Hitmaking Producer Tay Keith Dead At 29

The hitmaking Memphis rap producer Tay Keith has passed away. His regular collaborator BlocBoy JB shared the news of Keith's death on his Instagram story, writing, "We talked everyday yeen even tell me you was leaving." WSMV confirms that he was recently found dead in his Nashville apartment. No cause of death has been reported. Keith was 29.

Tay Keith was born Brytavious Lakeith Chambers in Memphis, and he met local rapper BlocBoy JB when both of them were teenagers. They started making music together and posting it online, and some of those songs became viral hits. That got Drake's attention, and Tay Keith produced Drake and BlocBoy's 2018 collab "Look Alive," which reached #5 and went quintuple platinum.

Tay Keith's sound, a rumbling and elemental take on classic Memphis underground rap, brought something out of Drake that he liked. Soon afterward, Keith produced Drake's hit "Nonstop" and worked on Travis Scott's chart-topping Drake collab "Sicko Mode" — all before Keith graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 2018. His signature drop — "Tay Keith, fuck these n***as up!" — became a signal that you were about to hear something nasty.

Over the next few years, Tay Keith worked with stars like Beyoncé, Eminem, Lil Baby, Future, and Lil Nas X. He co-produced another Drake chart-topper, the 2022 21 Savage collab "Jimmy Cooks," and he helped introduce the world to Sexyy Red when he produced her 2023 breakout hits "Pound Town" and "SkeeYee." Check out some of his work below.