Meet Tai Verdes, who is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with. At the beginning of the pandemic, he was ‘still’ an essential worker at Verizon and has eventually hit the ground running when he released his first track ‘Stuck In The Middle’ - ever since, his journey has skyrocketed, and his streams are going up consistently. After the success of his debut single, which made it as one of New York Times’ Best Songs of 2020, he also collaborated with Kiana Ledé on a part-two version of the song which went viral on TikTok.

While the track may have properly introduced Tai to a global audience, his creativity and passion for music has existed way before - growing up, he played the guitar, piano and the ukulele. “I try to keep myself super grateful of my opportunity because in reality, I didn’t really start as a 9-5 worker. I think when you think of a 9-5 worker, you think of someone who doesn’t have opportunities”, Tai shares when I ask him about his journey since ‘Stuck In The Middle’, and emphasizes on the privilege of coming from a supportive background and how impactful he believes education is throughout: “You know, both my parents are college educated. I was able to take piano lessons since I was like 11. And I’ve been able to take guitar lessons. I’ve been able to go to private school, public school. Even though I didn’t finish college, I was able to drop out of college and make the decision to go pursue something in the industry. I had an iPhone since I was like 11, you know, I knew how the Internet was working very early on. But yeah, for me it was just seeing how many people in the industry right now don’t have that opportunity. And obviously with my background of, you know, video editing and understanding like the language of the Internet, like, of course I’m going to win.”

Now 26 years old, Tai didn’t actually record his first song until he was 22 years old, but the ideas have always been in his head, even if they didn’t turn into a song. “The thing is, I’ve been writing songs for a minute, but not really writing writing. It was more like writing hooks and never finishing them, like I never finished the whole song. was just like putting down ideas”, he explains to me, and clarifies that he is the “only one that has my voice, so I take the majority load of all the songwriting. But if someone has a good idea or if someone says, Oh, this word is better than this word, and I agree with them and have no ego. But a lot of the time I can, if I wanted to, get 100% every single song, you know. But a part of me likes working with others in general just because everyone has different perspectives - it brings different things out of me” when I ask him if he now enjoys writing with fellow songwriters.

“I love TV. I don’t know why. I’ve watched the office like 22 times all the way through. ”

- TAI VERDES

In case you haven’t noticed, his brand new album HDTV is out now, and marks the follow-up of his critically acclaimed debut album TV last year. While the latter has cemented Tai as an artist to watch (and not to forget, debuted at #3 on Billboard’s Heatseekers album chart and #5 on Spotify’s debut album chart!), this release portrays a new chapter for the rising artist, as the genre-blending body of work - stacked with captivating self-produced melodies, poignant lyrics and compelling vocals - once again showcases his gigantic talent and proves that he is certainly here to stay. With ‘TWO SUGARS’ being the lead single, Tai reflects that this track in particular is “the overall theme of the album. It’s having, you know, sugar - it makes you feel great, but also can make you feel shady at the same time. And I’m just equating that to my journey with love in general, just having a love that’s made to last or a love that’s, you know, more physical and fleeting. And I go through all of those processes. But that’s the artsy shit, you know, like that’s for the people who want to dig into it.”

When I ask him how his creative process was for his sophomore project, he says: “I’m a producer and artist, basically, my production is all over this thing. And I think that’s what I really wanted to do - share what my production style is. I work with the most talented people. I want my shit to sound expensive. So, you know, that’s how I’ve been going for it. It’s just working with the people that I think are cool and curating. Kanye West, that’s what he does. So I’m just basically taking that land map and just rewriting it my style.” I’m intrigued to know what comes first for him though - is it the production or songwriting? Turns out, it totally depends. “It depends on what I like”, he admits. “Sometimes I have some ideas that I like. I be walking down the street and be like, Oh, this is a great lyric. I think, you should always write it down in your notes after you hear something in conversation”, which already leads me to my next question about his song-writing process. “Sometimes it comes spontaneously. Sometimes I’m sitting down and I’m working over every single lyric. Sometimes it comes to 2 hours. You know, we work on the production side more than I did the writing side know. So it’s just like I just don’t try to force anything,” Tai states, but confirms that he actually has a pretty healthy balance when it comes to knowing when a song should be finished. “I always try to not force the song to be something else, but I always try new things like if I’m not in love with the song that I’m experimenting, you know, I think that all my words are valuable, but I just have to say them in the right way. I feel like I have a really healthy balance of the way that I want to write songs right now. I don’t have any ego with my words, but I do want to make the best I can make it.”

If you’ve been to the annual, hugely popular, Reading & Leeds Festival this year, you may have seen Tai perform in the packed-out BBC Radio 1 Dance Tents. “I think that kind of shows how much progress we’ve made at this point. And also just to see how much people were excited to be out there so early is kind of telling,” Tai reminisces about his experience of performing there. Festivals won’t be Tai’s only performances this year though - in fact, he is about to embark on a tour, which will see him perform in sold-out venues in Canada and the USA - and hopefully in the UK and Europe very soon as well (“We’re going to be trying to figure out a Euro tour soon, too. It’s going to be great.”, he said. So, European fans, stay tuned! From album promo to touring North America, it sure sounds like Tai has a pretty packed schedule ahead. Naturally, I’m wondering how he stays ‘sane’ and what he enjoys doing in his down time - turns out, we both have re-watching The Office a thousand times in common! “I love TV. I don’t know why. I guess even though I put in the name, my albums, I’ve watched the office like 22 times all the way through. I’ve re-watched The Last Dance, Michael Jordan’s documentary. I just really love seeing that production side of things.”

For now, go stream ‘HDTV’! You will not regret it one bit.

Watch the visual for ‘Two Sugars’ -

Follow Tai Verdes : @taiverdes

Credits:

Photographer: Castro

Art Design: Lazy Goat Club

Words: Antonia Kuenzel