The main difference between R&B singers and rappers used to be the content of their music. Traditionally, R&B songs were associated with love, heartbreak, sensuality, and relationships, while hip-hop focused on the struggle, the come-up, money, and power. As time changed and the mics used by the crooners of the 1960s evolved to carry the vocals of the 2020s, the lines blurred. And no one knows that better than Ty Dolla $ign.
Although the talented multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter (and co-founder of EZMNY, the label behind Leon Thomas), some still place him in the rapper category. Those who do this are probably not aware that he’s not only a student of R&B — he was raised by it.
His father, Tyrone Griffin Sr., is a legendary member of the funk band, Lakeside. As a kid, Ty grew up listening to the melodies, key changes, and guitar riffs that molded his music that we hear today, and played the keys for R&B boy band Immature in the ‘90s. In the early days of his career, he helped produce records with Justin Timberlake, Raphael Saadiq, and countless others. The legends that informed his sound, like Charlie Wilson and Teddy Riley, know how talented he is. He not only loves R&B, but it also loves him, too.
With this newest project, Girl Music Vol. 1, he’s returning to his first musical love with a full record of songs “just for the ladies.” On a sunny day in Los Angeles during Grammy week (and the night after his sold-out EZMNY JammJam Grammy party), Ty sat down with VIBE to talk about music’s evolution, his R&B knowledge, Charlie Wilson’s life advice, and why his latest EP has some of his favorite music to date.
When I think about Ty Dolla $ign, I think about R&B. I’m so excited because I am a person who lives for “R&B that’s for the women.” Now, you’re coming back to your R&B roots. Why did you feel like you should do it now?
I’ve just been wanting to do it for a while. Also, R&B is back. It’s like it’s here. It’s time. So luckily, I do have that skill, and I’m ready.
You’ve got this new energy that’s coming from EZMNY Records, but I heard you’re also working on stuff with Bizzy [Crook], too. What is it like to give artists the chance to not only create from behind the scenes to get nominated for a Grammy, but also to be an artist? It’s kind of the same journey that you went on.
Same journey I went on [and the] same journey Leon went on. There are a lot of us out there who are incredible writers/producers and great artists. One of my favorites that I’m working with on my new music is James Fauntleroy. Crazy. I’m always telling him, “Please drop, please drop, just drop an album.” He’s about to drop, too, so I’m excited about that.
Let’s go! I want to ask you about this Girl Music because that’s what I’ve been needing from the world. We’re not begging enough. There’s not enough singing in the rain. I feel like that’s what I love most about R&B: the feeling from the Temptations to Jodeci to Leon. Tell me a little bit about your mindset in creating these songs for this project.
So, we went to this spot in New York called Lélé. The DJ was on point that night because it was full of ladies. He was playing what we call “girl music,” music that’s going to move a room full of girls. We were just talking about how, finally, there’s a DJ who understands. You know how you walk in any room full of girls, and the DJ plays — no disrespect to nobody— but like a Chief Keef song or one of the turned-up type of songs? Everybody can get turned up to it, and it’s like a hype, but it’s not the music that works well with a room full of women. We wanted to focus on that and continue what we were hearing that night. That’s what I did when I went back to the studio. We made a whole project called Girl Music Vol. 1. I’ve already started on volume two, and it’s crazy. Some of my favorite music… maybe since Free TC.
That’s really big. That’s a tall order. You put out so many projects since then, but it feels like this is kind of where your heart is right now.
For sure.
Jason Chandler
I want to have an R&B historian-type conversation now, because I did my research and watched the video of you [performing with Immature] on The Arsenio Hall Show. You’re back there getting it with your hair, and it’s amazing. I know your dad is an R&B and funk legend himself. But when you think about a song or a moment that made you fall in love with R&B, what was that?
Before Ty Dolla $ign, there was the Ty & Korey. But before then, when I was nine years old, my dad was like, “Yo, I got this opportunity for you to play keys for this band. It’s called Immature.” I went to the tryouts, I made it, and then we did a few shows together. One of them was Arsenio Hall. If you look back at that tape, the background singers were Brandy and Ray J. We had a super band since I was nine years old, and now it’s like all the people that are doing it for real [are] good.
That’s dope. Do you remember the first song you wrote at that time? Were you writing songs at 9, 10?
I was writing songs. I had my own kid group, aside from Immature, but I don’t remember the names of the songs.
I know a lot of R&B artists usually start with a girl. They write a song about a girl they like from the fifth period —
That’s funny.
And you left me to go sit with another guy at lunch. Were there any of those types of songs?
I think there were those songs, but my songs were more about music and the love for music. My pops was in my ear a lot, so funk was the thing. To be honest, I kind of hated it at that time. I was hating on him and his funk. I brought him and his group, too, Lakeside, out last night [at my event].
Did they do [perform] “Fantastic Voyage?”
