Photo: Press
As we're ushered into a lounge on the fifth floor of Warner Bros HQ to meet Los Angeles artist Ty Dolla $ign, we're greeted by the the soulful songs of Bootsy Collins and a lingering scent of marijuana. In the corner of the room, we spot Ty. Needless to say, the musician is comfortable and more than happy to talk about his new album, Free TC.
Signed to Wiz Khalifa’s Taylor Gang Records, the multi-instrumentalist, producer, rapper and singer boasts writing credits and vocal parts on two of the hugest songs of the year - the monster collaborative hit ’FourFiveSeconds’ and Kanye’s ‘Only One’. He’s also gained his own growing fanbase after releasing his star studded debut studio EP, Beach House in 2013. His debut studio album, Free TC, is dropping soon.
Slumped on a leather armchair, he dons a leather jacket, Chuck Taylors and some dark shades to conceal his hazy eyes. After exchanging pleasantries, he offers a swig of his Jamesons bottle, which is graciously accepted. “It’s a movie”, he proclaims as the bottle is passed back, and we start discussing everything from production processes to the rapidly evolving mini segway phenomenon. "I've been playing with that shit a lot."
Ty spent two days with Kanye West at a huge house in Mexico, recording nine songs in a studio that’s doors swung out onto the ocean. After some lengthy sessions, two songs emerged that preceded to take over the globe, ’FourFiveSeconds' and ‘Only One’, with the latter featuring his backing vocals.
When asked about his experience recording with the future President of The United States, a smile emerges across his face. "When I got the call, I was like, is this for real? It was magic, he's a real musician. He knows what he wants [but] he's not the type to tell you he wants it to sound like this or that. Whatever you’ve got, if it sounds good, it’ll make it. Luckily, I made it.”
In terms of producing for the greats and creating songs for himself, the rising artist doesn’t see any difference between the two, always placing the music at the centre.
“From playing guitar to beating on the walls, whatever makes the dopest sounds and inspires the greatest lyrics, that's how we make songs," he admits. "I don't ever want to compromise the music. [Those are] words from my uncle, Benjamin Wright. He arranged the strings for Michael Jackson’s Off The Wall and Thriller.”
Watch the video for Ty Dolla $ign's 'Only Right' below
It appears that music is in the artist’s blood, with family clearly being something that’s important to him. His upcoming debut studio album Free TC is dedicated to his brother, who's currently in prison for a murder he claims he didn’t commit. [The album’s for] “all people that have been a victim of injustice…whether you’re black or Spanish or whatever. That's the type of shit we can't have."
Not considering himself to be a typical hip hop artist, (“there’s always a melody behind everything”) his musical influences are far from ordinary either, ranging from the likes of “Prince and Rick James” to Tupac (“He know how to hit those heart strings) and much heavier offerings. “I listen to punk rock, [bands like] Bad Brains. My pops is actually friends with H.R. from Bad Brains, so I got to meet him. That shit is dope and it’s what got me into Germs as well.”
He’s also a big fan of Nirvana. “Kurt Cobain was amazing, that was the first thing that actually got me into rock."
Listen to his latest single 'Blasé' below
Due to his influence in the hip hop community, Ty has collected a number of high profile features on Free TC, with Kendrick Lamar providing a verse on the sonically expansive opening for the album.
“He spat the best verse I ever heard from him," he recalls. "He’s the dopest right now. When he made [‘Control’], ain’t nobody said nothing back to him. You can make all the diss records you want to, but you ain’t gonna make one for Kendrick if you’re smart.”
With Free TC days from dropping, Ty feels more than comfortable in competing as he rubs shoulders with today's greats of Kendrick and Kanye.
“My dream was for this Free TC album to go multi platinum, and it might be a little hard with this motherfucking streaming shit," he laughs. "But hopefully we just get quadruple platinum streams.” He ponders it a little further.
Ty adds: "[What I need] to do is become more like Will Smith and get richer so I can have a fucking tour bus that's just for my daughter, her mum and her teacher."
With the success of his hip hop and RnB concoctions rapidly snowballing, that dream doesn't seem too far off. We pass the bottle back, and cheers to that.
Ty Dolla $ign's debut album Free TC is available now. Find out more at his website.
