay Keith and Drake are actually at their best not on their first flamethrower with Blocboy JB or even on their single which turned into a black and white short film mentioned earlier in this piece. As soon as you hear Drake enter this soundscape filled with Jackson Pollack splattered synths and popping and punchy layered percussion, he’s so moved he utters what would become a clipped adlib for a plethora of Tay Keith songs that would follow, “Tay Keith this too hard.” The beat makes Drizzy, Gunna, and Baby not just rap, but actually unfurl flows out of themselves as if they were being pulled by a magnetic force field. It makes you feel like they would just spit over the beat forever trading turns if the instrumental didn’t end.
This song contains perhaps the brightest sounding beat in Tay Keith’s catalog. It not only shows that he could have impeccable range if he needed to, but that he could identify parts of artists ability that when highlighted could make some of their best work. This is my favorite song on Lil Baby’s breakout mainstream album My Turn. It feels like it urges him into a glass half full aesthetic and an almost pop leaning hook to prove his capacity for universality. This is a bold statement, but it reminds me of what the beat for Biggie’s “Juicy” did for him as far as proving that his ceiling of reach didn’t exist.
What Tay Keith offers Future is different from what you’d expect for their best work. Rather than a street thumper this song feels trapped inside the turbulence of a private plane. Keith keeps a pulsating yet open and hazy soundscape clear for Future to lean fully into trap pop melodic fluidity. He has small spurts of raps but never enough to leave the crooning about what it took to get to this place of elevation for too long.
Easily the best song on Migos’ third and final group album features glistening horns and a guitar laden beat spearheaded by the punchiest flow imaginable by the everlasting Takeoff. Easily the smoothest beat of all time from Tay Keith juxtaposed against the most talented Migo’s veracity, is like mixing pistachio crumble into gelato for the ideal textural balance.
On her IG caption post Keith’s passing Sexyy Red exclaimed “WE BROTHERS BUT NOT RELATED.” The brotherly spirit on this song feels like two impeccably talented raggamuffins who’ve been rocking since birth. Every single instrumental swerve Keith throws at Red she boosts with aligned fervorous deep pitched croons, blasting ad libs, or call and response styled flourishes that lift your spirit like a sermon. There is no song in recorded history designed more intentionally to make your self esteem boost when it plays. I would’ve paid an exponential sum to be in the studio when this was being recorded. I can imagine a mix of the duo cracking each other up and blowing each other away with how well they built atop each new idea. Keith used an exacting mix of Southern fire and Midwest jovialness to make an instrumental which plucked the strings of Sexyy Red’s most tantalizing tactics for 2 and a half minutes of pure elation.
Playlists
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.