Episode 127 - Tye Harris

Summary

Grits and Eggs Podcast: Episode 127 - Ty Harris
Host: Deante’ Kyle
Guest: Ty Harris
Date: March 6, 2026

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Overview

In this energetic and unfiltered episode, Deante’ Kyle sits down with Dallas musician, rapper, and pianist Ty Harris. The conversation dives into Ty’s unique blend of rap, classical piano, and opera, his experience navigating the music industry, and the challenges and culture of being an innovator in both sound and image. The two also delve into heavier topics—racism, cultural exploitation, and the realities of Black artistry—while keeping it raw, humorous, and fully authentic.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Ty's Musical Identity: Rap, Piano, and Breaking the Mold

• Ty describes his approach to performance as wearing suits and encouraging formal dress—though his shows embrace all styles.
  [01:18] Ty: "Formally encouraged because I ain't want to, like, turn nobody away just because they ain't want to put a suit on... came in the whole females in the hoe and gowns."
• Ty performs with a DJ and his piano—eschewing the typical full band but bringing others on stage as collaborators.
  [01:55] Ty: "It's my piano and a DJ that's hard."
• The inspiration for playing piano came via an unexpected route, joining choir for snacks and later realizing his vocal and musical skills could take him farther than basketball, his first love.
  [07:08] Ty: "I was in high school, I needed another elective... the soprano section was bad, man. And they were selling snacks... next day I was in the choir... realized I had a whole nother talent."
• Ty failed college piano and dropped out, but taught himself to play by ear, merging his rapping with live piano.
  [08:10] Ty: "I dropped out of college because I failed my piano class..."
• Ty talks about dealing with being the first to do something new:
  [23:42] Ty: "How do you... navigate the pressures of being the first... in my city, in Dallas... they telling me that this is not the route to go, nigga, you ain't even got no 808s..."

Navigating Cultural & Industry Challenges

• Ty and Deante’ discuss the impact and dangers of "club culture" on artists in Dallas, especially regarding violence and expectations to perform—and the tragic consequences for peers expected to "pop" in the club.
  [24:00] Ty: "...he passes away, he gets shot, he gets killed at the club... hosting it. Mr. Hit that was... and so it's like really full circle. And it sent a chill down my spine..."
• The two exchange stories of cultural shock, racism, and code-switching in academic spaces and the broader music scene.
  [09:03] Ty: "The white. The whitest of the white. Even the black folks... had the sperries on... khakis... I was running around that like I am now. I had the hood on my head. And this was around Trayvon Martin time."
• This leads to discussing “liberal” racism and the insidiousness of covert bias vs. overt racism.
  [12:34] Ty: "I low key kind of respect the vocal racist because I know who my enemy is... but them bitch ass niggas who just be acting like they own that covert racism..."

Instrumentation, Live Shows, and Innovation

• The value of live instrumentation in a digital world, and the risk of AI diluting genuine creativity.
  [14:52] Ty: "We got this new thing called artificial intelligence rolling in... but we have to remember that artificial intelligence is using data from the past. So we'll never have anything innovative... we substituting real art and creativity for consistency and the algorithm."
• Deante’ shares why modern rappers should embrace instruments:
  [14:19] Deante’: "That's like super hip hop. That's lyrical as a... You need to rap with a band or with live instrumentation..."
• Ty aims even higher, expressing dreams of doing full orchestral shows:
  [57:20] Ty: "I wanna skip a step up and go a whole orchestra. I wanna... that'll be another foot in Dr. Pruitt mouth."

Black Artistry, Appropriation, and Historical Lineage

• Ty connects his artistic roots to the Black revolutionary lineage and discusses cultural appropriation, especially in music genres created by Black artists:
  [37:44] Ty: "My great grandmother is Opal Lee... my grandmother was a Black Panther... Street niggas come from gangsters. Gangsters come from our Black Panthers..."
• Deante’ and Ty discuss how credit, organized crime, and even certain types of American music have Black origins that are often whitewashed, referencing Little Richard, Sister Rosetta Tharp, Chuck Berry, and the origins of horrorcore in rap.
  [61:07] Deante’: "The genesis of rock and roll in America is Sister Rosetta Tharp and Chuck Berry..."

Performance Approach and Audience Building

• Ty relies more on direct community feedback than analytics for planning his shows:
  [48:45] Ty: "I pay attention to what the people like. Not the numbers, but the actual people like. I'm deep in them comments..."
• Stories of roses being thrown at shows, fans DMing, and the evolution from viral “Voices” videos to truly connecting with live audiences coast to coast.
  [52:23] Ty: "But I will say having supporters and fans or people that recognize me in other cities is different... before Pushing Keys, I was doing this thing called Voices..."

Life Lessons and Advice for Other Artists

• Deante’ and Ty repeatedly push for authenticity, staying out of cultural death traps, and resisting pressure to fit narrow artistic molds.
• They discuss keeping your music rooted in community and not compromising creative vision even in the face of pressure to conform.
  [36:40] Ty: "What's wrong with our rap community now, because we've made it too accessible... Rapping is culturally important. When everybody start getting a hand and then we start losing out on doctors and... and engineers..."

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Ty Harris on Club Culture & Safety:
  [27:02] "We got to treat our rappers like rappers and stop trying to treat our rappers like street... Like no, let's..."
• Ty Harris on Being a “Square” in Hip Hop:
  [34:00] "Please don't. Please don't. Because I would never. My thing is I'm a square ass, bro. And when be like he a square. And then the overly tough bully want to be like, oh, I could. I could bully him. I could get some points off this. And I'll be like, I'm a square, I'm a square. I'm a square, I'm a square. Then I punch you in the eye and you run."
• Deante’ on Making New Genres:
  [23:00] "You're the first person to incorporate the piano in with the rapping... your shit is original, and it's tailored to your rapping. Like, this is a whole new genre that you opening up..."
• Ty on Racism in Higher Education:
  [09:26] "This is Dr. Pruitt. Hated Dr. Pruitt. Racist ass white lady. She asked me one day, she said, do everyone in the hood wear a hood?..."
• On AI in Music:
  [14:52] Ty: "Artificial intelligence is using data from the past... we'll never have anything innovative if everyone keeps on relying on artificial intelligence to make our music for us."
• On Performance Authenticity:
  [65:23] Ty: "And it's so many, like, elements that you can't control. Like, I don't know what's going on in the crowd. I don't know if the tech is right. I don't know if the mic's gonna fuck up..."
• Ty on Influences and Dream Collaborators:
  [74:49] "Diane Warren, a crazy songwriter, did a lot of songs for a lot of movies... Diane Warren. I think she fucked my head up, up like. Yeah, definitely a big inspiration to me."

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Piano, Performance, and Show Vibe
  • Dress code, musical setup: [01:18] – [02:00]
• Origins of Ty’s Musicianship
  • Choir and self-taught piano: [07:08] – [08:43]
• Navigating Racism & Code-Switching
  • College experiences, Dr. Pruitt anecdote: [09:03] – [10:07]
• Club Culture and Artist Safety in Dallas
  • Dangers, critique, and loss: [23:42] – [29:56]
• Artist Innovation vs. Traditional Expectations
  • The “club is not the be all” debate: [23:42] – [27:02]
• Live Instrumentation & AI in Music
  • Human touch vs. algorithm: [14:19] – [17:28]
• Black Artistry and Cultural Appropriation
  • Discussion of musical roots: [37:44], [61:07]
• Pushing Out of Comfort Zones
  • New shows, orchestras, and using feedback: [57:20] – [59:38]
• Dream Track, Collaborators & Influences
  • Diane Warren, collaboration wishlist: [73:01] – [76:10]
• Sports Tangent & The Evolution of NBA Players
  • Basketball, “real nigga” in NBA, LeBron: [80:06] – [86:47]

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Guests' Tone & Vibe

The entire episode is characterized by warm camaraderie, unapologetic Blackness, regional pride (Dallas, Texas), sharp wit, and a willingness to tackle difficult cultural issues alongside celebrations of musical innovation and success. Ty and Deante’ seamlessly weave humor and vulnerability, pushing for artistic integrity without sacrificing fun or insight.

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Closing Note

Essential listening for anyone interested in the evolution of Black music, the intersections of rap and classical artistry, and real talk on staying safe, creative, and authentic in a world of digital shortcuts and societal pressure. Ty Harris’s blend of opera, piano, and Texas rap is carving a new lane, and this episode breaks down why that matters—historically, culturally, and sonically.

Transcript

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[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Woke up in the morning and to God be the glory Thankful for another day to tell my story Put my opinions in the universe and let them orbit I'm from the dirty soul with a dirty mouth my knee orbit miss things things on me like a Norbit had to refuse them cause my no rest fusion she gorgeous as I doubt my sons up and kiss my daughter forehead Tell them we gonna get this money to my pocket bit Remember living in apartments now we playing Mortgage that for him.

[Ty Harris]

He was.

[Interviewer]

Oh, he was like on his blues bad. For real.

[Ty Harris]

I ain't even do the. I ain't do the piano on that one. So that's one of the ones I ain't do the piano on.

[Interviewer]

Did you have you got a dress code for the show?

[Ty Harris]

It's. I said like formally encouraged because I ain't want to like, turn nobody away just because they ain't want to put a suit on. I'mma be in a suit if you want to come in a suit. Like my Dallas show. I told him it was encouraged if you want to, but everybody was pretty much in my comments telling me what they wanted the dress code to be so they could just come as you are and. Yeah, came in the whole females in the hoe and gowns and yeah, they can't trim.

[Interviewer]

For real.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer]

So I mean, that's the one though, because that's what I was thinking. It's like, it's. I mean, you gonna be playing the keys.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

You got a band?

[Ty Harris]

I got a dj.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, you got a dj.

[Ty Harris]

It's my piano and a DJ that's hard.

[Interviewer]

And a couple.

[Ty Harris]

A couple artists I with. You know what I'm saying?

[Interviewer]

Yeah, that's hard. All right. How many business we rolling too? You know, we just get right into it. But yeah, because I was like, I'm gonna have to goddamn go holla at someone. Go get my tightened up real quick. So if you want to, you can

[Ty Harris]

if it's gonna be some hoes in there that you want to rock with.

[Interviewer]

That's in there. The home girl and Nico pulling up.

[Ty Harris]

She is.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, they is. They is.

[Ty Harris]

They.

[Interviewer]

They is.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, you know.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's my doggy. Like, do her. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. His. His dropped already, didn't.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, that's the one. That's the one that. At the center stage. That's the one kota did to.

[Interviewer]

He cut his hair.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, that's who. That's who. Matt. Okay.

[Interviewer]

Okay. Yeah, yeah. We be having them folk coming in here, bro. Like that be cuz like that. That foot like I with, bro. But outside of that, in real life.

[Ty Harris]

Okay.

[Interviewer]

We got a music show. We do too. On Mondays. It dropped on Mondays. But I just started a freestyle series and.

[Ty Harris]

You did.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. So. Huh.

[Ty Harris]

Where we at with it?

[Interviewer]

How long you gonna be in town?

[Ty Harris]

Saturday morning.

[Interviewer]

Saturday morning. We'll have to goddamn shape back. Shape back. I know. You're either.

[Ty Harris]

Either.

