The Waviest
Written by: Barbara Kay
Tyler Brown-Carr, The Waviest, is an up-and-coming musician in the R&B and rap scene. Having started playing guitar at 8-years-old, he’s paved the road for himself to branch out into other industries like fashion and producing, all while expanding his discography.
“It's like a flame burning inside,” he said. “Sometimes it just hits me, I hear a beat and it just hits me. It’s how I’m feeling emotionally, mentally, physically. There are times I’ll go to the studio and in the first 10 minutes, I’m not feeling it. It’s [about] energy,” he continued.
While The Waviest enjoys artists like Tems, Gunna, and FKJ, the number one artist on his playlist is himself. His reasoning being, he said, is that he wants to create music unique to the world’s impact on him– and his impact on the world.
Photo by: Tyler Thompson
“I try not to indulge into everything that's coming out because it messes up my inspiration and my influence,” The Waviest said. “I don’t want to copy someone else. I want [my music] to be what I feel. I do listen to J. Cole, Kendrick, Drake, Kanye, Gunna, Tems. But daily? I’m listening to my beats.”
The summer before his sophomore year, The Waviest bought his own equipment to record with at home. Working in a studio is too impersonal and “rushed,” he said. This was the same year he met his producers, and good friends, KingKei and Ocean.
“Two, three years in college we were making beats everyday,” he said. “I’m grateful for it, it doesn’t happen like that all the time. I don’t take them for granted because we made our own sound.”
Along with buying his own equipment, there was a time where he was shooting his own music videos as well. During his senior year at SUNY Fredonia, The Waviest spent a semester abroad in Japan, where he recorded his video for his song “3am In Japan.”
On a film set last summer, he met Tyler (Gray), a director, who then went on to shoot The Waviest’s video for his song “Memo.”
“In talks with TJ (The Waviest) for our video, I got the vibe of his modern working man, entrepreneurial attitude to life,” Gray said. “The grind that he embodies really shows through his music too. I wanted to show the idea of the motto ‘the nine to five pays the bills, and the six to 12 builds the empire.’ We follow TJ on his commute home, going from the boring office job to his apartment where he’s working on his music dreams,” he continued.
Photo by: Tyler Thompson
Having connections with those he works with is important to The Waviest, whose work is more than a passion, but a purpose.
The Waviest’s father passed away in April, and in his wake, the musician has found a deeper drive to continue his pursuits in various industries– whether that be in music, film, fashion, or producing.
“He’s not here physically, but he’s here watching,” The Waviest said. “I’m the youngest of four and one thing about my dad, he loved his kids. He’d brag to the whole world. He'd show people my music videos, my clothes.
“In the moment, you don’t value that support as much as you should. You kind of overlook it,” he continued. “He’s actually one of my biggest supporters, to this day. A lot of people give constructive criticism, which is always good, but you have that one person that you show everything [to] and they just love it.”
The musician also has his own clothing line called The Waviest Brand and is a producer with “Don’t Let That Go Over Your Head Podcast” hosted by Quentin Brown.
Photo by: Tyler Thompson
The Waviest plans to continue building his career by expanding his clothing brand, releasing more videos, but especially with a 10 song EP dropping this summer titled, “The Waves Don’t Die, The Tide Gets Higher.”
“I’m building a brand and putting art on my canvas,” he said. “I want to build my catalog and show that [I’m] The Waviest. He’s different, out of the box. If everyone goes left, I want to go right.”
