Ty Dolla $ign has been on the come-up for awhile, and although he still is on his way up, he's definitely started carving out his own lane within the rap/r'n'b game. The West Coast native has been steadily dropping mixtapes, since 2011's House On The Hill, to his most recent, Beach House 2. All the while he's kept close ties with frequent collaborators like DJ Mustard, Teeflii, YG, and the D.R.U.G.S. production crew, who've had a hand in basically every tape from Ty.
Ty has progressed along with his producers, developing a distinct, melodic sound. Ty's also turned his focus to the ladies with his two Beach House projects, which only makes sense given the smooth sounds of his voice and his r'n'b-curated beats, but that's not to say dudes can't jam out to Ty-- they can, and "Ratchet In My Benz" is the perfect example for it.
Beach House 2 was full of slow bangers, and Ty proved himself to be the star on each track, even among strong rap features and ill production. The mixtape came a day before the announcement that Ty's hard work is really starting to pay off-- he inked a deal with Wiz Khalifa's Taylor Gang. It's definitely a good fit, with Ty's laid-back and fun-having style complimenting that of the TGOD crew.
With Ty on the brink of becoming something huge, now's the time to get familiar. We decided to chop it up with Ty and producer Buddah Shampoo (who is in the D.R.U.G.S. collective Ty often works with) for this edition of Track Breakdown. The two made a dope collaboration, alongside Juicy J, with "Ratchet In My Benz."
We found out how Ty got Juicy J on the track, what Buddah Shampoo was doing the day he made the beat, how the two first connected, Ty's studio essentials and more in this exclusive.
Listen and download the song in question below, then click through the images above to learn more about it.
FROM TY DOLLA $IGN'S PERSPECTIVE
On how the idea for “Ratchet In My Benz” come about:
One day I just had this girl in my Benz and we got ratchet [Haha]…
On how he connected with Juicy J for the track:
I was in studio with Wiz [Khalifa], Juicy happened to be there and I was like, ‘Yo, I got this record I think you'd be crazy on’. So I played it and he was like, ‘yeah, I’m fucking with it.’ It took him a month to send back the feature, but he sent it back like he said he would and I was excited as fuck!
On if he knew exactly what he wanted to do with the track as soon as he heard the instrumental:
Soon as I heard the instrumental, I did the song. Buddah did the beat at the coffee shop and when he came I recorded the verses and shot it to Juicy J.
On his first thought when Buddah Shampoo first played the instrumental:
I thought it was crack!!!
On how Ty Dolla $ign categorizes his sound:
Real Nigga R&B
On if his music has always been so focused on women, as it is in ‘Beach House 2’:
No, my music hasn't always been about woman. When I first started I was talking about knowledge, more conscious lyrics and then I switiched over to talking about what's going on in my life now, like dating a bunch a chics… just having fun
On if “Ratchet In My Benz” is meant to be ‘romantic’:
[I’m] not trying to make it sound romantic, and it’s not normal either. It's just like, it could happen in a car…that was one situation, but I can get romantic, with the right girl and take her somewhere fun, you know something spontaneous.
On his definition of ‘ratchet’:
Having fun in 2013 [Haha]!! The hood way of saying 'Good Times.'
On his favorite line:
When Juicy says 'For the ratchet bitches got Seagrams gin..'
On his studio essentials:
Water, marijuana, SSL mixing board, Yamaha MS10, Raw papers, grinder and a mic
FROM BUDDAH SHAMPOO'S PERSPECTIVE
On if he works with Ty Dolla $ign frequently:
Yeah, we work together a lot. He's part of our production team called D.R.U.G.S. comprised of Chordz, Nate3D, Ty$, Fuego, James Koo, DJ Dahi, DJ Mustard, Cardo, and myself.
On how they first connected:
I met Ty through Chordz (Marlon Barrow) and Nate3D, also members of D.R.U.G.S., at SpacedOut Studios [in] L.A. putting in work on Ty's first solo tape called House On The Hill.
On how the beat for “Ratchet In My Benz” came about:
I started the beat in the homie Ahmad's house while burnin’ some trees, [I] got a call from Nate saying come to the stu in NoHo and he'll pick me up from the station. [I] got off the train to find that he was runnin’ super late. I went across the street to Coffee Bean got a small coffee then worked on the beat and in about 15 minutes Nate hit me sayin’ he's outside.
On if the two worked in-studio together on this track:
Yes I walked in, press play for Ty, and it was a wrap. He fucked wit the jam off top ‘cause he likes that musical shit. He himself is a super musician. I was jus’ happy to hear another incredible song being written to my production.
On if he knew Juicy J would be featured on the song when he added the ‘Yeah Ho’ samples:
The Juicy J idea came from us goin’ back n forth in the [studio], while he was writing, I was ad-libbing the spaces where he left open. The ‘hey’ samples made me wanna say "yeah hoe" obnoxiously, so I did, and he was like, ‘yeahhh!!’ Then he said we should put Juic yJ on it and I fuckin’ agreed 100%. [I] didn’t think it would happen [but] then next thing you know Juicy's on the track and it was a go.
On what equipment he used to create this instrumental:
I used Logic 9 in my Macbook Pro. Shout out to Marcus Miller7. I love the MPC2000 and Logic mainly although I can use pretty much everything that’s around.
On how he’d describe his typical production sound: My sound is like the walk of shame you're not ashamed of taking the next morning after a turnt up night of drinking, D.R.U.G.S., and debauchery; because you know you had way too much fun!
On where his producer name ‘Buddah Shampoo’ came from:
Buddah Shampoo came from years of meditation in a trap house while burnin’ trees and being enlightened [haha].