[Interviewer]

We can come to Dallas too, because we've been traveling a lot too. We got a tour next month. Yeah, we're just making shape. But our called rap session, we're gonna drop it bi weekly.

[Ty Harris]

Okay.

[Interviewer]

The first we did was with Marco place. He a young from out here, but he crazy.

[Ty Harris]

Crazy.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, he crazy. He went on tour with. He went on tour with Jed.

[Ty Harris]

Oh, damn.

[Interviewer]

So he in that kind of ilk. Like, he a little bar spitter type shit. Put me on. I want to hear that. I got you. When we. When we wrap this up, I'll let you see our. That we did with him, how we shot it.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And then you can tap in with some of his tapes. That boy solid foggy. He gonna be our. That and doc pulling up soon too.

[Ty Harris]

Okay, cool.

[Interviewer]

You know.

[Ty Harris]

Hell no.

[Interviewer]

You. You know the dark skinned with the grills. He was rapping over the. You don't know my name, Alicia King.

[Ty Harris]

The one you.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, he like. It's kind of poetic type. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But he came out. He from dmv though. He came out that spitting on.

[Ty Harris]

Damn.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, he was going crazy. That wrapped over. Goddamn.

[Ty Harris]

See, that's the kind of.

[Interviewer]

He wrapped over the isley brothers. He did. Yeah, he gonna cr.

[Ty Harris]

Like, oh, King Mali, he be rapping over Marvin Gaye.

[Interviewer]

And. Yeah, King was one of my first guests. He came.

[Ty Harris]

He.

[Interviewer]

Kim was a guest on my shit when I was still letting niggas come to the crib. Damn. Yeah, it's only like five niggas that done been to my house. Kim one of them Deontay Hitchcock.

[Ty Harris]

Deontay Hitchcock.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, Deontay. That's the homie.

[Ty Harris]

So nigga, this ground up gang, huh?

[Interviewer]

Yeah, ground. Yeah. I fuck with King Longway. Like shit me and King was at. He performed with 85 south when they did their last show in Atlanta. King a cool nigga came a cool nigga. He'll tell you about G. Them no. Yeah, G. He put me on. G. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he put me on.

[Ty Harris]

He said if you coming to Atlanta, you need to do this.

[Interviewer]

I said, Y. Cuz he, he just had G in his video. That overly freaky ass video.

[Ty Harris]

Y Y see, see, we getting ready

[Interviewer]

for Valentine's Day and you see what I'm saying? By that time come out pink piano on.

[Ty Harris]

You been done that.

[Interviewer]

We did that, man. Look, I, I was interested. I I, I found out about you through Hashi, so. Hashi. Hashi. Another one he Kashi. But I, I was up on Hashi when he dropped his first freestyle on Tick Tock. Like the first one that went up, up, up.

[Ty Harris]

I don't swarm.

[Interviewer]

No, it was the one where he was rapping, man. Bro, it was just a freestyle. It was way before. Was it Wicked World? I think so.

[Ty Harris]

Might have been.

[Interviewer]

But he was just in the garage type like it was, it was early, early life.

[Ty Harris]

Oh, I know exactly which one you talking about, but I just don't remember the name.

[Interviewer]

I don't remember the name, but I remember it was like I was like that bars for real.

[Ty Harris]

That's when he was on in his story bag. He was storytelling.

[Interviewer]

It was a story about like him with a him and a Wicked World. He. He re released it with an actual video type.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, but that was one of the first ones for sure.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. So by the time Honest One came out, I was already cool.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer]

And then we went out. I was out, I was out. Dallas kicked it with him in the studio. And then he was like, man, you gotta get hit this tie. And then I seen I was like rapping and playing the piano when that sent me your.

[Ty Harris]

It was probably the same time frame. I was like, okay, this is what I need to do.

[Interviewer]

How you get hip to the piano shit though. Cause I know like in your themes you do stay away from like kind of popping like I'm some super tough like you. You're popping there. I'm a square.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer]

But at the same time, it's still a man business. You know what I'm saying?

[Ty Harris]

I'm a squirrel. But don't get it up.

[Interviewer]

It's grown man you know what I'm saying? That how should kick it up exactly? Overly tough.

[Ty Harris]

They, you know, overly tough.

[Interviewer]

They get put in the wind all the time.

[Ty Harris]

A thousand percent.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, but how do you come up? Like on the come up or even in childhood? Was you introduced to the piano in childhood?

[Ty Harris]

A little bit. But I ain't take it serious at all. Like I didn't really care. I wanted to hoop and like my first love, basketball ball, is life. And goddamn, one day I went to that. Damn. I was in high school, I needed another elective. Goddamn. The soprano section was bad, man. And they were selling snacks and went in there and the choir director was like, what's your name?

[Interviewer]

I was like, I'm Ty.

[Ty Harris]

Oh, you got a deep voice. You want to be in the choir? And he had a soprano, one of the finest sopranos. Like you should be in the choir. I said, hell, y' all want to be in the choir? I got some fruit snacks and got down the next day I was in the choir. Like, what the fuck am I doing here? And I started singing my ass off and realized I had a whole nother talent for real. And N done went to college. That shit took me to college with my. My credits was horrible. Like I was not supposed to graduate. And N was at school with full ride scholarships to sing.

[Interviewer]

Damn.

[Ty Harris]

And I dropped out of college because I failed my piano class. I was gonna be a vocal performance major and you needed a piano credit. And I failed that hoe. And it was a cultural difference too. I ain't like them white folks. Yeah. But after a while, like a few years later, just said, I'm do this by ear. And I started playing that hole and rapping became second. Second nature. So since that's second nature, I can play the piano at the same time that we can make something shake. So.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. What college did you go so far?

[Ty Harris]

Abilene Christian University.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, that's why that's a no.

[Ty Harris]

I ain't gonna say they get mad, but that they ain't even have real life fraternities and sororities. They had social clubs. Oh, yeah, yeah, they had it private school.

[Interviewer]

Well, it's a Christian school too, so it's like a whole nother vibe, man.

[Ty Harris]

The white. The whitest of the white. Even the black folks. I was. I was in cultural shock is what my professor tell me now. But like, because I was there and. And even the black folks had the sperries on and the. And the khakis and they was doing it like that. And I was. I was Running around that like I am now. I had the hood on my head. And this was around Trayvon Martin time. Yeah. So some of my professors would be like, her, this is Dr. Pruitt. Hated Dr. Pruitt. Racist ass white lady. She asked me one day, she said, do everyone in the hood wear a hood?

[Interviewer]

Cause I was running around with this on.

[Ty Harris]

I was like, you.

[Interviewer]

It was a quick rebuttal for that, man. I'm like, did your father wear a hood?

[Ty Harris]

Shit, nah. For real.

[Interviewer]

You feel me? Nah, for real.

[Ty Harris]

Thousand percent.

[Interviewer]

One million percent, bro.

[Ty Harris]

Bro, crazy percent. Cause that shit might go over. Niggas heads, that shit might go over.

[Interviewer]

Now you just turned into a trip on something. You see what I'm.

[Ty Harris]

But around the time the Selma movie came out with Martin Luther king, they had KKK's blocking the movie theater from people seeing that damn movie. They would, man.

[Interviewer]

Bro, listen, bro, I be telling people all the time, like, to be racist is to just be bored as. Cause like, bro, real, I ain't blocking. Go watch the movie, bro. Like, that ain't the type of racism I'm into, bro.

[Ty Harris]

Man, like, you just ain't got shit else to do. Like, they putting. I never forget, put a one of them fake ass police citations on my. Like I had a ticket that said

[Interviewer]

like a God damn, get out this parking spot. Yeah, the is going on. He was like, I'm get back to Dallas.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah. Nah, it really made me. It really made me want to fight a little bit more. Yeah, I got into it with my roommate over some too. And I ended up having to stay with my professor. I kicked out the dorms and

[Interviewer]

they

[Ty Harris]

were putting nooses and on doorknobs and oh, ass. But yeah, me and my tip though, did not. With that.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, it was like some old higher learning type where you just really had to. Well, I mean, I think that's good in your formative years though. Like, that's a real like swift kick of reality for you, though. Cause like a lot of times we'll grow up in these like echo chambers of especially growing up somewhere like here. Yeah, bro. All I know is black folks. So when I go other places that be a little odd, man. Because I was. When I was driving trucks, that's what really opened up my scope of the world. Yeah. Because I'll be in like hour and I'm like, I ain't seen a black person in three days in the Midwest, bro. I'm telling you, bro, Like, I had to go from Kentucky to Portland. That's a three day Drive.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer]

In a truck especially. So I'm going through this stretch like Wyoming, Idaho, Iowa, all that.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Whatever the going on up there.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

That was weird as hell. I was like, I don't. I ain't seen nobody of color. I ain't seeing a Hispanic in this. I just. Nothing but white folks. And that was like. I was like, bro, I'm gonna hurry up and get the. To Portland.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer]

I'm stopping for gas and I'm gonna keep this pushing.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah. And that stuff for gas crazy too, because the Sundown Towns was real.

[Interviewer]

That's what I'm saying.

[Ty Harris]

You didn't realize it was things called the Sundown Town. I mean, in Texas you pretty much kind of grow up with that kind

[Interviewer]

of in the south, period. In the south, you know what's going on. Okay, but, but the thing is about racism is like we be thinking it's only in the south, so then when you get out, it's like, oh no, it's just some USA and it's different

[Ty Harris]

type of racism too. Yeah. Like you got the I ain't gonna. I low key kind of respect the. The vocal racist because I know who the who my. Who my enemy is. But them bitch ass niggas who just

[Interviewer]

be acting like they own that covert racism.

[Commercial Voice]

Yeah.

[Ty Harris]

Like you shoulder to shoulder with me in the, in the, in the riots and. But when get thick, your ass is nowhere to be found. Like your ass really exploiting and that's. I don't really like that type of racism.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, it, you know, it's one of them things. It's like liberal racist. That liberal.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer]

We were just talking about that on, on the show. Like the idea of like this whole. With Renee Good in Minneapolis, white lady got shot in the face. Yeah, it's a lady. Renee Good. Ice had shot her in the face. White lady. Oh, in Minneapolis. Right.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, I saw that.

[Interviewer]

And so, but you know, is on some like, bro, we're not getting on the front lines when happening to y' all like that. We'll. We'll like support you online, but we ain't coming hitting the streets with you. And so somebody was like this white. White lady was like, okay, black people like, you've proved your point. And niggas was like, oh, bitch, you got us. You got us all the way fucked up. And like when I said on the show, I was like, that ain't no way to start no conversation.

[Ty Harris]

It ain't.

[Interviewer]

Man, you got me. How about an apology?

[Ty Harris]

It's the entitlement bro.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, it is.

[Ty Harris]

It's the entitlement.

[Interviewer]

I think for me, the appealing thing is I discovered you at a time where I was telling niggas to pick their instruments back up. Because when you can make. When you can do all your production digitally, yeah, you kind of run into a thing of trends where one sound will become more dominant. And then it's also like a plug and play type vibe where it's like, okay, well metro booming type B or 808 mafia type beat. Like I could just go type beat and still get the attention because now are producing for an algorithm. And I always tell that's like super hip hop. That's lyrical as a. You need to rap with a band or with live instrumentation because now you can make your like vocals a part of the instrument.

