More recently, he continued to supply Drake with darkly exultant beats, on “Rich Flex,” the rapper’s collaboration with 21 Savage that earned Tay Keith his second Grammy nomination in 2024, and on “What Did I Miss?,” the 2025 single that retreaded the rapper’s skirmish with Kendrick Lamar. It was Tay Keith’s final major hit, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 last summer. Any comprehensive look at hip-hop’s evolution over the past decade will have to acknowledge Tay Keith’s work. Here are his eight most essential songs.
BlocBoy JB featuring 21 Savage, “Rover 2.0” (2018)
Tay Keith produced for several Memphian stars in the early stages of their careers, including Pooh Shiesty, Key Glock and Blac Youngsta. Of this crop, he is most closely associated with BlocBoy JB thanks in part to the success of the 2018 single “Look Alive” featuring Drake and the mixtape “Simi” from the same year. “Rover 2.0,” a standout from the project, sees BlocBoy JB skipping around the beat’s thump with an infectiously melodic hook — a typical approach to Tay Keith’s productions.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
Key Glock, “Russian Cream” (2018)
“Russian Cream” was the culmination of a relationship that began in the cafeteria of Hamilton High School in Memphis, where Tay Keith and Key Glock were students. The sparse production gives extra fidelity to two of Tay Keith’s signatures: surreal key melodies and a knocking bass drum. It was also a standout showcase for Key Glock, who nimbly pivots from a stretched drawl to a triplet flow on the track released two years before his studio album debut. “Russian Cream,” which is certified triple platinum, remains Key Glock’s most successful single as a solo artist.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
Travis Scott featuring Drake, “Sicko Mode” (2018)
Tay Keith’s breakout year centered on a troika of anthems with Drake as the lead or featured performer: “Look Alive,” “Nonstop” and “Sicko Mode.” The most successful of them was “Sicko Mode,” a No. 1 hit with a three-part structure and seven credited producers. Tay Keith helmed the song’s final third, when the track pivots from distorted 808s and regains pace sampling the Miami-bass classic “I Wanna Rock (Doo Doo Brown).” The rappers pick up the gauntlet, delivering singalong phrases (“out like a light”) and an insider reference to private jet terminals that stuck in listeners’ lexicons.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
Metro Boomin’ featuring 21 Savage, “Don’t Come Out the House” (2018)
Tay Keith cited the Memphis group Three 6 Mafia as an influence, and here he effectively evokes the crew’s horrorcore elements. This standout also benefits from a game 21 Savage, who spends most of his verses taunting and threatening (“Shut your damn mouth ’fore you drop”) — in a sinister whisper. The whole affair is over the top, but it’s the song that stuck: On an album from the hit-making producer Metro Boomin’, Tay Keith landed the project’s highest-charting track.
