The Courts, Donald Glover And Tay-K’s 17-Year-Old Manager All Have Thoughts On The Young Rapper’s Future. Also: Homegrown Reveals Its ’18 Bill, Breakaway Is Back And More.

Unless you’re paying close attention, it can be tough to keep up with all the moving parts in the complex saga of incarcerated 17-year-old Arlington rapper Tay-K.

And, this week, more and more information about Taymor Travon McIntyre‘s rise — and potential future in or our of prison — has come to light.

For starters, there was this article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, which is among the most in-depth looks at the court cases against Tay-K and his alleged co-conspirators yet. Pegged to the sentencing of the only minor involved in the alleged seven-person conspiracy in the July 2016 murder of 21-year-old Ethan Walker in Mansfield, the piece details how Tay-K’s rise to prominence has given the case added attention, while also outlining the additional murder and aggravated robbery charges against him in other cases. In addition to noting that the juvenile teen being sentenced in the Walker case had been found guilty on capital murder and aggravated robbery charges relating to his murder, the piece also explains that Megan Holt, one of the six co-defendants who will be tried as adults in the case, has agreed with prosecutors to “testify truthfully…. in exchange for the state waiving the capital murder charge against her. Instead, Holt will plead guilty to aggravated robbery and receive 20 years in prison.”

Multi-hyphenate Donald Glover, for his part, seems to think the outlook for Tay-K‘s future isn’t so great — but that doesn’t mean he’s not a fan. A profile released this week by The New Yorker notes that Glover has included one of Tay-K’s songs in an episode of the upcoming season of his hit TV show Atlanta. The feature also details a conversation in which Glover, while speaking with a cast mate on the program, details his fascination with Tay-K’s hit song “The Race” — which should pass 118 million view on YouTube any minute now — and what he believes the song says about modern rap music. Here’s that excerpt:

“Tay-K was sixteen and on the run for murder when he made this song. It’s a real Jesse James story.” He pulled up Tay-K’s photo on his phone as “The Race” began to boom. Glover said, “Look at this kid! He’s a baby! He never had a chance! Y’all are forgetting what rap is. Rap is ‘I don’t care what you think in society, wagging your finger at me for calling women “bitches”—when, for you to have two cars, I have to live in the projects.’ ”

“That makes me think differently about [rap],” [actress Zazie] Beetz said.

Glover stared off. “Young black kid in Texas with a murder on him,” he said, finally. “He’s definitely going to die, and it’s sad.”

Tay-K’s manager Ezra Averill isn’t nearly so gloomy when pontificating about his friend and client’s future, though. In an illuminating interview in Forbes about his efforts at navigating the music industry at such a young age, the 17-year-old Averill — reportedly the youngest manager in history to have a client with a platinum single — maintains his former classmate’s innocence. After detailing some of the plans he has for his upstart Stomp Down Entertainment banner under which he manages Tay-K, Averill explains that he still speaks to the rapper daily and says he’s as confident as ever that Tay-K has a bright future outside of prison: “I believe wholeheartedly that my brother is innocent,” Averill says in the piece. “I know that he’s innocent. We have unreleased music comin’ soon. Everything you see in the industry, nothing’s gonna be the same when Tay comes home.”

Of course, Tay-K isn’t the only area act getting attention this week. Following last week’s release of two singles off her upcoming Golden Hour LP, country star Kacey Musgraves made her way onto The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to perform “Space Cowboy,” the better of the two new cuts. Check out the footage of that performance from the Golden native, which is earning all sorts of acclaim for its atmospheric sound and cheeky lyrics, below.

Earlier on the same night and on the same program, Burleson’s Kelly Clarkson, who is fast becoming a staple of late-night TV, performed Google Translated versions of her hit song “Stronger” and Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You Babe.” Check it out:

There weren’t any high-profile TV appearances for the Brooklyn-by-way-of-Denton band Parquet Courts and their new “Almost Had to Start a Fight/In and Out of Patience” single from their upcoming Danger Mouse-produced Wide Awake! LP that we hipped you to last week — but there was the announcement that, in support of that disc that’s coming on May 18 via Rough Trade, the band will perform a hometown show on April 28 at Sons of Hermann Hall.