[Ty Harris]

Right. And then as far as like that too, like, and keeping it fresh and authentic and, and everything. And for artists, we got this new thing called artificial intelligence rolling in. You know what I mean? And their artificial intelligence might seem like a great tool, which it is a great tool in some. In some aspects. But we have to remember that artificial intelligence is using data from the past. So we'll never have anything innovative if everyone keeps on relying on artificial intelligence to make our music for us. And hell, it's even some rappers out there that's using artificial chat GPT to write they raps for them.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, and.

[Ty Harris]

And you can use. I'm starting to be able to tell, like a nigga not rhyming when it's supposed to rhyme. I know he reading some shit he ain't right for sure. Like, like if niggas really know poetry and all that and rapping and when your stanzas are supposed to happen, you know that. Okay, nigga, you rhyming at the wrong time. You saying it's kind of just like you reading some shit that you just kind of.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, and it's more of a. It's more of a performance than anything else.

[Ty Harris]

And we substituting. We substituting real art and creativity for consistency and the algorithm. Like we, we, we real life living in the matrix on that type of town. Like, like what he said, we turning human beings into batteries.

[Interviewer]

That part real shit. Yeah. My stance on AI and in general is that for one, the. The harm it do to the environment is. Is one thing, right?

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

But the fact that people don't care.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

It's like kind of beating a dead horse when it comes to that talking point. But my idea is also that if it is a regurgitation of Basically all human data. It's all things that we've done that you using as a database to, like, regurgitate. Right. Right now, for me, I feel like it's good for administrative work. It's good for if. If it's like manufacturing. And it could take a job that is monotonous for a person, like a person that's making $10 an hour to just put a screw here. Put a screw. Like, dude, yeah. Use the robot creativity. That shit gotta stay human. Because humans innovate with creativity. Right? And so, like, to that point of what you saying, and the point I'm getting at too, is like, the live instrumentation, especially the live show, will take away any of the guesswork. You know what I'm saying? You can't fake that. But also it bring a different element of, like, returning to our roots in music. Our roots in music here is instruments.

[Ty Harris]

We were just watching Sinners last night.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. The guitar, the piano isn't important. The drum. Those elements are very important to, like,

[Ty Harris]

innovating, innovation, our culture, what we. Where we've come from, where we've been and where we going.

[Interviewer]

That part.

[Ty Harris]

If we not leading our own innovation, where do we think we gonna go? Like, who leading us and. And where you think whoever's leading that gonna take us?

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Ty Harris]

You know what I'm saying?

[Interviewer]

That because they like to use AI to, like, portray certain images of black people, which is weird. Like, my. My thing is this. It's like, this is what I'm saying about racism. Like that just straight boredom, bro. It's a mental illness. It gotta be because you have some advanced technology.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And your first mind. Like, let me make this shit racist. Like, nigga, what's.

[Ty Harris]

But here, the thing. So, like, we talk about with the different types of racism, we talked about the. The vocal racist, the outward races. We talk about the hiding races, then we got to talk about the ignorant races that don't even know they racist.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Ty Harris]

You know, they don't even realize they projecting the whole little thing on you. You know, Like I said, if artificial intelligence is based on the data that they already have and whoever put that data in, then that means that whoever put that data in about the black folks is either one of those three. And if they ignorant and they just think, okay, we're going to generalize this demographic of people, then it's like, okay, we going. We going to say that all black people don't have a dad. Most black boys don't have a black father. And so artificial intelligence will put that image out there and project that image back to us.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, exactly what I'm saying.

[Ty Harris]

Like, they'd be like, nigga, I got a daddy and I'm a junior. I ain't a junior, but I got a partner who a junior.

[Interviewer]

But that's what I. But I feel what you're saying, though. So how. How is. How has it been, like, transitioning from something that you did in the sense of, like, this is more of a collegiate thing. This is more of a school, like, academic in the sense of, like, you went to college for you being more classically trained in that aspect. Right. Like, this is something you got to do. It's not your own creativity. This is just the skill that you're using.

[Ty Harris]

Right, right.

[Interviewer]

How do you. How does. Did you evolve your songwriting from that?

[Ty Harris]

I was always rapping, like. Cause my big brother, he a producer, and he always had niggas coming to the crib all the damn. So I was always rapping. I think I just added. Like you said, I just added that classical shit. Like, even when I was hooping, I was rapping in the locker room that

[Interviewer]

y' all Dallas niggas do. Got that little rapping thing, y'. All.

[Ty Harris]

Nigga. Yeah, nigga, we just be in that whole. You just never know. You just never know when a nigga just gonna start beating on his chest on the back of the bus.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Ty Harris]

With that man playing football and all that. And you just never know when they're gonna start rapping. But when I did the classical thing, when I started singing and. And I started trying to go to college. Cause, you know, was just trying to go to college for anything. Give me the. About this hoe, right? And I went to college. I just kind of added that to my repertoire of making music. When I realized I really wanted to make music when I really wanted to. When I started enjoying the process of recording music and involuntarily getting my 10,000 hours in of nigga rapping and recording and getting a beat from my big brother. And I didn't even realize it. Like, during all that cultural shit in college, that's what I was doing. So I didn't go outside. Nigga was inside with all the other black. With the other black. The niggas, the athletes, nigga, the football team, and the basketball team. We all end up party apartment. And I brought the studio equipment and. And everybody trying to put their verse on and. Because we don't feel safe nowhere else. Because in this environment, it's just. So they looking at me like, you sing opera I thought you hooped. Nah, nigga, I'm here for a whole nother reason.

[Interviewer]

That's what we was just talking about. Like, when I. When we. When I was telling him he was coming, I was like, listen to this, though.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And I was like. I played the intro to the pushing keys. Yeah. Album. Yeah, stream that. You know what I'm saying? Deluxe out now.

[Ty Harris]

You know what I mean?

[Interviewer]

But I was like, man, this whole ass opera singer. Listen to this.

[Ty Harris]

No real shit.

[Interviewer]

I said, this go from talking hard as a. To, like, hitting octaves on your ass.

[Ty Harris]

And we was. Bro, that culture shit so crazy. We was just talking about this, but nigga would be at school, and my partners would be on first 48. The first 48 episode that my partners is on is in the dorm, and all the white boys are scared, and they talk about, oh, Cliff. And they look at me and like, what's up, y'? All? Y' all good. I just gotta sit there like, yeah, don't with me. Yeah.

[Interviewer]

I'm like that.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah. Oh, God. Yeah. My partners, you know, But. But, yeah, man, y' all better be

[Interviewer]

lucky I got a piano.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah. Now, for real, I'm just trying to sing my little.

[Interviewer]

I could be pushing a different type

[Ty Harris]

of keys a thousand percent. So. Yeah, man, like, just talking about that.

[Interviewer]

How is. How is it being so. Of course, like, anytime you the first person to do something, because from. From my perspective, especially in this generation, you're the first person to incorporate the piano in with the rapping, right? And especially from a sense of, like, not only can you sing, but you be rapping your ass off, but you also, you playing the hell out of the piano. So, like. And you, like, it's not this thing of, like, sometimes play the piano, but they know, like, one thing, you know, they want. They know a couple chords. They know one song that they got memorized. Yeah, but you. Your is original, and it's tailored to your rapping. Like, this is a whole new genre that you opening up. And to me, I know how it is to be the first to do something and the scrutiny that it can come with. But how do you. Like, how do you. Have you navigated the. The pressures of kind of being the first of. Of anything or any, like, criticism or scrutiny? Like, do you live with any of that? Or. This is like, bro, this is what I do.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, that's crazy. I do. And in my city, in Dallas. In Dallas, bro. Our culture has been revolving around the club. And if you an artist, you supposed to be in a club, About a year and a half ago, I sat with a few dudes named by the name of Sean cotton rainwater and Mr. Hit that. And we was talking about how the club. And I was telling, bro, the club is not the end all be all. The club culture in Dallas is not the end all be all for artists. And they like, man, if you want to be a rapper, you gotta pop in the club. And that's what Mr. Hit that was saying. Mr. Hit that was really trying to force that down the throats of the artists and the creatives. And, you know, me being an innovator and me being the talent and trying to represent talent, like the Mode Threes of the City, the. The. The. The Cam McCloud from Cure for Paranoia, the city of Escatinos. I'm. I'm sitting at home begging and pleading with buddies like, bro, that's not how it's supposed to go. But they really just trying to push that club narrative. And they. Man, they put a. It was a rapper by the name of Zeta wizard that they talked about. And you can go on Zeta Wizards page and it's one of the. The first post on his page of that podcast and him saying, hell yeah, bro. Appreciate y' all for thinking about me and Mr. Hit that. Appreciate you, bro. And, you know, just kind of letting him know that he in the system of doing the club narrative. And I was very quiet about it during that time. But then fast forward, he passes away, he gets shot, he gets killed at the club where Mr. Hit that, who wanted him in this system? Who wanted him in this. How they do? Like, everybody just gotta push the club narrative. Mr. Hit that was hosting it. Mr. Hit that was. And so it's like really full circle. And it sent a chill down my spine because if I was more vocal and didn't just let the shit slide and be okay with Buddy, still be alive, you know what I'm saying? All the people that done lost our lives to that club culture of trying to make it in this shit. My partner in high school got shot five times at the club, and I knew that's not what that was. You supposed to be gone. You ain't supposed to be there till 4 o' clock in the morning. So when I'm trying to innovate something new and I get pushback from my culture and from my people and from the hood and from the city, my city and my people, and they telling me that this is not the route to go, nigga, you ain't even got no 808s in the song. But then I still see my trajectory going upward. And I see so many other talented people who pass away for free at a club that they didn't even really have to be at. And y' all niggas with me about trying to do something different. Right, bro, what we. What we talking about? Cause buddy that passed away was talented enough not to use the. Have to be in a 2:00 clock or 3, 2, 1 New Year's, we out of there. We got to treat our rappers like rappers and stop trying to treat our rappers like street. No matter if they come from street being a street or not. Like no, let's.

[Interviewer]

You know what I'm saying? Because the lines get blurred. Big Bank Black was just in here like two days ago we was talking about that. Where once you step into entertainment, you are an entertainer.

[Ty Harris]

Entertainer.

[Interviewer]

You need to conduct yourself as an entertainer.

[Ty Harris]

Entertainer.

[Interviewer]

For me, not having a background in media, I also understood like, you go and do your job and go.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

You know what I'm saying? Like that mingling shit, it's not something I gotta worry about. But I also understand how if you portraying a certain image, it can get lost.

[Ty Harris]

You walk around with the racks on you, you popping your shit. That's great. We love it. But you gotta know what come with it.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Ty Harris]

And I probably. I wouldn't even know. I was trying to have fun. I get it, bro.

[Interviewer]

But at the same time. But the, the. The thing about the street is the culture is derived from poverty.

[Ty Harris]

Right? Exactly.

[Interviewer]

So if the culture is derived from poverty, then you walk around with all this money, nigga gonna try to take

[Ty Harris]

that or nigga gonna be envious or you just invite problems.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Ty Harris]

You know, when you.

[Interviewer]

Cause you can also give a. A name just from taking. You know what I'm saying?

[Ty Harris]

My. My big brother.