They did. I did it with him, which was great. That was a milestone in my career that I always wanted to do, and I never got to do it. I finally got to do it with Mark. Well, the lead singer Mark came while my pops came. Everybody else didn’t come. I wanted Steve Shockley and a couple of other guys there, but everybody wasn’t able to come because everybody lives everywhere else now in the world. But shout out to the whole band, Lakeside. They definitely inspired my whole thing.
What did that feel like for you? What did that feel like to be up there last night with your dad?
It was great, man. I was more on my perfection shit, so I’m just making sure everything’s right. And I had this YN as my keyboard player. So, of course, he didn’t know the song.
Come on. Get your boy, please.
We didn’t rehearse it, though, so I give him that. But when the verse came in, and you said, “I got this …” He didn’t go to the chord, and I’m like, “Ah.” I wish I would’ve known the chord and got my [self] over there and played, but it’s all good.
Would’ve been very lit if you did that. With all that you’ve accomplished, what is your dad most proud of about his son, Tyrone Jr., and how he has taken the legacy to a whole different place?
I think he’s just proud that I kept on doing it, I took it seriously, and I could provide for the family.
It seems like he prepared you very well to not only navigate as a producer, songwriter, musician, singer, and whatever else you want to do, but also as a businessman, a Twitch host, and all these different things. What do you think is your favorite lesson that your dad has taught you about the music industry?
I think just being grounded and being a regular person. You know how there’s this security guard who takes his job too seriously, and he just goes crazy? There’s that guy in every profession. There are artists who take themselves too seriously and think that they’re something. It’s like, “Bro, I will knock your ass out just like anybody else.” You feel me? Anybody could get touched. Everybody got to stop that shit, you know what I’m saying?
Yes. We’re all people. We all have to put our pants leg on one at a time.
We are all people. Nobody’s above [or] below. We’re all on the side of each other.
Jason Chandler
In your opinion, now that you have returned to your R&B roots, what makes a good R&B anthem?
Basically, when that hook comes back, everybody’s guaranteed to sing it. It’s the one when I can literally turn down the volume all the way, and the rest of the crowd is singing that bitch, full voice, loud as hell. Where damn near … it’s a lot of women in there, but why is the niggas singing louder than the girls? What’s up with y’all? Speaking of a song, the first song that comes to mind when I’m thinking about this is “Love” by Keyshia Cole. Why [is it that] when you’re looking over, and the dudes be drunk singing louder than the girls? (Laughs)
Y’all be trying to act like y’all don’t have feelings until “Love” by Keyshia Cole comes on…So you’ve sat in so many studio sessions from your dad’s to more. Did you ever do any studio sessions with IMX or any of them?
I’m sure.
With them, with Raphael Sadiq…You’ve sat with Justin Timberlake; you’ve sat in so many sessions. Is there a favorite R&B fact, song, or moment that has gone super viral, or is super important to the culture, that people might not know about from a session?
The quickest thing that comes to mind that kind of fucked me up…Basically, at concerts, backstage [green rooms]. Let’s say the difference between my backstage, Leon’s backstage, Trey Songz, [and] Chris Brown’s. So you’re coming to my backstage…first of all, it just depends on the day or where we’re at in the world. But say it’s an L.A. show. Of course, the family’s going to be there, the label, all the homies … Sometimes I go on a weird one, kick everybody out, play Bad Brains. That’s one of my favorite bands, and the energy just turns me up right before a show. I do my pushups, just get my space.
When I went to London to do Wireless [Fest] with Leon, his shit was near the same thing. He was playing this group called Death, which is a black punk band, and Bad Brains. I was like, “What the fuck? That was just so similar. How the hell is this possible?” He’ll play that, but at the same time, kick everybody out, and then play the YouTube video of the warm-up for vocals.
Period. Come on, Leon.
And then you go to Trey Songz’ room, and his shit is the same way. His mom, family, no extra people, and the warm-up thing on YouTube. But then you go to Chris Brown, same as me. A gang of homies, cigarettes … And still go out there and kill that, shit, you feel me? That kind of tripped me out, the difference between how people do it.
Did you ever have backstage moments with Earth, Wind, & Fire when your dad was working with them? What was that backstage like?
The closest one I remember is when I went to see Charlie Wilson. It’s him and Babyface; they’re on tour. Very chill vibes. Family, chill backstage. Charlie actually told me — I’m going to listen, I just haven’t kicked it all the way in yet. He told me while we were doing Vultures 1. He pulled me to the side, he was like, “Yo, man, I think you might want to stop all that goddamn smoking, man. I want you to be able to do the same thing you’re doing when you get to my age.”
That’s real.
“And you, out of everybody, I really fuck with you. And yeah, bro, you need to think about that.’ So I’ve been thinking about it for sure.
It’s a process. It starts with the mind, and then everything else follows. That’s dope. The backstage [routine], I think, is sacred. It’s like whatever you are dealing with that day, it can’t come with you on stage because people are there to support you. What does it mean to have a fan base that is so loyal and about Ty Dolla $ign?
