#MonstersUnderMyBed is the first new Tay-K full-length in nearly 10 years. Written and recorded entirely during his incarceration, the album grapples with his lengthy prison sentence and rough upbringing, but there are plenty of harder hitting tracks that stick to the formula established by songs like “I <3 My Choppa” and “Hard.”
Named after the satirical Boondocks rapper, “Gangstalicious” features a gnarly Good Intent instrumental, a roiling bed of sub-bass and incessant hi-hats. “No one understands me, they don’t get it / I’m cool, you cool, what’s the difference?” Tay shrugs on the hook. He doesn’t even spit a verse on “Gangstalicious:” instead, that honor goes to 1900Rugrat, one of several Gen Z rappers Tay-K shouted out in a jailphone interview earlier this week. Never a lazy lyricist, 1900 is especially locked in here, clearly aware of the heightened stakes and reach of this specific feature. “Straight off the top, it ain’t never written,“ 1900 growls. “Tote on your block, spin it like a fidget.” Later: “Free Tay, and bitch, free Melly / I was in Talla’ beatin on my celly.”
1900Rugrat’s presence here might seem unexpected, but considering the Florida rapper’s past experience in juvenile detention and his less-than-squeaky-clean upbringing in Limestone Creek, it’s not too hard to understand why Tay-K might see him as a sort of kindred spirit. Tay-K is also a big fan of Nino Paid, who told The FADER of his friendship with 1900Rugrat, “I’m a person from the trenches at the end of the day,” saying he can’t, “fake relate” to rappers who don’t understand where he’s coming from. I have a sneaking suspicion Tay-K feels similarly.
“Gangstalicious” might not be explicitly about Tay-K’s background and present circumstances, but these realities cast long shadows over even the most playful songs on #MonstersUnderMyBed. I keep turning over the first line of his repeated hook: “Sometimes I / be tripping, and I’ll be the first / to admit it,” his halting cadence unfurls. It’s an oddly introspective, even slightly deprecating line, and wildly at odds with the life-threatening bars that follow immediately after.
That doesn’t undercut the song’s snub-nosed appeal, but as with much of #MonstersUnderMyBed, it feels nigh-impossible to separate Tay-K’s art from his life. After all, he first crossed our feeds not as a member of local rap crew Daytona Boyz, but as a 16-year-old doing “The Race” in an attempt to elude murder charges. It’s been nearly a decade, and Tay-K still raps as dynamically as he did in his teen years. But listening to #MonstersUnderMyBed, I get the feeling that our society’s voyeuristic appetite for violence hasn’t changed that much either.