[Interviewer]

Oh my, oh my life n. My

[Ty Harris]

big brother always told me the first. I remember the first party my big brother went to and my pops was very scared because he thought the died because the that was in the hospital had the same shoes he had on. My big brother always told me, if you smell weed, you see alcohol and you hear the hoes, something bad can happen. If you smell the weed, you see the alcohol and you hear. And you hear the start getting louder and louder, then something bad gonna happen. And I looked at that video, that bitch ass video that was floating on fucking Facebook of Zeta wizard passing, and that was what I saw. And nigga, when it's time to go, it's time to go. And we got a Whole lot, our rappers and our people accountable. Like, hey, bro, let's go. Hey, bro, let's go. Somebody that you can be, like, all right, you right. Let's go.

[Interviewer]

It's time and place. Like, if I'm to the club to perform, that mean I gotta be able to be okay with it not being the party. You gotta go find somewhere else to party, man.

[Ty Harris]

Let's go home.

[Interviewer]

Because here's the thing. As an entertainer, you are promoted to be there. So anybody that's looking for you know where to find you. Exactly. So it's time to get the fuck on. And it ain't. I think a lot of niggas, man, tough niggas, die every day, bro.

[Ty Harris]

Every day.

[Interviewer]

It's always the tough niggas that die every day because it's a thing of combating fear. Like, I don't want to seem scared, but, like, what's the reality, bro? Is that you got to be safe. Like, it, bro. Like, really, you tough, but this ain't got nothing to lose. And he got everything to gain from smoking. He was gonna go to prison anyway, man.

[Ty Harris]

And then, you know, it don't even gotta be an OP nigga. It could be. It could be a partner on accident. It could be anything that involved.

[Interviewer]

I mean, the same thing that happened with Quavo, with Takeoff. It's like, he not. He not being. That was friendly fire. That's firing at another trying. But it's like, these ain't in the military, bro. These don't got no formation, man. When it come to battle, these just firing guns just like that. You can do to reverse it. And like, my thing is with, you know, like, a lot of my homeboys is, like, on some. Bro, let go. Let go, hell.

[Ty Harris]

Look right there.

[Interviewer]

I'm like, bro, I'm cool. Because sometimes I just don't be feeling that. And I think if I ain't, you know, the. The bigger part of entertainment is, like, what's fun to other people become a job for you. Facts. So, like, if I ain't there to do no work, then I ain't gonna be there.

[Ty Harris]

Because. Sacrifice. The amusement. Fact.

[Interviewer]

The amusement because. And also, too, it's very important to find spots that's for you. Yeah, like this. Like, I know I don't like the club. I ain't never like the club. I don't even like the strip club. Like, it's just not my vibe. And, like, it's something about those spaces that just don't resonate with me. Like, I don't feel comfortable in that. Yeah, because I know too many times where the shit done went left.

[Ty Harris]

Exactly.

[Interviewer]

And it's always the weird smoke, the

[Ty Harris]

alcohol and the hoes.

[Interviewer]

It's all. It's. That combination is deadly as fuck, bro.

[Ty Harris]

It invite the tender, the envious, the. The. The ball of blocking dirty macking ass.

[Interviewer]

Because for whatever reason think the tougher they is, the more attractive is the women. And like it's further. It's. I play baseball.

[Ty Harris]

You play baseball. That's an athletic right there. See athletes we know that you can get hoes doing other than you would

[Interviewer]

be smart, you can be funny, you can bro everything. The only thing that tough impresses other every time. But I'm not trying to be super tough with you, bro. Bro, you matter of fact actually you got it.

[Ty Harris]

You got that. You got it, bro.

[Interviewer]

I'm square, I'm brown, lame. The hell bro, you right, you got it. I'm lying.

[Ty Harris]

You got it. That's it.

[Interviewer]

Because you're not gonna touch me. So it's like. And, but like what? What the thing is. Here's the thing. A lot of a lot of that. This is just gather information. Most people like the show like it's wrestling. Like the promo of a fight. I ain't really trying to do that.

[Ty Harris]

And then real talk, even in boxing, after the boxing match, nigga they shake

[Interviewer]

hands and be cool, man.

[Ty Harris]

We had to do that for the money.

[Interviewer]

But see, in the street a lose a fight like I'm gonna kill that nigga. It's like bro, you being lying. Why don't just tell their partners like bro, you lost a fight, bro, you being lying bro. What you gonna kill him for? Because you embarrassed. It's always embarrassment. It's ego, bro. It's a bro, I feel bad.

[Ty Harris]

Why I feel bad, bro?

[Interviewer]

You wanted to lose a fight?

[Ty Harris]

Nah, I think I'm an instigator of the I beat your ass.

[Interviewer]

Listen bro, it is a part of the window. I know, but listen bro, you got a 72 hour window of. Yeah, I told you.

[Ty Harris]

Here's the thing.

[Interviewer]

You got a post fight interview, a 72 hour bro. I beat a up off campus and it came back to school that had two black eyes. I was like, damn boy, who did that to you?

[Ty Harris]

Man? You a whole ass for that in

[Interviewer]

the hallway in front of the house.

[Ty Harris]

That type of invite the I know

[Interviewer]

that for sure wanted to smoke my

[Ty Harris]

ass and I'm the same way.

[Interviewer]

Shout out that man, he a teacher now, man. Shout out to you, bro. Man. Taking care of the youth, bro. We need most stand up like the

[Ty Harris]

I beat up that just got $200 on his arm trying to flex them 20s. But keep doing what you doing, brother. Making that location in Florida. My. I know you really in Galveston.

[Interviewer]

Hey, bro, chill out, bro.

[Ty Harris]

See you see I'm a whole ass bro.

[Interviewer]

Because be talking, bro.

[Ty Harris]

No, no, no. I tell I'm square, right?

[Interviewer]

Okay, piano aside, this nigga's a rapper, bro. Look, thousand percent, you rapper ain't right. Now I know where you live. I stay.

[Ty Harris]

No, bro, I do not know. That was in Wynwood. I do not. All I'm saying is, hey bro, I'm a square.

[Interviewer]

You better. You better get some life insurance.

[Ty Harris]

No, bro, no, don't, please don't. Please don't. Please don't. Because I would never. My thing is I'm a square ass, bro. And when be like he a square. And then the. The overly tough bully want to be like, oh, I could. I could bully him. I could get some points off this. And I'll be like, I'm a square, I'm a square. I'm a square. I'm a square, I'm a square. Then I punch you in the eye and you run.

[Interviewer]

You got like a whole box survive to you. I ain't gonna lie.

[Ty Harris]

I don't know.

[Interviewer]

He think it would be a covert gangster, bro. What's up with that, bro?

[Ty Harris]

I would never.

[Interviewer]

The square, he just. He bluffing, bro.

[Ty Harris]

I'm not, I swear. I'm squarish. Nope. I sing opera.

[Interviewer]

You do.

[Ty Harris]

And I play the audio.

[Interviewer]

Real. This is the thing we gotta remember you. You are actively opening up new ideas and information to niggas. That's where it really be. See, like Mr. Hit that his thing is. I've seen this at its peak. I've seen it change niggas lives. I'm not open to any new suggestion. I know. It worked.

[Ty Harris]

Exactly.

[Interviewer]

The thing is, it's like, what did work don't always work.

[Ty Harris]

And I understood that that was the thing that that is a thing that feeds his family.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Also too. We need to start doing the stats. Okay. This is where stats come in. This is why science is important. Yeah. Out of 2,000 that been to this club, two been successful. This is not a high success rate.

[Ty Harris]

This is true.

[Interviewer]

But it's very successful for the club to keep funneling niggas in.

[Ty Harris]

Exactly.

[Interviewer]

But it's not necessarily the key to your career. So for you,

[Ty Harris]

facts, facts, facts.

[Interviewer]

But for you, I think you, you coming at a perfect time. Right. The Internet can expose you To a multitude of different people and somebody that may just enjoy the piano. It's a treat for a. To rap on the piano. Right. But I just. They might just enjoy the keys. Like me personally, when I'm up early in the morning, I don't like rah rah. When I'm studying or doing research on something or writing, I don't like rah rah. I like to listen like Beethoven, Mozart, classical music or just. Or just like without no lyrics. I don't want to hear no talking.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

So even if you was to do. You could do the opposite of what used to do. Used to do acapella. You could just do you playing the keys.

[Ty Harris]

True.

[Interviewer]

Like, everybody don't have that ability because I'm not listening to a type of a beat.

[Ty Harris]

If it was.

[Interviewer]

Unless I'm a rapper, if it was

[Ty Harris]

easy, everybody would be doing. And that's what's wrong with our rap community now, because we've made it too accessible. We've made it too easy for something that's so culturally important. Rapping is culturally important. When everybody start getting a hand and then we start losing out on doctors and. And. And.

[Interviewer]

And all the other engineers, we always tell we need tradesmen. We need electricians.

[Ty Harris]

Here's my thing about always maintaining my. My square thing, because as a rapper, I am. I'm supposed to be. And even, like I was saying the other day, or not too long ago, and they was talking about the street shit in Atlanta and how it's the this, that, and the third in Atlanta with the street shit. My beef has never been with street niggas. My beef is with exploiting. Was never supposed to. If I'm not mistaken, I'm just a square. But if I'm. If I'm not mistaken, the street shit was never supposed to be publicized.

[Interviewer]

Well, I mean, because. Because it's illegal. Why would you want it on Front Street?

[Ty Harris]

Check this out. Check this out. So I'm gonna give you something, because I love this platform. My great grandmother is Opal Lee. My grandmother was a Black Panther. If you know anything about Opal Lee, she's the one. She's the godmother of the Juneteenth Holiday. She walked all them miles to get Juneteenth to be a thing. So I have that blackness, you know,

[Interviewer]

that Black Panther you come from millennials. I do.

[Ty Harris]

I really do. And here my thing. Street niggas come from gangsters. Gangsters come from our Black Panthers, which the feds exploited, which the revolution was

[Interviewer]

never supposed to be televised.

[Ty Harris]

The Revolution was never supposed to be televised.

[Interviewer]

And the fact of what you talking about is the original gangsters are the sons and daughters of revolutionaries because revolutionaries was where poor people was at.

[Ty Harris]

Our poverty, our black. That's us. Yeah, that's us. So we have to protect it and not keep exploiting the shit.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, but what's up? This is where I get into capitalism. Bad.

[Ty Harris]

Talk to me.

[Interviewer]

Where capitalism only is successful through exploitation.

[Ty Harris]

So currency, man. Nigga, we was talking. I'm telling you, Sinners is a great movie.

[Interviewer]

It is. It's excellent.

[Ty Harris]

Because even the wooden nickels that niggas was paying for black currency. And then you go back to black Wall street and why they tow that shit down and all these things that could have been something to uplift us just as us as a community. Now, I know probably them wood and nickels probably wouldn't have meant shit to them white folk, but it meant something to us.

[Interviewer]

And it don't need to mean nothing to white folks. Exactly. That's the thing, too, is like things don't have to be widely assess.

[Ty Harris]

Exactly.

[Interviewer]

As long as it's. If I'm cool with it and you cool with it, then we cool.

[Ty Harris]

Then we cool.

[Interviewer]

Because the idea of credit actually came out of poverty. The original idea for credit cards, store credit, things like this come from a black man in Kansas City.

[Ty Harris]

Every demographic. Each and every demographic of people that's been liberated in this country, it came from something illegal for sure.