That’s a hell of a lot of homegrown talent making some noise this week! But, somehow, there’s still plenty of talent left over for 2018’s Homegrown Festival. That favored fest will make its return on May 12 at Main Street Garden. Performers for the festival include Texas talent Explosions In the Sky, The Black Angels, Alvvays, Roky Erickson, Ume, [Daryl], Vodi, Medicine Man Revival, Duell, Acid Carousel and Sad Cops. Head here for tickets and more details.

Not to be lost in that lineup announcement is the fact that, for the second year in a row, Homegrown will feature a reunion from an adored area band of yesteryear. Like last year’s Tripping Daisy reunion at the festival, this year’s affair will include the first performance from [Daryl] in almost seven years. The early-aughts musical outfit is being revived by founder Dylan Silvers of These Machines Are Winning and formerly of The Polyphonic Spree. The lineup for the special appearance will feature all-original members and will kickstart a multimedia effort from the group — including more live shows, a new record and a graphic novel that will serve as the origin story for These Machines Are Winning’s 2017 release, Slaves For Gods.

Speaking of comebacks: After five years out of the market, it looks like the multi-market Breakaway Festival, which brought Wu-Tang Clan, Empire of the Sun, Matt & Kim, the aforementioned Explosions in the Sky, Juicy J, Crizzly, Ra Ra Riot and more to Frisco’s Toyota Stadium in 2013, look like it will be returning to the region on April 7, 2018, at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving. That’s not a long way’s off, but there’s no word yet on who’ll be performing, though.

We are pretty positive, though, that another new fest will be changing up its lineup soon. The Stoner Jam, which will take place at Gas Monkey Live! also on Saturday, April 7, will feature Dallas’ Mothership, Duel (not Duell), Greenbeard, Destroyer of Light and more — but not North Carolina’s Young and In The Way, which made headlines this week when the band was accused of sexual assault and was promptly dropped from numerous upcoming festivals. The band released a statement denying the allegations while also simultaneous admitting that they can’t prove their innocence, And so, the band has now disbanded. To read more about the odd saga, check out Brooklyn Vegan’s reporting.

Of greater consequence to the North Texas music scene is the bombshell dropped by the folks at Denton venue Rockin’ Rodeo, which announced that Saturday, April 14, will be its last night in operation due to its landlord’s decision to go in a different direction with the space’s future. Here’s a video explaining the situation:

Let’s just transition from there into more video news, yeah? OK.

Asian Doll and Cuban Doll, two more North Texas rappers who have each been garnering numerous headlines since the start of the new year, came together on the new video for “Murda” this week, putting to rest any and all drama the two may have had in past years — good news since both seem poised for big years.

Speaking of collaborations: Lord Byron has a new album that will be released tomorrow, but you can, in the meantime, check out the Cyrus Stowe-directed video for “Consequences” from Rami’s already out PYJAMA, which features the rapper stoically performing for the camera.

Want another collab in video form? You got it. Check out Dallas’ Lil Lotus teaming up with smrtdeath for “Motorola.”

Another team-up of sorts cane be seen in the below clip, which finds the soul-inspired Dallas vocalist Becky Middleton working with acclaimed Dallas director Jeremy Biggers on the visuals for her new single, “Tell Me.”

Dali Voodoo‘s new video for “Rainwater” is another looker, too.

And then there’s this clip. Just a couple days ahead of his show at The Bomb Factory on this coming Thursday, March 1, Steve Aoki released the video for “Azukita” that features Daddy Yankee, Irving’s own Play N Skillz and Elvis Crespo.

In less visual sonic news, Booker T. Washington alum Tiger Darrow released a slow-burning indie-pop anthem called “Hands” not too far back.

Meanwhile, Jay Luse is currently in Manhattan working on a new project but he sent his hometown this new track titled “Westbrook” this week.

Also worth keeping tabs on is The Delzells, the latest band to sign with local label Barf Wave. Hear the new album in its entirety below:


And, lastly, to close out this week’s news and notes, here’s something cool you should know about: Second generation Fort Worth rock act Ting Tang Tina has announced the date of its album release show; it’ll take place on March 3 at Lola’s Saloon as part of a lineup also featuring Jordan Richardson’s new Schlomi Bagdadi band. Head here for more info there.

 Got a tip for White Noise? Email us!

No more articles