He never rapped a single bar. But for a decade, every major rapper wanted his name on their track. Tay Keith built his sound in South Memphis bedrooms and took it straight to the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
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Tay Keith was not the loudest name in the room. He was the one making sure everyone in the room had a hit.
Born Brytavious Chambers in Memphis, Tennessee, the Grammy-nominated producer spent a short but remarkable career shaping some of the most recognisable songs in modern hip-hop. He was found dead on June 18, 2026, in his Nashville apartment after officers performed a welfare check. He was 29. Nashville police said no foul play was suspected, and his death remained unclassified pending autopsy results.
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Tay Keith was born in South Memphis and discovered his knack for production at age 14, learning at home while uploading beats to audio streaming platforms. His introduction to music came from within the family. His mother’s husband at the time was a DJ, which first exposed him to the craft. On weekends at his father’s house, his brothers and neighbours would record music on the computer.
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After moving to Raleigh in North Memphis, he met fellow rapper BlocBoy JB at age 14. The two began making music together shortly afterward. In 2015, Keith began working with rapper Blac Youngsta on his mixtape, contributing production to early tracks. These were not mainstream moments, but they were where the sound was being built.
His lean, snaking production style crept into the mainstream in 2018 with a trifecta of Top Ten pop hits. First came BlocBoy JB’s “Look Alive” featuring Drake. That single peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Then came Drake’s “Nonstop,” which almost crowned the Hot 100 chart.
But nothing matched what came next.
“Sicko Mode” by Travis Scott, another Tay co-production, topped the Billboard Hot 100, earned Grammy nominations, and achieved diamond platinum status. That single cemented him as one of the defining producers of his generation.
What made 2018 more remarkable was what he also did off the studio floor. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from Middle Tennessee State University that same year, becoming the first in his family to graduate college. At his graduation ceremony, the face of his graduation cap listed the hits he had produced at the age of 22.
Tay Keith had a producer tag that became instantly recognisable across hip-hop: “Tay Keith, f these nas up!” It preceded some of the decade’s biggest songs. His sound was rooted in trap but carried a Memphis rawness that mainstream producers rarely captured.
He earned 11 top 10 hits and four number 1 records on the Billboard Hot 100. He also holds the record for the most number 1s on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart this decade, with six.
His collaborators read like a roll call of the era. Alongside Travis Scott and Drake, he worked with Eminem, Sexyy Red, Lil Baby, and co-produced a bonus track from Beyonce’s live Homecoming album. He also worked with 6ix9ine, DJ Khaled, Polo G, and Lil Nas X.
The industry took notice. He was nominated for a Grammy in 2019 for “Sicko Mode” and again in 2024 for Drake and 21 Savage’s “Rich Flex.”
BMI named him Producer of the Year at its R&B/Hip-Hop Awards three times, most recently in 2024, recognising his work on “First Person Shooter” by Drake featuring J. Cole, “Meltdown” by Travis Scott featuring Drake, “SkeeYee” by Sexyy Red, and “Circo Loco” by Drake and 21 Savage. He was also named BMI’s R&B/Hip-Hop Songwriter of the Year in 2018.
Despite the global reach of his work, Tay Keith stayed connected to where he came from. He played a vital role in uplifting a generation of Memphis artists, including BlocBoy JB and Black Youngsta. In the early 2020s, he helped launch Sexyy Red’s career with her breakout single “Pound Town.”
BlocBoy JB, one of his earliest collaborators, responded to news of his death on Instagram Stories. He shared photos of the two as teenagers, alongside a screenshot of their call history with the caption: “We talked every day. Yeen tell me you was leaving.”
At the time of his death, plans were in place to create a scholarship in his name, with galas to fund it and a programme that would trace his career path from Memphis to Nashville, Atlanta, and Los Angeles.
Tay Keith was 29. He had already made enough music to fill careers twice that long.
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