T-Shyne’s time is now. You may recognize the name from his standout feature on “That Go!” alongside Young Thug and Meek Mill, found on Young Stoner Life Records’ compilation album Slime Language 2, or maybe from the more recent “Stressed” alongside J. Cole, found on Thug’s latest project Punk. Regardless, T-Shyne is declaring his place in the rap game, and he’s ready to unveil his highly-anticipated new project.
He states, “I bring something different to the table, just a different vibe. Different vibes. You could hear it on the songs that are out, and definitely the songs that are about to come out on the project.”
Hailing from New York and joining Thug’s YSL imprint speaks volumes in itself. T-Shyne is carving his own unique lane when it comes to sound, melody, lyrics, and everything in between. Now, the rising star is excited as ever to be releasing his forthcoming album titled Confetti Nights, executive produced by Young Thug and NBA icon Kevin Durant. The project is spearheaded by lead single “30 For 30,” which parallels T-Shyne’s music career to a basketball player’s trajectory from high school to the big leagues.
AllHipHop: How you been since the last time we chatted?
T-Shyne: Man, I’ve been great. Just been working on the project, finally happy it’s about to come out. [laughs] This is my first official release project-wise with YSL. You know the Covid s### and all that stuff..
AllHipHop: How long has Confetti Nights been in the works for?
T-Shyne: Sheesh, it’s been like 2 years now. But to be real, a lot of those songs that I did back then, I changed by now anyways. I got better as the time grew. I feel I was making better music. Just listening to it with Thug and KD and going over the songs, I figured the ones we picked out were the best ones anyways. But there a couple from a few years ago.
AllHipHop: What’s the meaning behind the title?
T-Shyne: It’s that championship mentality. That feeling, that Mamba mentality. The story of Confetti Nights goes from a rookie going through the seasons. At first, he might not get no playing time. Eventually, you start doing your thing and then go on to win championships. The image I originally wanted for the cover was this picture of Kobe, it’s him with his hands up and all the confetti falling down. Rest in peace Kobe.
AllHipHop: How did Kobe Bryant inspire you?
T-Shyne: That’s my favorite basketball player, for sure. Growing up as a kid, he made me love the Lakers. To this day, I’m a Lakers fan.
AllHipHop: What was your reaction when he passed? So tragic.
T-Shyne: S###, that was hard. That one, I really shed tears that day. That was hard. I remember the whole day, that s### was sad.
AllHipHop: Is Confetti Nights you winning the championship, and releasing the album?
T-Shyne: Yeah. It’s going through it and finally, I made it to this point where I can put out this type of body of work. I can shoot videos like I want, just do everything I want to do. Just that feeling of winning.
AllHipHop: Speaking of, how did you and Kevin Durant tap in?
T-Shyne: We had started chatting, we were talking through Instagram at first. He told me he f##### with me, I told him I f##### with him.
AllHipHop: Who hit who?
T-Shyne: To be honest I don’t know, but it had to do with my music. As we started talking more and being more cool, I approached him with the idea of being a part of the project and he was down. I really wanted him at first to just really hear it, then he became executive producer. That’s the homie though, shout out KD.
AllHipHop: Y’all really met off Instagram?
T-Shyne: Originally yeah, then we met for the first time in-person at Rolling Loud New York. It was 3 years ago now probably?
AllHipHop: That’s so dope to me, one of the best basketball players is executive producing your project?
T-Shyne: Definitely MVP this year. He should be, in my opinion.
AllHipHop: What was the creative process? What did he add to the project?
T-Shyne: KD is really a music head for sure. He really listens to everything, so he got a real music ear. It wasn’t just “yo, be executive producer.” He really came to the studio, he really is listening to these songs. Really saying like “Oh I like this one” or “this is my favorite,” and then explaining to me why he likes them. It was dope having him in there and having his opinion, then Thug too. Thug is also executive producing it, so it’s a good mix of both.
AllHipHop: What did Thug say about the project?
T-Shyne: Oh yeah, he’s saying this is one of the ones for sure. He’s excited, I’m excited. The features are dope, we got some good people on there. I’m definitely, definitely excited.
AllHipHop: What are the features? Do we know yet?
