If you’re even remotely unfamiliar with Internet Money at this point, you can consider yourself living under a rock. They’ve taken the music industry by storm which is ironic considering their debut album’s name (B4 The Storm) alludes to the fact that the storm hasn’t even come yet, so I can’t even fathom what’s going to be in our laps moving forward, but just know I’m more excited for the future of IM than any other music I can imagine. TyFontaine is the collective’s frontman, and there doesn’t seem to be a single thing he can’t do. He brings the energy and charisma to certain offerings before slowing up and crooning in some of the most interestingly melodic fashions in the entire scene, and I haven’t heard him attempt a style that wasn’t successful. Basically, I don’t think there’s anything Ty can’t do, and that’s not an over-exaggeration in the slightest.
His project 1800 is at the very top of my list of favorite mixtapes that have dropped this year, and I’m not lying when I say I run through it at least once a day if not more. He just shows off the sheer dexterity he brings within his music, offering up hit after hit with some of the best producers in IM, as well as JetsonMade, another hitmaker who most Hip-Hop fans rave about. Gearing up for a strong finish to 2020, Ty has been alluding to the release of another mixtape called We Ain’t the Same, a project that’s undoubtedly going to lead us out of this unfortunate year on a high note, and I absolutely can’t wait to hear what else he creates.
Luckily, he took to streaming services late last night to release a lead single from the project called “Cuff Jeans”, and his talents are on full display yet again, unsurprisingly. He recruited Internet Money creators and frontrunners in Taz Taylor and Nick Mira to bring an incredible beat to life through a mischievous, sliding synth that almost sounds like a flute, punchy, succinct drums, and crisp, chattering percussion that paves the way for an absolutely flawless instrumental that Ty shreds to pieces.
As he gets into the hook, he raises the pitch of his voice, stretching out singular words before chopping up his flow and finishing every line confidently, shooting his lyrics into your mind like a dart and making them stick there throughout the entire track. The way he floats his words and swings the notes he sings seems effortless in a way that makes it seem like he’s not even trying, but he’s just simply that great of an artist, which is certainly the case most of the time. As he gets into his verse, he begins to recite rapid-fire lyrics that just roll off his tongue, showing off a cadence that I was unfamiliar with coming from him previously, but it fits with the rhythm of the song in an off-kilter yet incredible manner.
Despite the fact that he’s not even really singing during this portion of the record, his words come through in a naturally melodic fashion as he raises and lowers the intonation within his voice, providing even more masterful elements and raising the wow factor of this song more than ever before. Lyrically, Ty offers up some braggadocious bars about brands the common person is unfamiliar with, sexual situations with some of the ladies in his life, and calling out the people who have hated in the past, knowing he has surpassed them on all levels.
I legitimately haven’t heard a TyFontaine song that I didn’t enjoy, and this song is far from an exception to that. It’s the second single off of the upcoming mixtape, joining “Duse N Juice” featuring Lil Keed on the tracklist, and both of these songs bring such different energies to the table that I have no idea what else to expect from the project. All I know is, it’s going to be infinitely better than almost anything else that came out this year, and that’s saying a lot because so far, it’s been a crazy year in music.
It’s impossible to not enjoy Ty’s music because he just provides so much vigor and vitality to any song he’s on, whether that be his multiple features on B4 The Storm or his individual offerings, and he brings a sort of personality to every track he’s on, no matter what the instrumental sounds like. His adaptability and dexterity are things that other artists should and probably do envy, and the craziest thing is, he isn’t one of the biggest names in music quite yet. Although he’s still on the come up, you can bet your life savings that he’s going to be a name you see in the spotlight sooner rather than later, so don’t sleep on Ty if you have been up to this point. You’ll see exactly what I’m talking about on his latest single “Cuff Jeans”, so make sure you stop whatever you’re doing and tune into this remarkable new record from the DMV native.