By Katharina Moser
“In the kitchen and it´s taysty” – that´s the characteristic trademark words you might find when listening to songs produced by nobody else but Taysty himself, the notable producer and self-proclaimed tastemaker who has been shaking up the music industry for years. But taste is by far not the only thing that the experienced producer can pride himself on – it is also the extraordinary ability to create sounds from scratch, to literally make something out of nothing, with nothing else but the workings of the creative mind.
It is a late morning in autumn-time US, and Taysty can finally catch a moment of calm, having just returned from being on tour for a year almost non-stop. But not for long: “I´m busy working on a lot of ideas and have many cool projects on the way”, says the producer. He has been in the recording business for over ten years and worked with household names like Gucci Mane, Rich the Kid, Yelawolf, Caskey, Denzel Curry, Riff Raff, Famous Dex and many more. “It started out as a hobby for me, and at first I just did it for fun, rapping and freestyling with friends when I was still a teenager in high school. For that we needed beats, and at that time it wasn’t easy finding beats on the internet, so I just started doing it myself. I got a program on my computer, sat down in the garage, and tried to make some beats”, Taysty recounts the beginning of his journey. He started to take producing seriously about five years after that.
Just like for a rapper or rock musician, making a name for oneself in the music industry as a producer is anything but easy. “It`s very difficult. Or maybe I should say, it´s easy and hard at the same time. When it finally happens, you think – wow, that was easy. But getting your foot in the door and having an artist really trust you as a producer is really difficult. It takes a lot of networking. Obviously, your beats need to be good, but it’s a lot more than that: you have to be a people person, they have to like you. And if they don’t like you, they may not even care what your beats sound like”, describes Taysty. With the digital revolution also transforming the music industry, however, kickstarting a career as a producer has gotten a little easier. “Before that, you had to link up with a label and need someone to introduce you there, making the connections. But now it all happens on social media. You can really make an online presence for yourself, and hopefully your video catches an online algorithm, and artists see you and want to work with you. Or you reach out to them directly, and hope they answer you.” Taysty has been an independent producer all those years and building himself a reputation without the help of a label. “It´s been an interesting journey. It´s awesome to be your own boss, being able to do your own thing. But it comes with a price. I´m working all the time: sending out beats, mixing, mastering, recording, touring, DJing. It never ends. It’s a non-stop grind. But being independent is awesome”, Taysty agrees with a grin.
All this hard work paid off when Taysty got to produce Yelawolf and Caskey´s collaboration album “Blacksheep”, which dropped in 2021 and whose immaculate lyricism and raw streetstyle beats sent a shockwave through the genre. “Producing the Blacksheep album was an incredible experience. Every song they sent back to me I probably played like 30 times because I was so geeked about it”, Taysty recalls passionately. “It was incredible even just to watch those guys when they wrote their verses. It was almost like they were going at it, rapping back and forth at each other. Of course it was a collaborative album, but it felt like the two guys stepped into the ring and confronted each other with their best verses. It was an honor to be a part of that. The album really sent a little quake through the industry, and for me it was a life changing experience.”
“My job is creating the landscape for the artist to express themselves”
Taysty
Given the accolades the Blacksheep album received, the trio is working on “Blacksheep 2”, as Yelawolf had announced earlier this year. “Blacksheep 2 is in the works”, confirms Taysty. “I´m not too sure about the release date yet. We have got about ten records right now, and four of them really blow your mind. We are probably going to do a second session on it at the end of this year or beginning of the next, because right now, Yelawolf is working on his own double album. When we all find some time, we will get back to finish it. We want to make sure to make it as much of a hip hop milestone as the first one was.”
While the Blacksheep album bears the name of its two artists, Yelawolf and Caskey, on its cover, it would be a mistake to underestimate the creative impact Taysty as its producer has had on the work. “I think I have a huge role in bringing together whatever the artist is dealing with or going through at that moment. Part of my job is creating the landscape for the artist to really express themselves – their emotions, their energy, whatever they have to say or want to convey to the audience”, Taysty says. “I definitely have a huge impact on the creative process. Hopefully every beat I send to an artist evokes an emotion in them, or inspires them to do something they have never done before.” Listeners tend to forget how much the producer contributes to a work of art. “Producing is a lot of time and effort. It takes hours before the artist even puts in lyrics. And then on top of that, aside from just the production, you have to manage your network, send out beats, getting them mixed properly, having your brand and business in order – a lot of things people don’t consider. They just hear the drums and beats and melodies and think it´s as simple as that. But it is an entire skill set”, Taysty makes clear.