T-Shyne: Not yet. I can’t really… you know? There’s the obvious ones like Thug and Gunna, so I can say that. But there’s a couple different ones, something out of left field. Something you probably wouldn’t expect from me. Some good s### on there for sure.
AllHipHop: Is “Moncler” with Thug on there?
T-Shyne: No, “Moncler” is not on there. It’s another song with Thug called “Fighting Demons.” It’s gonna be crazy for sure.
AllHipHop: What’s the energy with Thug in the studio?
T-Shyne: Man, nobody creates like him. Fastest worker. Not only does he work fast, but he’s saying something too. It’s not like “Oh, I just made a song in 2 seconds and it’s trash.” Everything he does, he’s damn near good at everything. And he’s funny as hell, people don’t know that. Some people probably know that a little bit now, watching that Chillin Island s### that just dropped.
AllHipHop: What’s that?
T-Shyne: It’s this HBO special where they bring celebrities into nature. S###’s funny. Thug is hilarious.
AllHipHop: Being from New York, who influenced you? I feel like YSL is so trap-heavy.
T-Shyne: Yeah, YSL is definitely a lot of trap, but we all can do different things. If you listen to Thug, he could go so many different lanes. Gunna, Strick, [Lil] Keed, really everybody. But New York, some influences growing up from New York were definitely Biggie, Jay-Z, Nas, Dipset. That’s who I grew up listening to from New York.
AllHipHop: Best memory from creating this project with them?
T-Shyne: Just doing the songs, then seeing people’s reaction like when I play it. Really seeing their face like “damn, you really talking, you saying something.” It’s not a whole bunch of anything, it’s really cohesive. It’s their reaction to the music and hearing the whole project.
AllHipHop: Can you bring us back to when you made “30 for 30”?
T-Shyne: We were out at Malibu, I was on some basketball s### really. Felt like I wanted to do some championship sounding s###. Shout out to Nick Papz, he did “That Go!” for me, Meek, and Thug. Shout out to him, I told him to send me some championship vibes sounding s###. He sent that and right away I’m like “oh hell yeah, this is it right here.” I started going in. “30 for 30,” that’s a vibe for sure.
AllHipHop: What’s your favorite 30 for 30?
T-Shyne: Ooh, damn. l. I gotta think about that, there’s a lot of them. I don’t want to say The Last Dance ‘cause that’s too obvious. For mine, I’d have to say the Lakers versus the Celtics. It’s their rivalry. Magic and Bird.
AllHipHop: Did you used to hoop?
T-Shyne: Yeah. In high school, I hooped a little bit too. I still do sometimes with the homies, but not as much anymore because of music, naturally. Especially with Covid, it’s hard to get 5 on 5 games.
AllHipHop: How was it playing a basketball star in a music video? What was the best memory?
T-Shyne: It was a vibe. I love basketball so with “30 for 30,” I’m recreating the Allen Iverson interview, then the Allen Iverson crossover. It was fun. It was cool doing a memory of one of my favorite basketball players.
AllHipHop: Dang, has AI seen it?
T-Shyne: Oh no. I gotta get it to AI. I love AI, that’s one of my favorite basketball players for sure.
AllHipHop: How does Confetti Nights compare to your last project, The Immaculate?
T-Shyne: The growth is crazy. I’ve been doing so much more. The bars are there, the melodies are there. The songs, the hooks, everything, it’s a vibe. It’s a good vibe. It flows, like a whole story.
AllHipHop: How many tracks are on there?
T-Shyne: Right now, I’m at 16. I might make it shorter though.
AllHipHop: Is that something that Thug or Kevin would give input on?
T-Shyne: Yeah, they’ve heard it so they like where it’s at. I just also think maybe shortening it could be cool too. I be going back and forth on that.
AllHipHop: One thing you want fans to get from the project?
T-Shyne: This will be their first time to really understand me and who I am; it’s a real deep project. I talk about my family, I talk about stuff with my mom. I want them to take away that this is who I am. There’s no cap, everything is real that I’m talking about.
AllHipHop: We gotta talk about “Stressed,” because I loved hearing you on Punk.
T-Shyne: “Stressed” is crazy because that song originally was intended for On the Run, that EP that Thug put out in 2018. We did it then, it was supposed to be the first song but Cole wasn’t on it yet. It was supposed to be the first song on On the Run, it had a sample and we didn’t clear it time so we had to scrap it.