It’s everything. Shout out to the base, man. I know everybody says it, but I couldn’t be shit without y’all. Thank you for sticking with me and keeping me pumped to keep on going.
You said before, “R&B is here.” A lot of people said a couple of years ago [that] it was dead…
When they say dead, that’s not leaving my head. I wouldn’t say dead, it wasn’t the most popular thing. Shout out to CB. There are a couple of others I could name, but there weren’t many sticking to it and focused on it for a long time. More artists have been popping from it and making it [come] back to life and back in the conversation.
Now that people are feeling it again, it’s cool. I think all of us R&B guys should team up, do shows together, fucking tour together. Just make it a thing. Take pictures together, hang out together, make it to where everybody’s fucking with it. Once you show them that we’re together, it’s going to be a bigger thing.
I totally agree with that. When I think of the people who have been killing it lately, especially in R&B, I think of you, Leon. I think of Coco —
Fucking Coco’s killing it. I love her.
Shout out to Coco Jones. The same with Leon. These kids who came up on TV, killing it, and are now who they want to be, which I think is really amazing. They’re getting love for it. I think of Victoria Monet. I think of people who really have been at it.
Victoria and Muni Long.
Muni!
And they’ve been doing it for so long during this “dead period,” that for their shit to finally go crazy and blow up and be on the top, it made me feel super happy to see from afar. So shout out to you two queens.
Yes, yes. The women are killing it. The men are killing it. R&B is here, and now we’ve got Girl Music Vol. 1. Can we listen to a couple of records? Because I would like to unpack some of these songs. Where are we starting?
Let’s start from one. Last night at the show, I also had my uncle on stage with me, my uncle, D’Lavance, who was in the group, The Isley Brothers. Another thing I always wanted to do was work with Ron, the lead singer, and I got the chance to work with him. He’s on the song “Nobody Has to Know.” Shout out to my brother, FBG GOAT.
[Plays “Nobody Has to Know.”]
Did you get to go into the studio together?
We didn’t get to get in the studio for this one. We were in two different places, but we talked on the phone, and my brother, my free band, EZMNY. Shout out to Pluto. Shout out to FBG GOAT. We all put that together.
It sounded like the good old Isley Brothers sound with the 2025, 2026 R&B era that we’re in now. How did you make sure it feels classic and new?
Really, I just started when I was in Miami. My bro, l gave me the beat, and I just freestyled it. Next thing you know, he called me laughing, and he said he got it done. And he got Ron Isley on there.
That’s crazy. Ron Isley of The Isley Brothers.
[For] “Bad Bitch Alert,” I got to work with Shawn Barron. Shawn Barron is the guy who signed me to Atlantic in 2012. We also partnered up and made a label together called EZMNY. We signed Leon as our first artist, and he’s always been one of the greatest A&Rs. He brought me this record right here, which I love. So shout out to Shawn. This is for the ladies, man. [Something] to get dressed to, go out to, drive in the car to, all that.
Let’s go.
Calling on all baddies, calling on all baddies.
Come to the front, ladies.
[Plays “Bad Bitch Alert.”]
Man, that was too cute. I can’t wait to get ready to that. I mean like Chanel lipstick, yes.
You hear me? Yeah. All right. So the last one I’m going to play is called “Miss U 2.”
On this one, we sampled one of my favorite songs of all time, “I Miss You” by my guy, Aaron Hall, Teddy Riley, one of my favorite producers of all time in R&B. And he’s also the big homie. Learned a lot from him, sat in sessions with him. Oh man. When you said some of the crazy R&B sessions, it’s with him, man. Let Teddy Riley give you some of the stories of him in the studio with Michael Jackson, or just how their whole process was back then. He’s got the craziest stories, not me.
[Plays “Miss U 2.”]
How long had you been working on that song [“Miss U 2”], and what made you choose that sample, that song?
That was another Shawn Barron in our move. He came through with the beat already and we just did our stuff…my favorite people ever in R&B are Babyface, Teddy Riley, [and] Timbaland. And everything that came from them was like what?!
I heard there might be a record with Brandy, possibly?
I played it on my live a couple of times, and the chat really wants it on this project. So hopefully we can make that happen. Shout out to Brandy.
The other two songs I got is “Three Billion.” I love, shouting out all three billion women on the earth. What else? “Good to Me.” It’s this song that I started on guitar, but I ended up with the honor of Camper playing on my EP…It’s just literally him playing piano, me singing, and it’s one of those. And I’m still talking that talk, though.
[Plays “Good to Me.”]
I know that’s right. Okay, this is what I need! That’s what my soul needs. That is so good. It’s so simple, but the feeling that you have in there is what I feel [will make it] the one that the girls repeat when we need to feel loved. When you think of Girl Music, what do you want the women to feel when they’re listening to it?
Finally, something for us.
This article originally appeared on VIBE.
