How T-Shyne Got Kevin Durant to Executive Produce His YSL Debut

Young Thug has a knack for identifying talent. Just take a listen to 2021’s Slime Language 2 and you’ll see for yourself. The compilation album highlighting the ATLien’s Young Stoner Life imprint features all-star performances from the likes of Gunna and Lil Keed, while also helping to introduce the emerging YSL members to the masses. One of the shining stars on the project — which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart — is T-Shyne.

The Granada-born, New York-bred rapper first made a name for himself with cosigns from TM88 (the producer behind Lil Uzi Vert’s “XO Tour Llif3” and Drake’s Future and Young Thug-assisted “Way 2 Sexy”) and records like “Andre 3K.” However, after linking with Thugga, T-Shyne has been taking things to new levels. 

T-Shyne officially joined Young Thug’s dream team in 2020, following years of building a friendship with the eccentric rap star. “We built up a family bond before I even signed,” says T-Shyne. “I went on tours and all of these things before I even signed. We really built a relationship. Like even before Thug knew I was making music that was my mans.”

Those family vibes led to a few alley hoops for T-Shyne. Thug commissioned Shyne’s lyrics and melodies for several tracks including, “Stressed” – the J. Cole-featured standout from Thug’s recent No. 1 album, PUNK.

Prepared to further prove that he can stand on his own, T-Shyne recently delivered his sophomore project, Confetti Nights. The 15-track project houses the singles “Top 5”, “30 for 30” and “Feed The Fam” as well as contributions from Gunna, Meek Mill, Nav, JID, Swae Lee, and producers like Wheezy and Supah Mario. Confetti Nights was also executive produced by the one and only Kevin Durant. 

“The thing about KD and Thug is that they give you their honest opinion. They are just going to tell you how they are feeling and keep it real with you, which is what you want, right? You don’t want someone just being a Yes-man all day,” says T-Shyne.

On the eve of the release of the anticipated Confetti Nights, T-Shyne chopped it up with ONE37pm about the inspiration behind his latest project, building with Young Thug and Kevin Durant, NFTs, and giving back.

ONE37pm: What’s behind the title Confetti Nights? 

T-SHYNE: The inspiration came from this photo of Kobe Bryant that I saw. It’s of him after he won a championship. He got his hands out wide and a bunch of confetti is falling down on him. I just thought that was a dope picture and I just wanted to create that vibe, you know? 

ONE37pm: Do you feel like you’re in that championship type of mode at this stage of your career? 

T-SHYNE: Just feeling like a rookie in the game that built his way up. Obviously, there’s still a way to go, but for me, this is that feeling right now. This is the first project under YSL, so you know it’s that feeling. 

ONE37pm: How does Confetti Nights compare or differ from your debut project The Immaculate?

T-SHYNE: It’s just so much growth. I’m hitting a lot of different styles and melodies on this one. The lyricism is crazy. You just see the growth 100%.

ONE37pm: How did Kevin Durant get involved with Confetti Nights?

T-SHYNE: We really just started talking on Instagram. After that, we met at Rolling Loud NY. From there we just became cool. Obviously, when you build a relationship with someone you get cooler and I was just like it would be dope if he did the project. 

ONE37pm: Walk us through what KD Executive Producing your project looks like? 

T-SHYNE: He’s pulling up to the sessions, really giving his opinions on what he thinks of the songs. He’s really there. It’s not like some “I need your name” type thing. 

ONE37pm: One of your last major standout features was “Stressed” off of Young Thug’s PUNK. Knowing that J. Cole was on that record, did you feel the need to come even harder? 

T-SHYNE: Most definitely, because you know he’s going to come with one of those verses that you gotta keep up with. You know what I’m saying? It wasn’t pressure, but it was just knowing that you’re on there with Cole and Thug. That’s two legends already, so you gotta do your thing. And when people hear this song they are going to be like “Who’s this?” So you gotta do your thing on there. 

ONE37pm: Were you excited when you heard the response to the record? 

T-SHYNE: Ahh man. Definitely. That was amazing. 

ONE37pm: I first came across you and your music with the record “3K.” In what ways have you evolved as an artist since then? 

T-SHYNE: I understand the type of music I want to do better now. I understand what I want to do. I understand the sound I want. Like I was saying earlier, it’s just growth. I’m just exploring different lanes and everything now. You know what I’m saying?

ONE37pm: You’re signed to YLS, but you had been working with Thug for a while before signing, what made you want to make that relationship official? 

T-SHYNE: We just naturally built a relationship and as he realized I was making music he was like, “bro you dope.” That’s really what it was. 

ONE37pm: Artists oftentimes have to plot those types of things out like “I have this relationship, how can I make it more official?”, but with you, it was an organic thing. How did that feel? 

T-SHYNE: Man, it was just dope. Like I said, that's like family. I wasn’t expecting anything, so just having somebody like him wanting to sign me was just amazing.

ONE37pm: Tell us about what inspired the “Feed The Fam” initiative, where you gave out free meals to families in need in The Bronx? 

T-SHYNE: Just living in the Bronx and being around the people and community. I feel like the Bronx is one of those boroughs that people kind of forget about. And it’s a beautiful place really. When I was there I didn’t really have much going on. I was down bad, really broke. So just to be able to give back felt good. I know how it was for me out there.  

ONE37pm: You’re also doing one in California. Is this something you’ll continue to do moving forward? 

T-SHYNE: I definitely want to keep doing it and continue to bring that love to different communities. 

ONE37pm: You were born in Granada, spent time in the Bronx, and made a name for yourself in ATL — how has spending time in these very different environments shaped your sound? 

T-SHYNE: It’s just experience. Like if you’re just in one place all the time, what you may talk about and see is just going to be different from when you’re just all over. The vibe in the Bronx is going to be different from the vibe in Atlanta or the Hamptons or LA. So you know it just brings me into a lot of different vibes. And it’s something dope when I create. 

ONE37pm: You’re active in the NFT space. 

T-SHYNE: Yeah, I’m definitely rocking with it. I think it’s great. If you don’t know anything about it I would say just do your research first. A lot of people just jump into it and think it’s going to be some quick money. That’s not necessarily the game. Sometimes you might hold on to it for a year and the next thing you know it just blows up. It just depends. Some things will go up right away, but not everything. 

ONE37pm: How did you get introduced to NFTs? 

T-SHYNE: My boy had actually told me about it. He was trying to put this thing together. That was the first time I heard about it. I didn’t know much about it. But I started becoming interested. And then I did my own research. Then I realized this was a good space to get into.

ONE37pm: What’s one thing you want listeners to take away from Confetti Nights? 

T-SHYNE: I just want them to hear the whole story. I want them to see from rookie year to the final year. To see the story and the come-up, because with a lot of things I’m talking about they can understand where I came from. I get personal on a lot of songs. It’s like a reintroduction type of vibe. Get to know me. After that let’s just go crazy.