Taysty´s typical sound is hard-hitting beats, 808, and trap drums, which he loves to incorporate into all genres. He has, however, extended his skills set from producing to music engineering as well, mixing and mastering sounds. For that, Taysty is also grateful to Caskey, who he owes a lot of inspiration too. “He is a huge contributor to my evolution as a producer. It´s been a wonderful journey.” Of lately, Taysty has also started DJing and has been the live DJ for Caskey´s set on both his tour with Doobie and his latest tour with Yelawolf. “This was a whole other world for me. It was cool being thrown into the mud like that. It was a blessing in disguise, having to learn a whole new skill set. So that’s where I´m at now: I picked up engineering, picked up DJing – it´s been quite an evolution.” Taysty is also working on some solo projects, doing some own rap music and EDM.
Indeed, it is this versatile and creative mindset that has proven to be essential for his exceptional producing skills. Many hip hop artists only start working on their lyrics after having listened to a beat – the producer developing these beats, however, has to start the song from scratch, with nothing but sound ideas in mind. A song starts with a beat, which starts with the producer – who starts with nothing. And is thus tasked with one of the hardest tasks of all: to invent sound.
But where do ideas for sound even come from? “I think a lot of it comes from listening to many different styles of music. I listen to all genres and I really study it. But also just experiencing life plays an enormous role. Going to the beach, hanging out with family and friends gives you life inside of you, and this is what you bring the studio”, Taysty ponders. “The combination between the influence of the music around you and the life you experience – you just express it and put it on the paper. It´s really weird starting with nothing, but it´s actually my favorite part”, he says. “At the beginning, I used to hate it – you don’t even know where to go from. Now I love starting from nothing – just having the free range of everything you can possibly make out of it. And making the decision where I want go with the song, after I lay some sounds down or find a loop melody.” According to Taysty, a producer builds up their own toolbox of decisions and directions to go with the sound. “This toolbox grows bigger and bigger over time, until you know exactly what to do in every scenario. And that comes with experience. The emotions I put in – the music I listen to and the life I experience – that’s the root of it.” Taysty tries to produce music that he himself would enjoy to listen to. “I think a lot of artists and producers have this same approach. They are inspired by other songs and styles and want to create something new out of it. That’s how many artists are born – by creating a fusion of different sounds and styles they love to hear, mixing them in a way that hasn’t been done before. My creative process in a nutshell is being inspired by all different kinds of genres, and then coming back to the drawing board to bring it together, to see where I can take it.” For Taysty, learning to start from scratch, gathering the courage to begin with nothing, is a breakthrough as a creative. “And once you got it, you embrace it.”
Just as tricky as to start a beat is to know when to finish it, to intuitively know when the work as a producer is done. “That’s the magic to it. Producing is based on the classic ´less is more`. In a lot of hit records, there is not much going on, but at the same time every piece is so important to the overall song. If you take one piece out, the song loses quality”, Taysty has realized. “When you start out with producing, you just add as much as possible and try to blend it together. But when you get better, you realize that you don’t need too many sounds, because then there is no room for the artist. You have to master the art and magic of taking things out, of finding the most fundamental pieces. Keep it simple. You have to cut edge and ensure the listener doesn’t feel overwhelmed.”
Taking out and taking oneself back indeed appears to be a key to successful producing – especially when the artist wants the producer to make changes to the beats and sounds. If an artist wants a change, a good producer is open for it, says Taysty. “At the end of the day, it’s the artist I want to put the spotlight on. I love getting credit for my work, but I don’t want to be the front man of every record I work on. So if the artist has a vision and thinks it sound better with this, I´m always open to try it, and half the time they´re right. It´s nice working with artists who are just as open as me. I never try to argue, though. At the end of the day, it’s the artist´s vision and story, and I want that to be the priority, not my beats.”
As a producer, Taysty has made clear, a grand idea for a song also requires an understanding for the workings of sound, a certain meticulousness and attention to the technicalities of beats, drums, and melodies – an entirely different way of listening to music. “I try to be a fan first. Because as a creative, you easily lose a genuine perception of music”, Taysty says. “Once you start making music yourself, you think about it as a creative, not as a fan. You start to study the music. Why did the artist bring the hook here and not earlier? You look at it like a scientist. And it kind of takes the joy away as a listener. So I always try to just listen to music and enjoy it, and while I study it, remind myself of that.” Sometimes, he says, he takes himself to concerts just to get that fan feeling again. “So that when I come back to the drawing board, I think, as a fan: what would be awesome? And then I try to create that.” With this, his partners and fans are certain, he has always succeeded.
The Wrapper 