The fast-rising career of 25-year-old St. Paul rapper and singer Taylor J is proof of the good things that can happen when an artist carefully balances quality and quantity. Taylor’s steady flow of projects, standout collaborations with artists ranging from Gucci Mane to Nipsey Hussle to Next singer RL, and the other moves he’s executed have made him a highly respected artist in his native Midwest and beyond. Over the years, Taylor has also earned praise from prestigious publications including XXL , HotNewHipHop , Fake Shore Drive , and many more.
A lifelong lover of music, Taylor had musical aspirations from
an early age. He first started writing raps when he was only 11, and he loved to sing along to songs from the early 2000s; he laughs while remembering his funny habit of spontaneously belting out
Lil’ Mo’s “Superwoman.” Later on, during his teens, Taylor took to battle rapping and formed a short-lived group called Midwest Mafia while attending his St. Paul high school. After graduation, Taylor was finally able to pursue music on a more consistent basis. His work soon began to pay off.
Taylor started to consistently unleash full-length mixtapes and EPs at the top of this decade. By the time of 2012’s star-studded Control mixtape, hosted by legendary hip-hop journalist Shaheem Reid, Taylor was collaborating with and holding his own alongside big names like the aforementioned Gucci and Nipsey, as well as Cyhi the Prynce and Fat Trel; the project also featured production from Jazze Pha, Honorable C.N.O.T.E, and the late Speaker Knockerz. While that level of acceptance from elite names might tempt some young artists to ease off the gas and enjoy their buzz, Taylor kept working, releasing more projects in the following years: Clubs, Drugs, and Hotels ; Peer Pressure ; King Taylor ; and 1991 just to name a few.
In 2016, it was revealed that Taylor had hit it off with Lex Luger, the influential super-producer who changed rap forever with his early work with Waka Flocka Flame and, later on, Jay-Z, Kanye West, and many others. It wasn’t like Taylor had to beg Lex to work with him – not at all. Rather, the pair’s creative relationship was purely organic; Taylor and Lex had mutual admiration for each other’s artistry. That translated to the success of their first project, T he 91 Family , which has since totaled 5,000 downloads on DatPiff and tens of thousands of plays across other platforms. A second installment of T he 91 Family is also planned for the future.
Finally, in June 2017, Taylor released his debut album and best project to date, the consistently strong W ho Would’ve Thought . In addition to instant bangers like “Five Times,” Taylor focused on lyricism and telling his story in detail on songs like “Impossible” and “WWT.” Who Would’ve Thought woke up a lot of listeners who had previously slept on Taylor. “I’m more than happy with everything about that album,” he says. “I just know that that’s a great body of work.”
Taylor followed up Who Would’ve Thought with the Coolin Till My 2nd Album Drop EP in November 2017 as an appetizer ahead of his sophomore album, Only Us . In fact, by then, Taylor had already planned out his entire 2018 – which is unsurprising considering that he’s an artist who consistently maintains his focus and vision for himself.
While he’s explored different sounds throughout his career, Taylor summarizes his music as “a collective of reactions to my reality. All my experiences, everything that’s my reality, that’s what all my music comes from – even the sound, not just the words. I just gotta catch the vibe first. It’s real feeling. It’s all of my emotion wrapped in one ball. With that being said, it could go anywhere.”