Interview Tay Butler

After making his name on a series of underground mix tapes, Milwaukee rapper Tay Butler recently released his full-length debut, Tay’s Anatomy, which he describes as “Eastern-Midwestern hip-hop with a southwest touch.” It sounds convoluted, but that description is actually just about right. Tay’s Anatomy cherry-picks the best elements from hip-hop’s most prominent scenes, plucking straightforward beats, deep bass lines, and old-school soul samples. Together they provide a solid foundation for Butler’s buttery flow. In advance of his show tonight at Stonefly Brewing Company, Decider caught up with Butler to talk Milwaukee hip-hop and his plan to outlaw “not serious” rappers if he ever becomes mayor.

Decider: Tay’s Anatomy is your debut record. Are you happy with it?
Tay Butler: Yeah. It got rough due to some situations in my personal life, but I’m very happy. I worked on it for a year and a half to two years, recorded a lot of songs, and took the best 11 that conveyed the message that I was trying to convey.
D: And what is that message?
TB: My overall message is to not only tell people who I am, but to try to healthy up the underground hip-hop scene in Milwaukee. It’s really tainted right now. We’ve got a lot of talented people, but there’s a lot of segregation, a lot of politics, a lot of “I’ll like you if you like me.” There’s a lot of artists not taking it serious—that’s a lot of the problem.
D: On “Umbrella’s Up,” you say, “I was engaged to the game, but I gave back the ring / Honestly I hate rap, I wish I knew how to sing.” Does that sum up your feelings about hip-hop right now?
TB: That’s more of a Milwaukee frustration than an overall hip-hop frustration. When you walk up to someone in Milwaukee with a CD, and you tell them you’re a rapper, the expectations go all the way down to the floor, and they’re almost disgusted that you walked up to them. That’s from being handed so many CDs in the past that were just terrible. It’s like, “Another rapper!” Probably 70 percent of the young male population in Milwaukee raps, and that’s too many people.
D: Why stick around the city if you’re frustrated with Milwaukee?
TB: Well, I’ve got two kids. That’s first and foremost. The music for me is evolving from a hobby to something I’m trying to make serious. Now that I’m doing this real project and getting some positive response for it, we just keep taking baby steps toward something bigger. For me, success will not be getting a record deal, or getting on TV or the radio. Success for me would be to influence one or more people doing it in the city to take it more serious, and do it a little better than they’re doing it. That’s going to make 10 other people do it better, and 10 other people do it better, and on and on until the scene improves.
D: You’ve described your music as “Eastern-Midwestern hip with a southwest touch.” You’re literally all over the map. What do you mean, exactly?
TB: I was in the military for eight years, and I’ve been to Texas, I’ve been to Iraq, I’ve been all over the place. I just got back from L.A. I’ve got a lot of friends from all over the place. I’m privileged and blessed to see hip-hop from every corner of the nation. I’m not that close-minded person who says, “Well, hip-hop is only East coast, 1990s style, boom bap, with a bookbag on.” And I’m not the dude who says, “Well, hip-hop is only down south, Young Jeezy and T.I., that sort of stuff.” And I’m not the dude to say, “Hip-hop is only Chicago, conscious rap, Common and Kanye, blah blah blah.” I like all of it. I’ve got a track that can probably play a lot better in clubs like Nostalgia on the North side, where they like their stuff with more of a southern bounce. At the same time, I’ve got my lead single which is a little more soulful.
D: Do you think Milwaukee hip-hop has a signature sound?
TB: I don’t, and that’s good and bad. It opens the door to people like me and Haz Solo and Prophetic, and everybody can do what they do and have their following. It’s only bad because it makes it hard for us to get nationwide recognition. Nationwide, for some reason it just has to be something they can latch on to.
D: You call yourself Tay 4 Mayor. If you actually were the mayor, what would be your first act?
TB: If I was the mayor, I would make guidelines for music in the city. You’ve got people who aren’t serious clogging up space and making it harder for people who are serious. So, I would make rules for these nightclubs as far as who they can let perform.