There is no man more ubiquitous, no man more in demand in hip hop than Ty Dolla $ign. With melodic instincts second to none, he appeared on roughly 50 songs in 2015 outside of his debut album Free TC. A true hook maestro, he is proof that in the music business, the hook is where the money is made. The hook is what butters the bread.
Let's celebrate Ty Dolla $ign's supreme hook skills. Click through the gallery to listen to 10 essential Ty Dolla $ign hooks: five on other artists' songs, and five on his own songs.
YG - “Toot It and Boot It”
YG ought to wake up everyday and thank god for Ty Dolla $ign. Ty produced and wrote the hook for YG's breakout hit "Toot It and Boot It" that had the LA radio on fire during the summer of '09. Ty sampled the bass line from The Association's 1966 song "Songs in the Wind."
Wiz Khalifa - “You And Your Friends”
A hooksmith par excellence, Ty$ has a talent for finding the right melody on any beat. His chemistry with DJ Mustard is particularly natural, and it shows on Wiz Khalifa Man's light-hearted club anthem "You and Your Friends."
Diddy - “You Could Be My Lover”
Ty Dolla $ign most likely did not pay bass on "You Could Be My Lover." But given his proficiency at bass guitar, he is certainly in his element singing opposite a vintage slap funk bass line. He is the reason that the track is possibly the best on MMM. PS -- the introductory speech in this video is hilarious.
YG - "Sorry Momma"
"Sorry Momma" exemplifies Ty's versatility and shows his soul upbringing -- he grew up listening to Earth, Wind, & Fire in heavy rotation.
"I'm sorry momma/ Let me take some weight off your shoulders."
Bobby Brackins - “Faithful”
Ty thrives in the role of the dude with whom girls cheat on their boyfriends. The title of "Faithful" belies its true nature, which is the ways in which Ty (and his friend Bobby Brackins) facilitate infidelity without trying. They place the onus on the women here... they don't seem to feel too guilty though.
"My Cabana"
On his popular 2012 track "My Cabana," Ty$ ponders the number of hoes he can pack into his cabana as if it were an SAT question. He never reveals the answer, but judging by his lyrics boasting that he has lassoed women of nearly every ethnicity on the planet, the exact number is very high indeed.
"Paranoid"
#TyDollaProblems involve arriving at the club only to realize that your main chick and your go-to sidepiece are both in the building. That is the premise of "Paranoid," Ty's first major radio hit. It is songs like these that earned Ty's particular brand of hip hop/R&B fusion the moniker "ratchet & B."
"Or Nah"
Ty's ability to bring his id to the surface provides great appeal to some (and disgust for others). No where is this more apparent than the hook of "Or Nah," when poses the following question to a prospective hook-up: "Can you really take dick or nah?"
"Saved"
As is the case with "Faithful," the title of "Saved" would imply that the song is about the enduring power of love in some way. Rather, it is all about emotional detatchment and the framing of women as purely sexual objects. It all sounds very nice over a choice bit of DJ Mustard 2.0 production (read: incorporates vocal elements!).
"Never Be The Same"
"Never Be The Same" is one of the few songs in which Ty allows himself to show emotions other than bravado -- regret, nostalgia -- even if still couches them in bravado. This song has the feeling of Ty standing alone on a windswept California beach, watching the sun set and remembering about all the women he's had sex with over the years.