Then we went on tour with J. Cole, we did some sessions in New York with him. When we did the session, he heard that song and said “oh, I want to get on this one.” So he got on it, killed it. I’m still like damn, I hope this s### comes out. That was 2020 when he got on it. In the new one, he did some new things on there. Slightly changed a couple things, but that song has been around a little bit. It’s good that it finally came out. [laughs]
AllHipHop: What was your reaction when you heard it was Cole’s verse on there?
T-Shyne: Oh my god, I was so hyped. Bro… ‘cause we did it in New York, when he originally did it. The beat was different and everything so hearing it now complete is amazing. I’m happy that it actually came out and I got to have a verse like that on there.
AllHipHop: Given how great of a reception Punk received, how was it for you just being on the second track on the project?
T-Shyne: The first song is “Die Slow” with Strick, it’s dope being back to back. It’s me and Strick, me and Strick literally came into this s### together. We’ve been with Thug together, and we’ve been living with each other this whole time. This whole trip. Seeing my name and his name right next to each other, back to back on Thug’s album, it showed we made it to this point. We’re finally able to do this, and to do it with your brother is a great feeling. They’re both my brothers, so it’s amazing.
AllHipHop: How was the Strick Land listening?
T-Shyne: Oh man, I love Strick Land. The album’s crazy, the party was dope. So many people came out for that, that s### was turnt up. He had Rocky there, Southside, Metro, a whole bunch of people came out for that. That was dope.
AllHipHop: You gonna have a Confetti Nights, basketball-themed listening party?
T-Shyne: 100%. 100%, We gonna go crazy with the Confetti Nights album release.
AllHipHop: Bring us back when you made “That Go!”, because it’s one of my favorite songs.
T-Shyne: “That Go!” was made during Covid. Basically me, Thug, and Meek, we were playing Call of Duty during the quarantine. ‘Cause Me and Thug were playing and one day he says, “I’ma invite Meek into the game.” Meek came, so we all started talking like that. We started playing the game, then talking. Some days, Thug isn’t online but me and Meek play. Naturally, we built a relationship through there. I said “I need to have you on something for the compilation,” and he was like “I’m down.” Something was going on with his voice so he ended up sending me “That Go!,” just his little intro part. I heard it like “this s###’s hard as hell!” I did the hook, called him back on Facetime. Thug heard it, he got on it. “That Go!’ That’s one of them ones for sure.
AllHipHop: How was it shooting music video?
T-Shyne: We still didn’t even technically drop the official music video, but we shot it! The visualizer looks like a music video, but it was dope. The whole time, we did the video shoot on a jet. We had the jet. We took a jet from Atlanta to LA, then we just shot it. [laughs]
AllHipHop: How easy is it for you to record?
T-Shyne: Same type of process. Me, Thug, Strick, Gunna, all of us have a similar process with recording. We all make music pretty fast.
AllHipHop: You don’t write nothing?
T-Shyne: Nah, we just go in. I hear the beat and if the beat’s fire, then thoughts will come. I always believe the best melodies come off the top of my head, rather than trying to write. I can’t write a melody, I just go like that.
AllHipHop: Who do you listen to for inspiration?
T-Shyne: Besides the gang? I really like Adele. I f### with Adele, she’s dope. I hope one day I get to work with her. I like to listen to other things besides straight rap. I always say Adele right now because that’s somebody I want to work with. Speaking it into existence.
AllHipHop: How are those Nets games?
T-Shyne: Oh man, dope. Shoutout to KD and James Harden, they always show love. Anytime I’m in the city, I pull up on them or they pull up on me. It’s a vibe, those are the bros for sure.
AllHipHop: What are those convos like?
T-Shyne: Man, we be talking about so much. To be real, with KD, we talk about a lot of different things. In the studio, we’ll start talking about funny s###. Deep s###, just the homies. So many different thoughts. It’s dope hearing his thoughts on different things. I love that he’s back and balling the way he’s balling, going crazy.
AllHipHop: We’re in 2020, any New Year’s resolutions?
T-Shyne: [whiteleys] Just keep this s### going man. Do better than I did last year, make sure my fam in a better place than they were in last year.
AllHipHop: Any last words?
T-Shyne: YSL the biggest. We going crazy all 2022. Slatt!
