The world faces a pandemic, US government response has been counterproductive and sickening, and America faces a new-but-same threat aka racism and police brutality. One wonders: What can I do? What part do I play in progression? To this, our featured artist says, “music has always been my superpower.”
Say hello to our Artist To Look Out For: TYMMYT.
Photograph by Miles Bitton
Timothy Trumpet, Jr., better known by his stage name TYMMYT (pronounced Timmy T) is a NY based, rapper, singer, and trumpeter from Atlanta, Georgia. When he’s not working on his solo projects he performs around town with his band The Jazz Kittens. With musical influences that include Miles Davis, Chris Botti, André 3000, Childish Gambino, and MF DOOM, his love for jazz and hip hop inspires and directs his sound.
A recent graduate from Bard College in Upstate NY, TYMMYT has steadily used his platform and proceeds from his music towards combatting racism & inequality. 100% of funds raised from his independently released EP ‘Something Serious’ (2020) went to the Innocence Project, an organization that works to exonerate the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustices.
Filled with jazzy sounds, unique drum patterns and basslines, Something Serious, which was co-produced by NY based producer DJ Ogun aka Ajani Nanabuluku, is a 4-track, 10min project that was initially intended to serve solely as TYMMYT’s senior thesis. But driven by the #BlackLivesMatter movement, the project evolved into a genuine and philanthropic gesture that brings listeners into what our artist calls his “stream of consciousness”.
Photograph by Miles Bitton
He’s been staying busy during quarantine, working on community initiatives and consistently releasing music. His collaborative EP ‘What If We Blew Up 2’ with artist noshows just dropped on July 10th, a sequel to the duo’s ‘What If We Blew TF Up?’ “We worked on this project on and off for like six months, and I would say that's the most interesting thing that I've been a part of and that I've been able to work on and create because it just is very different from a lot of the things that I usually do, but it still incorporates all of the styles and things that I love musically.”
Read more about TYMMYT below.
You describe your style of rapping as a “stream of consciousness”. What do you mean by that?
I am very influenced by MF Doom. I would always listen to his tracks and he would have these songs that were just long lines of rap, very strung together. It’s like he put his pen to the page and then just didn't let off until the song was done and then he would record it. So, that's how I basically started framing my songs. I would just keep going and say everything that I could in one really long stream of rapping – stream of consciousness essentially. It could be where I'm not necessarily talking about conscious things, but I'm still doing rapping in that style. For me, it works better because I can't really think about anything other than what I really feel in those times, so it comes off in my spirit I guess.
Is there a particular track or project in your music catalog that stands out to you most? Why?
I actually just released a collaborative EP with my good friend Max Satow aka noshows called ‘What If We Blew Up 2’. It’s actually a sequel to a SoundCloud EP that we made a while back. We worked on this project on and off for like six months, and I would say that's the most interesting thing that I've been a part of and that I've been able to work on and create because it just is very different from a lot of the things that I usually do, but it still incorporates all of the styles and things that I love musically. Like I didn't have to sacrifice anything to try to be lit or to get clout. The project just came very naturally.
What are some of your musical influences?
Aside from jazz artists like Miles Davis, Chris Botti and Charlie Parker, I would say hip hop and rap. In no particular order, I guess in terms of when I discovered these artists and became enthralled with them: MF DOOM, Andre 3000, Childish Gambino, Chance the Rapper, and Kendrick Lamar. Those I would say are the biggest five that I look to for my inspiration or in my memory of sounds that I gravitate towards. They always had something that was very different and new that would resonate with me.
Photograph by Miles Bitton
Can you talk about your latest EP Something Serious?
Something Serious actually started off as my senior thesis. I was a music major at Bard College and I really wasn't going to put it out or do anything with it other than just turn it in because that process was very hectic considering the pandemic and everything that was happening with quarantining universities in general. What really pushed me to put it out was the #BlackLivesMatter movement; being very invigorated after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. In that moment, I felt very powerless seeing all of these things happen, but I realized that music has always been my superpower. So I compiled a few songs for that EP and all of the proceeds went towards the Innocence Project. The response was amazing; we raised $1,000 in a week.
You’ve been using your platform to raise funds for community initiatives. Can you speak on some of those causes?
The Innocence Project fundraiser was the most recent initiative. I also volunteered in a coalition at Bard that calls out sexual predators on campus and supported students and alum, and even high school students that fed into the Bard program. We’re bringing awareness to this issue, trying to unite the community, hold the school accountable, and give survivors help and resources. I believe when it comes to outreach, organizing, fundraising, it’s very close to my heart as well as the circle I keep around me.
Photograph by Miles Bitton
What does community mean to you?
Lately, I've been thinking about this, and community really just means love. I know it's kind of cheesy, but it really does mean love – just caring about another human in general. It's so hard-pressed to find nowadays, to find somebody that gives a damn about somebody else that isn't their family member that isn't their longtime friend, but community is definitely love, and we definitely need more of it now more than ever.
Photograph by Miles Bitton
With everything going on presently, besides the obvious, how has life changed for you?
I'm so used to going to classes and going to work and stuff like that and everything is just from your home now, so it’s really about just finding what you want and love. Having all of this space, we're kind of breaking away from the normal; people are starting to focus on themselves in a different way than we have before. Self-care is very important, and people are able to have more time to just do all of the things that they couldn’t normally do before because of time constraints. For me, I can do more of what I want to do now.
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Interview by Rahel Tekle