[Interviewer]

I'm.

[Ty Harris]

I'm prohibition.

[Interviewer]

NASCAR is about moonshining and. And it's supposed to be anti government, anti cop, and now all the NASCAR is thin blue line. So why y' all is embarrassing y' all white ancestors or forefathers. It's not getting twisted. Real, real, y', all, nigga, y' all granddaddy and great granddaddy was shiners and hated the police and y' all is them bootleggers.

[Ty Harris]

But I will say the. And the Italian mob and all of the Irish mob and how they did their thing with gambling and prohibition and all that shit. They took the politics first. They took the political offices first, and then they infiltrated the police and that. I don't believe in street. I believe in organized crime.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, I'm a big fan of organized crime. I actually, like, am. I will get involved in organized crime.

[Ty Harris]

I won't. I'm a square.

[Interviewer]

I'm saying from the sense of I would never. Yeah, this ain't the thoughts and opinions of deontay Kyle McGregor,

[Ty Harris]

my nigga, you know?

[Interviewer]

Nah, I'm bullshitting. But I think if I reflect on my days when I was outside running around, I was always trying to get more organized. But niggas was way too hot headed and they believed the plan was like some puss. And I'm like, no, I'm trying to get away with this. Y' all trying to prove how you gonna prove to a you robbing that you tough. He know the gun is in his face. Now let's strategically plan on how we gonna do it.

[Ty Harris]

And really the toughest in the room is not the toughest in the room. It's the scariest. The most dangerous in the room is the scariest.

[Interviewer]

Absolutely the scariest. The smart and like the, the crazier thing is. And this is why we get into a space of anti intellectual being anti intellectualism being rampant is because hot boys are like becoming prominent in the rap space. Like all that rah rah gun play shit, all that rob nigga broad day shooting broad. That's some hot boy shit. Yeah, like you hot as fuck, nigga. I'm not trying to be around no hot ass nigga, bro. But also like crash dummies like niggas who just crash the fuck out. Those is not as respected in the streets as y' all think they are. They are used for a with power. I'm gonna go send a young over here. Cause I know that y' all gonna crash. You a push button bro. Playing with your life. And you think that cool A will play on your end your ignorance. Because the only that's really gonna have any type of run in the street gotta be smart and, and and is strategic and is organized about how they conduct their business. But because poverty will put is a precursor to crime, it also put niggas on edge where they feel like they ain't got nothing to lose. When you ain't got nothing to lose, you'll do anything.

[Ty Harris]

Anything.

[Interviewer]

And then when your reputation can be built by being a. That do anything is incentivized. A being hot. But like the worst to be around the street is a hot ass real shit.

[Ty Harris]

And not only do a. Not only do a OG ad or whatever, send a crash out, the police use crash house too.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, because they. Because they know everything.

[Ty Harris]

They know everything and they willing to do anything.

[Interviewer]

Because the thing is it's like a. That's not thinking things through, is not

[Ty Harris]

thinking things through at all.

[Interviewer]

So when the police pull him over, he ain't thought about the fact that he facing 15 years. He. He thinking about the fact that these niggas gonna Be impressed by this. Cause he gonna run back and tell niggas everything he did. Boy, I just jumped out on. Ran down a pistol with a woo woo woo, man and took everything off the. I left the in his socks.

[Ty Harris]

And you got that'll do that. And you got that'll snitch on you.

[Interviewer]

No, that's what I'm telling you. Tell you the whole story, play by play. He gonna tell the police the same. Thousand percent. Yeah. Because he's not thinking about the consequence. He's thinking about reputation.

[Ty Harris]

Yep.

[Interviewer]

But, like, I'm a square, a smart. Know the consequence of this is prison or death. So I need to be a little bit more smart if I value my life and my freedom. But I think more importantly than any of this is that by you coming out of that lineage, you also are a revolutionary in your own right. Right. You might not be you. Black people need to see themselves doing things that's not widely accepted or widely practiced.

[Ty Harris]

Right.

[Interviewer]

It's not a wide. It's not a widespread practice amongst black people to play the piano if you're not in the church.

[Ty Harris]

Thousand percent.

[Interviewer]

But you playing it classically, you using your vocals. But you also are incorporating something very culturally significant in rapping. But you being a nigga about it, which I fuck with, it's not a posh thing. You know what I mean? It's still very Oak Cliff. It's still very Texas.

[Ty Harris]

Back to my racist side. Professor Dr. Pruitt. I remember, bro. Man, you got all these thoughts coming out of me, nigga. We got this thing called recital hall that we used to do.

[Interviewer]

And.

[Ty Harris]

And in recital hall, I had to go up there and I had to sing my little. But before I sing, I gotta tell them what my name is. So I got up there, I was like, my name is Tyler Harris, and I'll be singing oh Isis unto ZDIS by Mozart. And they stopped me. So what's your name on some roots? My name Tyler Harris. What? What? What's your name? My name Tyler Harris. No, your name's Tyler Harris. You're Tyler Harris. And it took me so long to get it. And my real Professor Piersol, he was like, man, that's what you have to do. You gotta play the game when you're going through these competitions, when you do recital hall. But in the back of my mind, I was like, wow. My mama called me Tyler, my partners called me Tyler. And just that diction fucked it up to the point.

[Interviewer]

And no, for real, because my name Kyle Johnson, you know, so I'd be Like, yeah, my name Kyle. They'd be like, huh? No, your name Kyle. Like, I'd be like, no, my mama called me Kyle. My name is Kyle. When my mama called me to clean me deontay, my mama called me to

[Ty Harris]

clean up the room or clean up the living room or whatever she say, Tyler. And just that small cultural defect me up. And then I was taken by my race side Professor Pruitt. And it was like, you will never in. In singing opera and doing the music that you do. You will never. This, this is not a concert where your homies are going to be there.

[Interviewer]

Oh, well, it is now, bitch.

[Ty Harris]

It is now 1,000%. Yeah. So now I got all my. I'm in the most nigga city. I'm in black Mecca of United States of the world. Goddamn.

[Interviewer]

I'm still at the Christian school, nigga.

[Ty Harris]

My nigga and I plan on a tenure and we. And we nigga in this shit up.

[Interviewer]

So I'm very proud of you.

[Ty Harris]

Just see, I can't be around this gonna me up, pickle wood.

[Interviewer]

All right, I'm done.

[Ty Harris]

They your ass.

[Interviewer]

But. She gonna be like, see, I told you. I told him. I told him everything he knows. She gonna stay outside. Crazy. She don't give a. Yeah, I mean, I always knew he didn't like me, but you know, I taught him everything that he's hard. He's a smart kid, that hoe. You know how they're getting it going down. They're gonna dismiss all the racist shit. Yeah, I always, I always believed in him. I told him, you'll be big one day.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, whatever.

[Interviewer]

The, the idea that you are opening up yourself and others to experience music in different venues than they traditionally would come and dressed at a different way, which is beautiful now that we see our OGs kind of performing their music with orchestras and things like that, but giving people a different experience. How. How is it when you do your live shows, what's been the reception? What's your process as far as like just fine tuning everything in and like creating the experience? Because I know you got a show tomorrow, it will be and done that by the time they come out. But what has your process been like for. For building your show? Seeing that this is not like the traditional rap show?

[Ty Harris]

I definitely, I pay attention to what the people like. Not the numbers, but the actual people like. I'm deep in them comments, just reading people's reactions and them conversations that people having amongst themselves. I look at my DMS all the time. Some very, very seldom do I ever look at the numbers. But I do look at the people. Like, if someone say something would be like, come here, come here, come here. And they'd be like, all from Atlanta. And okay, that means I gotta go to a.

[Interviewer]

That's.

[Ty Harris]

That one.

[Interviewer]

You know, that's raw analytics, bro. That's real time. You know what I'm saying?

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, but I'm not looking at the graph chart, though. You know what I'm saying?

[Interviewer]

Sometimes you got to very seldom, very. I think the voice of the people matter, you know what I'm saying? Because the person that really want it gonna say they want it. Yeah. You know, we do the same thing with the show. Like, we was gauging analytics versus what people saying.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, really Gauging versus. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer]

When that shit line up, it's like we going there.

[Ty Harris]

Oh, God.

[Interviewer]

And we gonna go crazy on God.

[Ty Harris]

So. And when I see the people and I see what them people like, what they re share, what song. And then I. I put my set based on that you be having.

[Interviewer]

Be throwing roses at you at the end of the show.

[Ty Harris]

We did. We did have some roses thrown at me.

[Interviewer]

Oh, yeah. Cause I was gonna push up. Hello, roses.

[Ty Harris]

Oh, man.

[Interviewer]

30 at the end. You know how this. I like you being so.

[Ty Harris]

Oh, man. Nah, nigga. My last show, they. They. This. Somebody threw some roses and I got a few text messages like, who was that that threw them roses?

[Interviewer]

And hey, man, man, you know what? It's so funny, bro. I was showing. I was just showing shout a picture like on my story, like. Cause I had. I would take a picture with me and my dog. Cause my darling got pretty big and like that.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And then, you know, when you take a picture on the story, all the hearts start popping up. Yeah, yeah. All these is liking this. I was like, hey, my Is predicated

[Ty Harris]

on people liking me, man.

[Interviewer]

Man, people being engaged, people wanting to see me take pictures. I'm here with you in the physical.

[Ty Harris]

Why are you.

[Interviewer]

Can we keep thinking about these hypothetical. That I could be hypothetical avatars, man? Like, you know, this is. You know what I'm saying? Like the likes, the shares, the comments, the. The idea. All this is keeping us well fed, man. The in. This is entertainment. You know what I'm saying? As it. But I get it. You know, it's a little territorial vibe because. Because over the last two years, you kind of rose to prominence in the conversation where people more. So speaking of you. What. What? Pushy Keys wasn't your debut. No, it was. It. It was. It's what came after Your presence started.

[Commercial Voice]

Right.

[Interviewer]

How has that been for you? Just adjusting to now. I can go do shows. I got real fans. I got. I wouldn't say fame, so to speak. I know that's working a little weird.

[Ty Harris]

We working like a. But I will say having supporters and fans or people that recognize me in other cities is different. I've been recognizing other cities before. Like, before Pushing Keys, I was doing this thing called Voices, and I was three different and three different accents and three different voices, and I would rap, you know, and that was a pretty big thing, too. But it definitely wasn't as big as Pushing Keys.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Ty Harris]

Has been.

[Interviewer]

You got everything on there, bro. You got hard shit, you got hometown shit, you got shit for the hoes. But it's all. You covered the spectrum. Like, if you think about what a rap album is and what topics you want a nigga to cover, sometimes, like backpack rap. The reason why. Get away from it. Because, like, man, I can't listen to my girl, though. Yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying? But you got something for everybody there, but it's still you.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And also, one thing that I do like and respect about Texas artists is like, y' all really. And just Texas entertainment in general, because I had Alisa Deacon here, and he said the same thing. Y' all only will depend on Texas, and y' all could be good. Spreading out is just kind of like a benefit or. Or it's. It's a little cherry on top. If. If your can go at a national level, as it should, you should go with it. But being good, where you from in Texas specifically, it means something.

[Ty Harris]

Cheat code for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer]

Cause when Hashi dropped that swing, I was like, damn, boy. This just made an anthem for his.

