Quotes from Tay Keith

Man, Dr. Dre just inspired me so much. Just him personally, outside of music, too. You know, him doing the whole Beats thing... People like him, they set the bar high for me to set the bar even higher, you know? It's more than just music when it comes to building a foundation and building your empire.

Before I got my big hit, I was selling beats for $500.

I was DJing for this party promotion called 1st Flight Entertainment, having to DJ on the weekends and then also going to school in the same week. So I just figured out how to balance that, then make beats on the side too.

When I first started, all I had was the laptop and some cheap headphones. I ain't have no speakers. You know, no Rocket speakers or no MPC. No keyboard, none of that. It just was the laptop and the headphones. Going from there, it just teaches you a lot.

I don't want to be labeled as just a producer. Producers have little control and they get little respect. And I'm a man of respect.

When I hit 50, I want to go be a professor.

You know, as I'm progressing with my sound, I just realize when you got a simple sound with crazy percussion in the beats, it makes it. It kinda shapes my sound when it comes to what makes a Tay Keith beat.

I grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, born and raised. It was hard. I stayed with my momma, then I ended up moving with my daddy.

I want people to see me as the entrepreneur, the boss, the public figure, the person who motivates.

People like my beats because of the crazy flow with the hi-hats and the bass.

I grew up in the area where we had Three 6 Mafia, and Playa Fly, and 8Ball & MJG. My parents and my family used to listen to it. I learned from them there, and got more into it - listening to the beat of songs, and just learning more about music.

I actually got to work with TM88. He was one of my big influences as far as producing. It was pretty cool. I had met him in California at the crib and it was one of those random meet-ups and we got to working from that point on.

I feel like it took artists like Pimp C and Andre 3000 with 'International Players Anthem' - I feel like it took the Memphis sound to a certain peak but it never really broke into the mainstream.

Everything I do got that bounce to it, that addictive, repetitive sound.

I plan to retire at 50. When I'm done, I ain't touching no more keyboards.

Whatever you make from music, you invest that right back into what you want to get into in life.

I want to prove that you can go to school and still chase your dream, too.

I used to put like, 'Yo Gotti type beats,' 'Future type beats' on YouTube. And uhh, I started getting paid off YouTube. Like YouTube started giving me Google AdSense checks.

I was like 13, 14 years old. I had a Rock Band mic, and I used to record music and put it on YouTube and DatPiff. Then I started getting to producing my own music because I didn't want to keep rapping on beats I was getting on SoundClick.

We need more Memphis culture in the industry.

You gotta grind, you gotta make your way. Everybody's got their grind mentality in Memphis.

When I DJ, I got my own catalog to play in the club. I'm spinning my own records like it's my own show.

I feel like artists like Three 6 Mafia and 8 Ball and MJG reached a point in their careers where they were hot and underground.

As far as Memphis being underrated, I feel like a lot of people have slept on Memphis music when it comes to breaking through into the mainstream.