Tay-K is currently behind bars in Texas, serving 55-year and 80-year concurrent prison sentences for a pair of murder convictions. The rapper spoke to Complex from prison on Wednesday (Nov. 11) for his first interview since getting locked up as he prepares to release his #MonstersUnderMyBed album on Friday (Nov. 13).
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Born Taymor Travon McIntyre, Tay-K talked about how prison opened his ears to different genres and artists such as Nirvana and Linkin Park that he wasn’t familiar with before jail.
Now, supplied with a tablet by the John B. Connally Unit, Tay-K has developed a more eclectic taste in music, filling his prison playlist, which includes the London-based duo Loaded Honey and Olivia Rodrigo.
“If I told you the s–t I listen to, you wouldn’t expect none of it,” he said. “Right now my favorite album is this album by this duo, Loaded Honey … I f–k with Rio [Da Yung OG], I listen to Fatt Smxck, I f–k with Olivia Rodrigo. I love Olivia Rodrigo. I like her first album.”
When asked him if he listened to Rodrigo’s you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, Tay-K revealed he was already up on that album too. “I f–k with that s–t. I listened to it,” he replied.
The pop star released the album — her third — in June, and it topped the Billboard 200 with 485,000 total album-equivalent units earned, according to Luminate.
While he was on the run in June 2017, Tay-K’s breakthrough hit, “The Race,” caught fire and reached the top 50 (No. 44 peak) of the Billboard Hot 100. U.S. marshals apprehended the young rapper in New Jersey that month, and he was convicted of murder and aggravated robbery charges in July 2019 for his part in a 2016 Texas home invasion that left 21-year-old Ethan Walker dead. He was sentenced to 55 years in prison.
In a separate case, Tay-K was found guilty of murder in April 2025 for the April 2017 murder of Mark Anthony Saldivar in San Antonio. Prosecutors alleged that Tay-K and his accomplices met up with Saldivar outside a Chick-fil-A and planned to rob him of his camera equipment. When a struggle ensued, Tay-K fatally shot Saldivar. The rapper was sentenced to 80 years.
The 26-year-old is gearing up to release his #MonstersUnderMyBed album on Friday, which was recorded behind bars and serves as his first project since 2017’s #SantanaWorld.
Tay-K made a guest appearance on Dominic Fike’s How to Quit Smoking closer “SPOTLIGHT / INNER CHILD,” which arrived in October and features a recent prison conversation between Fike and Tay-K.
Watch Complex‘s full interview with Tay-K below.