[Ty Harris]

For the whole state.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, he ain't leave out nobody.

[Ty Harris]

One of the biggest, if not the biggest state in this country.

[Interviewer]

I think it's the biggest state.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, this big.

[Interviewer]

Texas is bigger than some countries.

[Ty Harris]

I was just gonna say that Texas could be a top 30 countries, 100.

[Interviewer]

Bigger than a lot of that. Way bigger than Jamaica, man. That way. Way bigger than Dr. And Haiti combined, man. You can put a couple countries together.

[Ty Harris]

I think Texas is one of the only states is in two different times. They got two different time zones.

[Interviewer]

That's a fact, bro. I'm telling you, when I was driving truck driving through Texas, like, God damn, when this gonna.

[Ty Harris]

It don't, bro.

[Interviewer]

This is forever, bro. Bro, that's why y' all got y' all own grid. This is a country. God damn.

[Ty Harris]

And our own type of taxes, too.

[Interviewer]

But

[Ty Harris]

come to the tax office. We tax preparers over there at Precise Tax and Business Solutions. Come, come. Bring your 4551 Southwest Moreland Road. We do your. We get you right. I love you, Granny.

[Interviewer]

This will drop right around text time. Y' all lock the in, man.

[Ty Harris]

Thousand percent.

[Interviewer]

I would promote my. I would promote my phone tab in it, but should have been using AI and this been bugging me.

[Ty Harris]

The.

[Interviewer]

She been like. She been. She didn't got them. Made an AI avatar herself. And that speaking for the business. I'm like. I'm trying to tell like, that ain't it. People gonna feel like you scamming.

[Ty Harris]

No, for real.

[Interviewer]

You've been doing Texas 20 years. Just leave. Make a commercial, man. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Mobile. Anyway.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, hold your arms, take a picture. We coming.

[Interviewer]

I record.

[Ty Harris]

All right. Real.

[Interviewer]

But yeah, man, I. I think it's been one of my favorite things to kind of like, discover personally how supportive Texas is when it comes to entertainment, but also how, like, you may not have never. Never heard of a from Texas, but that doing well out there. And I was like. Cause without. Without Hashi, without Tick Tock, I don't discover Hashim. Without Hashi, I don't discover you. But then it also opened me up to, like, he shouting out a lot of people in these songs. It's all, let me go check that person.

[Ty Harris]

Hashi is so smart. He do his due diligence to all the legends. Like, he just dropped something with Twisted Black, who from Fort Worth, who's a legend in Fort Worth, who's right across the street from Dallas. He. He do his due diligence with Bomb B. He go out to Paul Wall. He. He definitely hits all the biggest Texas folk, and they all just embrace him with open arms.

[Interviewer]

Well, it's an understanding that, like, you respect. He put respect on home first, man, and that's big. It's crazy to think that A came up in his first album. His first hit is a. A anthem. Most gotta work their way up to Anthony, you know what I'm saying? His first an anthem and that whole room. And then you did, like, when y' all did the piano version, I'm like, well, this slap, too. These got going on over there. These have to play the piano, too.

[Ty Harris]

I'm telling you. I'm telling you. And then he hopped his ass behind the piano. Like, he playing that whole two. He said, no, I want to be right here, Todd.

[Interviewer]

I said, all right. Yeah, man. Shout out. Good man. Yeah. Have. As far as evolving the sound of. Because one thing that could happen, you know, this is me being real with niggas. I always try to keep it real with niggas when they got a sound, is that there's always gonna come a point of evolving the sound. Have you ever thought about, like, kind of incorporating an entire band around what you do? You wanna focal. The centerpiece of it.

[Ty Harris]

I wanna skip a step up and go. A whole orchestra.

[Interviewer]

My. I was gonna work my way up to the.

[Ty Harris]

You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. I wanna. I wanna skip a step and I want to be able. Because that'll be another foot in Dr. Pruitt mouth.

[Interviewer]

No, bro, revenge is a. Is a healthy motivation.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

I ain't. I with it.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Waking up in the morning, bruh, you

[Interviewer]

pull up with the suit with the long. Yeah.

[Ty Harris]

With the tail on it.

[Interviewer]

Long tail on that and Fl out

[Ty Harris]

and get the going on there. Have a choir and the. In the orchestra candles.

[Interviewer]

And that gonna be so Candle like orchestra, man. That'll be so gangster. Go. Yeah, make sure you do that.

[Ty Harris]

And shout out Jeezy for doing that. I gotta tell you, I'm really. Knock that out the park when I do it.

[Interviewer]

I'm already knowing, yeah, it's what you do.

[Ty Harris]

It's gonna be different.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, man, I think the idea of it. But we've seen things like this before. We've seen Alicia Keys, you know her. We've seen several, you know, princes, and we. It's been several artists and entertainers that have utilized the piano but not made it focal or the focal point of the sound the way that you have. And honestly, bro, you just getting started. Like, you ain't. You're. I know personally just from how I've always, like, tracked music and how people appreciate my taste is because, like, I could see some shit way before it go where it's supposed to. So the fact that you already got it, you. You working shows, you got your team, you traveling, bro. That's the beginning of the shit.

[Ty Harris]

Appreciate it.

[Interviewer]

You know what I'm saying? When you got down in a state or in an arena, you know, the good. The good acoustics in that, and we

[Ty Harris]

got the sound system.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ty Harris]

Live Nation actually like me instead of just Toler rating me.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. You know, honestly, too.

[Ty Harris]

I love Live Nation. I appreciate Live Nation, man.

[Interviewer]

He like. God damn it, right?

[Ty Harris]

I appreciate Live Nation, man. I love Live Nation. I love y', all, man. Y' all are beautiful, y'.

[Interviewer]

All. Let the artist be the artist, man.

[Ty Harris]

Nah, Cool. Love y', all, bro.

[Interviewer]

Man. Cause what's that like, Like a symphony?

[Ty Harris]

How.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, like that symphony hall that's going. That's bruh, bro. Like, those spaces need hip hop in. Yeah, but we need to evolve the sound. Okay, so it's this artist out here named Baby Kia, and he made what they coined Atlanta drill music. Yeah, but I was telling, like. But this is not drill music. This is punk. These is actively making punk rock music. If you was to put a guitar up under this, you. You'll change the whole way you view the music. Because a lot of Metalhead, they talk crazy at. They talk about worshiping Endeavor, killing people and all type of. But because the guitar in it and they white, it's like, well, this is just. This is just kids expressing themselves.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, it's kind of like the Eminem effect, you know, because rock and roll, of course, was made by a black man, and then it. It evolved into other things. And then when. When a black man says something, is this. But then when the white man says something, it's cool.

[Interviewer]

Of course.

[Ty Harris]

But then, like, same thing with rap. Like. Like, before Eminem, niggas was rapping about gangsta shit, but it wasn't there. You know, niggas was cool. And then it was Eminem that kind of took it over the top to be able to talk about kidnapping his motherfucking baby mama and shit.

[Interviewer]

Well, I would say this.

[Ty Harris]

Talk to me.

[Interviewer]

The genesis of rock and roll in America is Sister Rosetta Tharp and Chuck Berry.

[Ty Harris]

Chuck Berry, exactly. So.

[Interviewer]

And then you got niggas like Elvis stole Chuck Berry whole FL flow.

[Ty Harris]

Right. Stole Autumn.

[Interviewer]

Now, listen, when we talk about Eminem, we got the acknowledge horror core that came out of Memphis early 90s. Way before then, we're talking about worshiping the devil. So Eminem was light, but that's such a. That's such a specific regional thing that was going on. This how we get three Six Mafia, right? So, like, Gangster Pat and Tommy Wright III and, like, Gangsta Boo. Yeah, all these, like. It was these women and men. They was rapping. They was using the triplet flow like that. What they. With the Migos? Basically, my D were going crazy.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And they were talking about some dark, like, kidnapping your ass, tying you up, chopping you up, kidnap your kids.

[Ty Harris]

Trajectory of that. And then when Eminem.

[Interviewer]

But, but so when you. Because when you can paint, because Eminem can take that, and then put the Jason Voorhees mask on, and now it's just a character. But, like, when do they like, to take it literal so they can demonize the whole thing. Yeah, but see, the fact that D were actively like, yeah, we is demons and worshiping the devil, and they was on some, like, they were just, like, off.

[Ty Harris]

But look at. So then in the start of it and the acceptance of it, and then now you got really out here saying they demons.

[Interviewer]

Like, you see what I'm saying? It always evolved. And it's important for, like, to know where it started, right?

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

But also, like, to. So you can look back. Because you can look back and involve some. You can look back and make some better. Really. If reinventing the wheel ain't the thing to do, just like, put a new tire on that. That's it.

[Ty Harris]

All this has been done before.

[Interviewer]

It's all been done before.

[Ty Harris]

Little Richard was rapping, rapping and playing the piano.

[Interviewer]

You feel me?

[Ty Harris]

Little Richard was rapping.

[Interviewer]

It's just not. But it's. But this is rap before we know it's to be rap. You know what I'm saying? But these are just. Because it's all music and it's all like, bro, it's structured, you know?

[Ty Harris]

I mean, richer too, huh? Elvis stole a little richer.

[Interviewer]

Elvis was one of the biggest thieves, bro.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Like, one of the biggest thieves in entertainment we ever seen. But really what it was is them wife was just feeding them other. Like, he was a performer more than anything. But even. Even down to his dance moves, he was still in that. So I think about that in the sense of, like, you know, first of all, you know, congratulations. Appreciate you on your success so far. Appreciate you. But also, you know, niggas need to get their flowers when you are innovating in a new space. And I think that you'll start to see a lot of people come behind you. You know what I'm saying? Whether they give you the credit or not, in this era, this is something you started.

[Ty Harris]

I'll be seeing it, too. They be tagging me and everybody that play the piano now.

[Interviewer]

And I'm like, man, that hard, bro. But I. I think you, you know, you could get to a place of being a composer and not rapping.

[Ty Harris]

Now we get. I'm. We almost classical.

[Interviewer]

I'm telling you, bro, it's in you, bro. You studied it, and now you can. But to be able to control the sounds.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

That are being played.

[Ty Harris]

I would be a maestro.

[Interviewer]

I want to be a maestro, man. I can see it. Yeah. Go down the dog.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah. Real like Bugs Bunny.

[Interviewer]

You feel me? That's what I was seeing in my head.

[Ty Harris]

Real buddy in that ho, doing that real shit.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, buzz there, boy, you excited for your show tomorrow, man?

[Ty Harris]

Th percent I'm scared. I'm nervous.

[Interviewer]

But that mean you want to do. That mean you want to do it, right, Right? I'm excited they got nervous, man. I'd be a little weird. Like, boy, you going to go out there and winging, ain't you?

[Ty Harris]

No, we ain't going to win.

[Interviewer]

When ain't nervous. Like, I get nervous before, I, I, I would say I'm a little more laxed about interviews. I used to get real nervous, but now it's just like, we just talking. Yeah, but shows, it ain't never going to knock. I'm always nervous. It's too many people out there, bro. It's so many eyes on you, bro. It's just like, God damn.

