Meet Griff Tyler - A Fresh Voice LA Has Been Waiting For

The city of Los Angeles has birthed a plethora of raw, talented and creative natives who have emerged from various parts of the culturally diverse city. While we can all appreciate the various voices who have helped us get over a heartbreak or club bangers that had us sweating profusely from dancing, a fresh new voice is surfacing and is creating his mark as an “artist to be on the lookout for.”

His name?

Griff Tyler 

…a singer/songwriter based out of Inglewood, CA - the home to many artists with a variety of eclectic sounds including SiR, Omarion, and more. Tyler attended Verbum Dei High School in Watts, and spent the majority of his time juggling between the west and east side - where a lot of his friends resided.

"Both areas made me who I am today," he emphasized.

The singer knew he loved music at a young age, having been raised by a music lover. He credits his mom being a major influence in his love for a variety of old school and new R&B. 

"Rather it was in the house, the car, outside, etc., music had to be involved. She would play Destiny's Child, Usher, Ashanti, Alicia Keys, Toni Braxton, Charlie Wilson; I could go on and on," he recalled. "All the classis artists she would play had an influence on me. I would grow to be mostly influenced by Drake and Kanye West though as I found myself. I love the way they constantly push boundaries of genres and challenges themselves."

Let’s take it back. Tyler  is five years old and he is performing in front of family during the holidays. At ten, he is writing scripts, poems, and songs, and at thirteen he is already recording music in the studio. The ambitious child got his drive to start singing because of his mother, who he loved to watch and hear sing her favorite records. She made him believe he could do it (sing), and he did just that. 

“It made her very happy and I wanted to give other people that same euphoric feeling,” he recollected. 

He rapped for a few years and was pretty good at it, but it just wasn’t working for him. At 20 years old he found what he calls his “niche” and realized that singing was something he could master.

“I would put things out but never with a real plan, just strictly off passion,” he explained. “At 24 is when I finally took it seriously and made it official that this is what I wanted to do with my life.”

While in middle school, the young talent experienced his first studio session. He attended Culture and Language Academy of Success - C.L.A.S., which had an enrichment program that was designed to assist students in finding their passion and creating. It would be very soon that everyone found out how musically inclined he was. The school leaders wanted to encourage students to try their best on the school’s end of the year test, so they gathered Tyler and some of his other talented friends and took them to the studio to create a song that would motivate these students. The song was named after what they titled the test, “Big Game.” 

Griff definitely writes his own music, but is open to creative input. 

“I have friends that also do music and are always in the studio with me though,” he emphasized. “So they’ll hear something and give me an idea or be like “maybe you should word it this way”. So that helps as well.”

Sometimes he does not write at all and just records whatever is in his head. He says he has a good memory so it’s easy for him to remember lyrics and record them. He is also an engineer and makes up stuff as he goes sometimes while in the studio, and other times, he will sit with a beat for a day or two gathering notes and seeing what magic he can create.

He describes his musical style as “R&B with an Edge, either being more bouncy than classic R&B or with a Rap edge. Examples he gave are Bryson Tiller, Ty Dolla Sign and Brent Faiyaz. If you listen to any of these artists, then you will love Tyler as well.

I think if you would ask any artist today if they had a dream collaboration before they first got their start in the industry, they’d probably smile and say “yes.” Then if you ask them if they’d gotten the opportunity to work with that artist they used to dream about working with, they would more than likely smile even bigger and respond “yes.” Currently, Tyler is manifesting that into his reality. It’s only right that he mentions Sza as one of his dream collabs; I mean he did release a response to her chart topping song, “Blind.” He also acknowledges R&B sensation H.E.R as another artist he would love to work with.

“Drake and Kanye West are my favorite artists so I would love to work with them as well,” he stated. “But I love SZA and HER’s perspective on the woman's side of things and I feel like the type of sounds I make would mesh well with their subject matter coming from a man’s point of view.”

Musically, Tyler aspires to make an honest living while positively impacting others, simultaneously doing what he loves to do. He wants to be able to support and provide for his family while pursuing his passion, and take music as far as he can. He also wants his music to be loved and enjoyed globally.

“Personally, one day I would love to help the youth with mental health issues. Therapy isn’t my field but just as a speaker or someone that could make a kids day here and there. I am a person that has suffered from suicidal thoughts. I still suffer from depression and anxiety,” he shared. “However, I made it through my darkest of days and I believe God has a plan for us all. I know a lot of kids in the minority communities deal with this issue and don’t have the resources to overcome it so their energy shifts to more negative coping mechanisms. I would love to be a resource for the youth as an example of someone who has experienced the same thing but didn’t let it defeat him.”

With his years of musical experience, Tyler has grown tremendously as an artist. He says that he has grown in vocal range and is a better singer than he used to be. His confidence has also increased, and now music feels like something he is sure about and in his words, “doesn’t sound like I’m just trying something out or am unsure of myself.” 

With this confidence, more creativity is birthed, and with creativity, greatness is produced.

“I’m not afraid to take risks in my records, speak on difficult concepts, or add the little ad-libs and backgrounds that really make a record what it is,” he ended.

Interested in listening to his music and hearing what all the hype is about? Type “Griff Tyler” on all streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple, Tidal, YouTube, etc), and you’ll find him. You can also follow him on Instagram and Twitter (@iamgrifftyler) to stay up to date with everything he has going on. Trust me, you are going to want to stay updated with what he has going on.

Interviewed by: The Neighborhood Homegirl