T$an Reflects on 2020 and Talks Plans For the Future

In the music industry, you have to be able to walk the walk and talk the talk, or to reference T$an in his single ‘Real Life,’ you have to ‘talk it and live it.’ Over the last few years, T$an has been definitely talking it and living it with singles such as ‘Never Mattered’ (which amassed 324,000 views on YouTube) and ‘Off-It*’ (which has almost 100,000 views). Having just released his anticipated ‘Forever,’ T$an took some time to catch up with ONE37pm’s Mike Boyd.

Boyd: Talk to us about the song ‘Forever’ and what you were thinking about when you wrote it.

T$an: To be honest when I make a lot of songs, I don’t really go into it with a thought. It just kind of makes itself if that makes sense. I record at home—I record by myself. So I just pulled up the beat—I don’t write, I freestyle. I just make the song as it goes along. I was in a good mood when I made that song. I make my best music when I’m in a good mood! That’s really what went into it. Good energy you know?

Boyd: How do you get the vibes right in the studio?

T$an: I feel like the best way to have the best studio vibe is to create a non-stressful environment. I feel like when a lot of people get in the studio, and there’s people in the booth recording, you start thinking about stuff too much. I feel like that’s the opposite of what you want to do. When you’re recording you want to be as comfortable as possible. Whether that having people around that you’re comfortable with or something else, you want to create a vibe like you’re at home. That’s why I like to record at home.

Boyd: I wanted to ask you about the ‘Forever’ video. Talk to us about putting that out and what your plan was with that.

T$an: So I shot that with my homie Yinka—honestly I just started making music not that long ago. We wanted the video production to be a big step up from the few other videos I put out, because I feel like I’ve been stepping into myself and elevating all the way. I need my visuals to show that too. So with ‘Forever’ I did a little bit of acting—we wanted to pivot and change directions a little bit. We also wanted to shoot a video that’s different from other 19-year-olds that occupy the same spaces as me would. We wanted to create a video that could get placement anywhere—something aesthetically pleasing.

Boyd: For everyone that’s new to you and new to your music, how would you describe your sound?

T$an: Most of my music is very high energy, you know that’s my thing. I rap fast and I have a lot of different cadences. My music is pretty exciting—it’s very dynamic. For someone that’s never heard my music I would describe it as high energy music that makes you want to move, but sounds good, which is the most important thing to me.

Boyd: Do you prefer L.A for making music?

T$an: I do prefer L.A. I’m not going to lie! You know what it is? Being out here everyday I’ve been feeling good. That’s the most important thing for me. I don’t make sad music, I make happy music. When I feel good, I make good music!

Boyd: Last question, what should we be on the lookout for from you? What’s 2021 looking like?

T$an: 2021 will be crazy! It was supposed to be this year but we all know what happened. It’s all good though bro! 2021 we’re  gonna be rolling out O.D. content and pressure. There’s gonna be a lot coming in 2021!

Judging from ‘Forever,’ 2021 will be a big year for T$an. Be sure to follow the artist on Instagram.