[Ty Harris]

And it's so many, like, elements that you can't control. Like, I don't know what's going on in the crowd. I don't know what's. I don't know if the tech is right. I don't know if the mic's gonna fuck up. I don't know if it's like, the last show, everybody was. Everybody was calling me Lauryn Hill or Dallas because it took a while for the bitch to start. The whole time I'm behind the curtain listening to everybody. Like, when it all gonna start? When y' all gonna start? I'm like, bro, we trying to find this microphone situation.

[Interviewer]

Situation, man, my first show, bro, the mic just went out.

[Ty Harris]

Damn.

[Interviewer]

I'm in the middle of talking.

[Ty Harris]

I've been there.

[Interviewer]

I can't stop talking. I just threw that down. I was like, can y' all hear me on My Mama? I started projecting in that mom, I've been there. And they was like, we good?

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

I was like, don't even It. Yeah, don't even worry about it. I' ma just walk this stage and project. They can hear me. It's cool. Cool, man.

[Ty Harris]

It.

[Interviewer]

We ain't getting no video.

[Ty Harris]

Music went out and I just had to go full Kanye mode. Like, hey, everybody, let's just sit down and have a conversation real quick. I just said everybody, man, I want to talk to y' all about the state of the world.

[Interviewer]

You gotta. That's the thing about entertainment. The thing. The unpredictable part about the live shows, like, can go wrong. Technical difficulties is just something you're going to experience.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

But the ability to adapt to it and not freeze, bro. That's how you know you solid, bro. Now you know you doing what you're

[Ty Harris]

supposed to be doing battle tested type.

[Interviewer]

Hell yeah, you better be. What's your. What's your. What's been your favorite city? Or. Or just show that you haven't done so far. I'm gonna get into some of the very generic ask the rapper questions.

[Ty Harris]

Damn. I would say Dallas. Cause that's home. But nah, Dallas was the first show with the grand piano, so that's a special place. Atlanta's my first show with the grand piano in another state, another city. This my second show with the grand piano ever.

[Interviewer]

That's hard.

[Ty Harris]

I went on tour with Snoop Dogg in the Midwest, and I was performing in front of a whole bunch of white folks.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, Snoop Mega now, man. Yeah. And crazy.

[Ty Harris]

What was that. What was that first one? The first city we did. Damn, I can't remember.

[Interviewer]

Damn. How many. How many shows y' all been doing? God damn, boy. I've been working.

[Ty Harris]

That was the second Lincoln. Nebraska was the second Nebraska. Nigga. Corn Huskers. Nothing but white folks.

[Interviewer]

And I thought it be states out here. I be forgetting about like Nebraska the nigga.

[Ty Harris]

I'm telling you now, I didn't. Like I said, I'm so black and I'm so. Whoa, me black at the time that I didn't know. I thought food stamps was just for us.

[Interviewer]

Oh, man, that's the biggest trick they done played on, bro.

[Ty Harris]

I got this song called Food Stamp Baby. And I was so nervous to play this because I ain't think none of the. None of the white folks, they know it 100%.

[Interviewer]

They the biggest recipients of food, bro. You know that the welfare queen is a white woman, bro. Sh was really finessing the. Out the government. I did not notice furs and all type of shit. Like, what the fuck?

[Ty Harris]

I was so ignorant.

[Interviewer]

Coming up out them niggas. Food stamps and welfare assistance, bro. She was going crazy.

[Ty Harris]

Oh, my God, nigga. I went on stage and I was so nervous to perform that song. And I had the in ears for the first time, so I really couldn't hear shit. And I said, man, if you know something about food stamps, make some noise. I was nervous and I heard the

[Interviewer]

roar that was like, hell yeah, brother.

[Ty Harris]

My.

[Interviewer]

Oh, yeah, we like him.

[Ty Harris]

And I sang that damn song for. About Food Stamp Baby. And then after the show, when I was doing meet and greets for the first time ever, and them white people was coming up to me, I really appreciate you for the Food Stamp song.

[Interviewer]

I was like, damn, bro. I'm telling you, y' all on that too. But it's America, bro.

[Ty Harris]

I did not know that.

[Interviewer]

You know this thing, this, this one of my favorite things about America is that they know how significant poverty is. But there's just like so easy to put it on a certain group of people.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Where it's like, bro, all he broke. Oh, bro, the majority of the country up, man. So that's why like, you know, I get white folks all the time. Like hit me up like, bro, I know I'm not your intended like audience member, but like the you be saying is that I be trying to tell where I'm from because they're poor. So they making about racing. It's like, now this about Claire, bro. We all broke like the. And, and then like he told me specifically who's not doing the voice note. And he was like, like he got to a point where he getting tired of just hearing say racist shit. And then he was like asked his uncle, like, his uncle always talking shit about black folks and immigrants and shit like that. He was like, name one black folk or immigrant that you know,

[Ty Harris]

couldn't.

[Interviewer]

And he couldn't. And he was like, so how the fuck you hate people you don't know, ain't never been around, you don't got no experience. And he was like, but then when they say some shit on the news that you don't agree with, it's fake news. But when they say something you do agreement, then it's gospel. Like that don't make sense, bro. And that he said his uncle was ready to fight with that bro, man. And I'm like, oh, good on you, bro. You know what I'm saying? Good on you. Shout out to you.

[Ty Harris]

Keep it up. Take that. Good on you.

[Interviewer]

Keep it up. You know what I'm saying? But I think our, our the struggle is universal.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

You know, it's like poverty don't discriminate, bro.

[Ty Harris]

It don't.

[Interviewer]

You know what I'm saying? You born into that. They don't discriminate.

[Ty Harris]

All that woe me ass that we be doing in our community, we got.

[Interviewer]

I think the thing is we don't realize most, most people in America don't realize how much they got in common with other Americans. Which is crazy because we all grew up on the same entertainment. We all grew up with the same in the underneath the same political system. It's strategic about how it affects us.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

But it doesn't change the effect. And you'll see a lot of parallels throughout lower income neighborhoods regardless of whether it's a project example.

[Ty Harris]

Exhibit A, Food stamps.

[Interviewer]

You Know what I'm saying? All that trailer parts, same shit, you know what I'm saying? Broken homes, low income housing, drug addiction, violence. Violence like a motherfucker.

[Ty Harris]

Yup.

[Interviewer]

So school systems, public school systems, all that. Yeah. I'm thinking about collaboration. Right.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

I know you've done a lot of collaborative things. I would say my favorite on the album is of course, the one with you and the king, Mali, the Holland Wolf. Because y' all nigga was just snapping.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Like. But do you have, like, dream features? A dream collaboration, Especially in the space of like, instrumentation and things like that.

[Ty Harris]

Aniko. They. They so damn hard.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, for sure.

[Ty Harris]

Beyonce.

[Interviewer]

There you go.

[Ty Harris]

Texas thing. Who do I want to work with?

[Interviewer]

For real?

[Ty Harris]

I go from Megan Thee Stallion to. And I got. I want one with. Go for one with Paul Wall, but I really want one with. That's a great question. There's a lot of politics involved in this question too. In my mind. Not in the question, but in the answer.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, Understood.

[Ty Harris]

Hold on.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, you gotta go live with that answer.

[Ty Harris]

That's why. Just shot to the top. Beyonce. Beyond Beyonce.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, I like that, man. For real.

[Ty Harris]

Dochi. Yeah, I work with Dochi, of course. Kendrick Lamar. Yeah. Yeah. Those are my final answers. Texas.

[Interviewer]

What about as far as growing up in Texas?

[Ty Harris]

How you say that? I wanna. I don't wanna disrespect you in one way. Yeah, Toby. I want to work with Toby.

[Interviewer]

Oh, yeah, that'd be hard. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was. I'm asked, like, as far as growing up in Texas, what's your Texas inspiration? And then what's an inspiration that people might not expect?

[Ty Harris]

Inspiration that people don't. I don't expect from Texas.

[Interviewer]

No, just outside of Texas. Texas is, of course, that's home base. You know, we. We always inspired by where we grew up. And I saw maybe not what people expect, but just something outside of your. Of what you grew up in.

[Ty Harris]

My inspiration as far as, like, what I'm influenced by or just what inspires me to be making this damn music. Diane Warren. Yeah, Diane Warren.

[Interviewer]

That's the answer. I was.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, Diane Warren, a crazy songwriter, did a lot of songs for a lot of movies. One in particular, Armageddon. Don't Wanna Miss a thing. Tough. But she's also worked with everybody in the industry, from Lady Gaga to Jennifer Hudson to everybody. But the thing is, I got to see at an early age what Diane Warren can do. Very, very much so. Up close and personal. Being in her establishment at RealSongz. When I was five, Chris and I was five years old, looking at all her trophies and shit and seeing the way she do things. And we used to go back and forth on the Asteroid game before she even knew I was the little kid that kept breaking her damn arcade game records and shit. Like, Real talk, Diane Warren. I think she fucked my head up, up like. Yeah, I am one. Definitely a big inspiration to me.

[Interviewer]

That's hard. Yeah, man. All right. This is my last everything from the pink cassette tape.

[Ty Harris]

Everything. The kitty, hello Kitty pink cassette tape. Because she needed to do everything the same way she did when she first got the first hit. Like everything About Dying Warren. Her work ethic and. And everything about Dying Warren. That was a big inspiration.

[Interviewer]

Shout out Diane Warren, man.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer]

This is my last generic question.

[Ty Harris]

This is.

[Interviewer]

This is a question I ask everybody. That's that do music. If you could. If you could. You got. You. You. You got a track. You producing a track. You not on this mother. Well, you could be on it, but you producing the track. You got to pick who make the beat. 2. You got two verses. So who do first verse, who do second verse, who do the hook? You pick any foe. You got to pick a producer, two artists.

[Ty Harris]

Okay.

[Interviewer]

And who do the hood. So it's total of four.

[Ty Harris]

So I'm going to DJ Khaled, this thing.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, that's a dj. It's a DJ Khaled vibe.

[Ty Harris]

All right, all right. So for my producer, I got none other than the exquisite Topher Nate, my big brother. I don't think nobody, industry or not, can with my big brother on making beats. No way, no how. The best 10,000 hours in can can out beat, make any toe to toe what you want to do. I got Chris, I got Topher. So he's the producer. I'm gonna assist that though.

[Interviewer]

But

[Ty Harris]

I got. I got Topher as my producer.

[Interviewer]

I got.

[Ty Harris]

I got Top. I got my big brother as my producer.

[Interviewer]

I'mma help the though, you know what I'm saying?

[Ty Harris]

You got kids, a father first, you know, but

[Interviewer]

he gotta leave at 10, you know what I'm saying?

[Ty Harris]

My name got, you know, he knows, but yeah, him on the verse. On the first verse. We gonna pop it off with K do Kendrick Lamar. We on the hook. We got on the hook. Who we got singing hook or we just Wanna. We got K Dot on the first verse. I'm really liking this new 21 Savage album.

[Interviewer]

Damn me up with that one, cuz.

[Ty Harris]

You know a would think a want a singer in the on the hook, but not really. I like the way 21 cadence is on, on.

[Interviewer]

On the hooks, he go crazy. So you got tougher producing K Doc

[Ty Harris]

intro got the first verse.

[Interviewer]

Savage on the hood.

[Ty Harris]

On the hood.

[Interviewer]

Who closing it out?

[Ty Harris]

Who closing that? I'mma stick with it and I'mma go unorthodox because knowing my brother, he going to do a beat switch like how he did on Howlin Wolf. Then on my second verse, I got Beyonce crazy.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, go ahead and get the Grammys ready. Yeah, I like to do this because I get to do it too. So I got Alchemist producing the track.

[Ty Harris]

Okay. Shout out Alchemist, Erica by doing they shit going.

[Interviewer]

Cause y' all in here. I'm gonna show y' all some love in Texas. I got sauce on the first verse.

[Ty Harris]

Got sauce on the first verse.

[Interviewer]

On the second verse, I got Yondro.

[Ty Harris]

Okay? My girl got a girlfriend, man.

[Interviewer]

On the hook.

[Ty Harris]

See this hook where it's tricky?

[Interviewer]

That hook where it get a little.

[Ty Harris]

That hook always tricky. You need a hit. You need a hit.

[Interviewer]

My fur mind got to be the trusted mind, cuz when the clips drop, push T always do the hooks. So I'm going go push a T on the hook.

[Ty Harris]

Push a T on the hook is insane. Okay?

[Interviewer]

Not even getting a ver. Just a hook, okay? They going to be like, damn, he should have had a ver. Then we gonna go deluxe.

[Ty Harris]

LeBron say we're gonna hit him two more.

[Interviewer]

Go give him two more. That LeBron really thought he made the deluxe. LeBron.

[Ty Harris]

Innovation. My. What we was talking about innovation.

[Interviewer]

He's not even telling two times. Some new boy, that LeBron. Hell, man, this is last year too. I'm telling you.

[Ty Harris]

Is it really?

[Interviewer]

He already. He said, I think yesterday or the day before that, if they got back to backs, it's always gonna be TBD for him. I said, yeah, he done. Cause he ain't never talked like that in his career. But he trying to preserve. I think he wanna. I'm gonna keep it real, man. We finna see it after the All Star break. He want that fell, that farewell tour, and it's much deserved. So he can't just retire. He, you know, he's the greatest.

[Ty Harris]

Well, arguably.

[Interviewer]

So I don't want, you know, he arguably the greatest. He's definitely the greatest of his genera of this generation.

[Ty Harris]

I think he the goat, but whatever.

[Interviewer]

I mean, me too, man. But sometimes I be watching them Jordan highlights and I be like, God damn. Then they got insane.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, but you know, the game evolves, bro. Yeah.

[Interviewer]

That nigga LeBron a machine.

[Ty Harris]

The game evolves, my nigga. This 40 year old doing this.

[Interviewer]

You know what man? It's one of the greater debates. It's it. I think that's my favorite. It's like arguing about that ain't no

[Ty Harris]

answer to it, bro.

[Interviewer]

That's why men. That's how become friends. Real. Like we can argue about that. Don't mean that cuz. Like whether regardless of who the best of this is, is all them paid. And as long as the get that chip and as long as the go hall of Fame, he go it forever.

[Ty Harris]

I guarantee you.

[Interviewer]

Because I hate when I'm talking to A and a go. But. But Kareem. Shut up. Can nobody tall that, bro? Listen bro. Charlotte was hitting you with a he 72 with a sky hook. How you gonna block this? Can't block that, man. My new ball was shooting threes and seven. Seven.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Ass shot that go from here. I'm from Nigeria.

[Ty Harris]

I'm not arguing about sports no more. My. I'm not arguing.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, But I think LeBron finish you that farewell tour after the goddamn Allstar break. And I ain't gonna hold you. I'mma hoe a. If I don't get the ticket to the house game. I'mma ho somebody. I'm a fan.

[Ty Harris]

Is he still gonna be with the Lakers though? His farewell tour? Is he still.

[Interviewer]

It'll be fine for him to get traded to Cleveland.

[Ty Harris]

If he go out in Cleveland, it'll be cool.

[Interviewer]

The only be little trade, little six month contract farewell tour. They could do it. He got the money. He don't need nothing.

[Ty Harris]

The only thing better than getting another going to Cleveland would probably be LeBron going to the Mavericks.

[Interviewer]

And see. No, you can't do that. We can't put another jersey on this.

[Ty Harris]

We can, bro. Cuz the Mavericks. The nigga that beat him for real. Yeah.

[Interviewer]

We beat that legacy.

[Ty Harris]

No, that's the only one. You gotta come.

[Interviewer]

That's some old. That's like. That's like LeBron joining the Warriors. You can't go if you can't beat them.

[Ty Harris]

Join them.

[Interviewer]

You can't.

[Ty Harris]

That's true. That's true.

[Interviewer]

You see what I'm saying?

[Ty Harris]

We was the first to beat the super team with just a regular team.

[Interviewer]

I'd be forgetting man. Dallas had that goddamn European. Yeah, Shadow was going crazy too.

[Ty Harris]

My. My German partner.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. You know what I'm saying? That dirt with hell, bro. The.

[Ty Harris]

He got a black wife and he. He came to the game with the.

[Interviewer]

With the 10 4. Was with that what? Yeah, that Monte Ellis Was on mavericks, too, in 2011. No, not in 2011, not that year. But it was like a few years later. Yeah, Monte Ellis was on the warriors. And I only care about. He was on the original Warriors.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, the blue.

[Interviewer]

The. The orange and blue.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer]

Him and Jason Richardson.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, Jason.

[Interviewer]

Jason Richardson. That's my favorite thing.

[Ty Harris]

Davis.

[Interviewer]

This used to be the bro. I'm saying. Baron Davis cold nigga, bro.

[Ty Harris]

Now they used to whoop our ass in the first round. Oh, my God, bro.

[Interviewer]

This the thing about sports, like, especially basketball back in the day. It's like it used to be teams like them, they might not win no Chip, but you know, they cold like they cold ass team. And then you got Jason Richardson.

[Ty Harris]

Oh, we was just talking about that before we got here. Ain't no Real in the NBA no more. The only real aunt.

[Interviewer]

But listen, bro, like, that's.

[Ty Harris]

That's why the league doing like when LeBron leaves.

[Interviewer]

Like, I'm gonna tell you what it is, bro. It's cause these is second generation basketball players and their mamas is bad True. When your mama a bad bitch, you ain't gonna be good at basketball.

[Ty Harris]

Damn.

[Interviewer]

Your mama got to be from the. You know, your mama gotta be KD mama, man.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer]

Your mama gotta be able to braid your hair on the sidelines.

[Ty Harris]

Allen Iverson mama straight up.

[Interviewer]

These folks ain't from for real.

[Ty Harris]

They not got all the international lab play trying to be weak.

[Interviewer]

You a little goofy like you look good. You. You very fundamental. Yeah. Cause you. Your mama white. Like you got structured play. Like just good. He's good at basketball. But then nigga ain't no Hooper, for real, you know what I'm saying? He Mr. Fundamental, you know what I'm saying? He Dunke with two hands, nothing real. This nigga's a rim grazer. He ain't no high flyer, you know what I'm saying?

[Ty Harris]

Shout out my Tim Duncan, but.

[Interviewer]

Shout out Tim Duncan, Virgin Islands, man. The big Fundamental, you know what I'm saying? Shot it pushed up with the barbecue slippers on and was balling on y' all stuff. Real fundamental, you know what I'm saying?

[Ty Harris]

Shout out we ain't got no Real

[Interviewer]

in the league no more, man. That over with, bro.

[Ty Harris]

They always trying to nerf.

[Interviewer]

My mama's fine and paid and goddamn bbls and, man, come on, bro. You need a mama that been through some, bro.

[Ty Harris]

She smoking black and mild.

[Interviewer]

Your mama out front of the arena smoking a new part 100 real. Your mama in the car outside the arena. Hitting the joint.

[Ty Harris]

They don't know what that's like.

[Interviewer]

Like, y' all mama is walking in the stadium with Starbucks and that. You ain't gonna hoop when you built like that. Them be good to hell, though. They be good at hell. Legit. Not the same, bro. Like, it ain't gonna be no malice in the palace. You don't got that dog in them. But that's why, you know, that's why forever don't matter what football always gonna be that boy cuz don't can be trying to kill each other on that, man.

[Ty Harris]

They got some hybrid niggas in football.

[Interviewer]

But even still, like, it's still not the same, bro. Cause, like, the thing is, bro, I don't think we'll never see, like, another Brian Dawkins.

[Ty Harris]

They changed the rules for these BBL baby moments.

[Interviewer]

Brian Dawkins was like a Christian. He be like, thank you, Jesus. Like, he attacking nigga head off. Thank you, Jesus. Bro, this nigga is crazy. Yeah. It ain't enough. Like. Like a. Like, they changed the rules, though. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They trying to. You know what I'm saying? Because CTE have a Out here telling you and Collector. That's what CT do to and Collector.

[Ty Harris]

That what he said.

[Interviewer]

Oh, the said heavy on the end, man. She shot him like, what? He was like, yeah, this is my word. She said, oh, okay. I. I swear to God.

[Ty Harris]

All right. I ain't even seen that hoe yet. What's wrong with this?

[Interviewer]

Made up a word on the spot. Shout out to it. I love for that. I love for that. Because this is just ego. This ego mixed with some. Yeah, I'm just making a world.

[Ty Harris]

He just.

[Interviewer]

He just trademark that word.

[Ty Harris]

Innovation.

[Interviewer]

My cause. I'm telling you, in a year. In a year, that gonna be a verb.

[Ty Harris]

Damn.

[Interviewer]

About a year from now, this gonna be a verb, man. Ty, man, appreciate you, man.

[Ty Harris]

I appreciate you, bro. Thank you. I love this platform.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, bro, I appreciate you, bro. I. With your movement. I'm all the way tapped in with the movement. So definitely when we can get you back out here to get you on new music Monday for sure. So you can drop some bars on you.

[Ty Harris]

Let's do it, man. Come on. Let's do it. And if you're in Dallas,

[Interviewer]

I'll be there this year. We're going everywhere. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Before we go, though, make sure, you know, plug anything you need to plug. This your camera right here. You know what I'm saying? You just go live and direct Precise

[Ty Harris]

Tax Business Solutions 45, 51 Southwest Moreland, part of Oak Cliff. Come get your taxes done. We all tax repairs. Come on down. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, a thousand percent, man.

[Interviewer]

Man, tell people where to find you, bro.

[Ty Harris]

Mama ty here is 32. But if you need them taxes, then I got that too.

[Interviewer]

God damn.

[Ty Harris]

It's tax season, baby. Come here. What you think fund this organization? Rap music, nigga. We in the street. No, we in Texas.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Ty Harris]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Straight up, man. Shout out to Ty Harris, man. Go get your Tyler. Go stream pushing keys. Go to his YouTube. Watch all his videos. Go tap in. Learn you something new. Shout out to Texas.

[Ty Harris]

Dallas, Texas. Oak Cliff.

[Interviewer]

Shout out Dallas, Texas. Oak Cliff. This has been episode 100 and something. You know, we don't be knowing the numbers. We just know it's coming out. We'll see you next time. I just want to rap. Yeah. They say without the proper labor, faith don't stand a chance. I put my faith in faith and stand on fertile land I planted seeds Adeline deed turning the trees before Rest in peace tease get printed to me.

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[Interviewer]

Close your eyes, exhale. Feel your body relax and let go of whatever you're carrying today.

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[Ty Harris]

And breathe. Oh, sorry.

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[Ty Harris]

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