Photo by Adrienne J. Romero / SOC Images.
Ty McKinnie always knew he wanted to be in music, and he always dreamed of New York being the place to make it happen.
But as he delved deeper into his music career, he always found himself returning to a different place: New Jersey. He’d find himself in Dover, Irvington, Union City and Jersey City, which he eventually took as a sign.
McKinnie, now a Jersey City resident, sat with Slice of Culture at City Cafe on the corner of JFK Boulevard and Tonnelle Avenue, preparing for his debut album “TYRIE.” He told Slice of Culture about the Jersey influence and the “mixed bag” of pop, soul, country, alternative rock and jazz sounds that listeners will hear come Dec. 19.
“Some of the best music I’ve made so far has been in Jersey, which is so freaking crazy,” McKinnie laughed.
“Because everybody’s like, ‘Manhattan, New York, Brooklyn, that’s where all this good music in the past were made in, or LA … there’s some songs that I have [from Jersey that] I don’t know if I could have made that anywhere else. I think it’s also due to the fact that the people that I worked with and they were Jersey-born people. I just think there’s a synergy that I just didn’t have in Brooklyn, Manhattan [and even] Atlanta.”
First Love: The Arts
McKinnie got into singing and acting through church musicals and productions back home in Atlanta.
His earliest memory is when he was three or four years old and he had a role in “A Star Is Born,” which has no relation to the 2018 Academy and Grammy-award winning film, he joked.
Music took a backseat as McKinnie got older.
Instead he pursued acting in school plays; established a goal to become a Disney Channel kid (he laughs about this now); majored in filmmaking and television during college; and even starred as an extra in popular productions like “The Vampire Diaries,” episode 1, season 3, and “Pastor Brown,” a 2009 film featuring Michael B. Jordan.
But after trying to “figure out life” after college, McKinnie naturally gravitated back to music. He wrote his own songs and put them out on platforms like SoundCloud, BandCamp and YouTube, which at the time, were hot spots to jumpstart an indie artist’s career.
He juggled this while working as an amusement park entertainer and other odd jobs at his alma mater. Then, one day, his co-worker suggested he try applying to New York University’s Music Business program.
He was hesitant.
But within two weeks, he was accepted into the program. From there, he started saving as much money as he could and moved to NYC in 2016.
“Music was always my end goal.”
Developing His Sound
McKinnie did the NYU program for two years, and, in between that, he started making music professionally—this meant late night studio sessions and stamping his first official gigs.
“[I was] like, ‘Oh wow. I’m doing Rockwood Music Hall. Like, oh cr–p. That’s big,” he added.
He lived in Manhattan for a few years before moving to Brooklyn where he stayed for five years. It was during this time that he was introduced to New Jersey.
Jersey is just across the water from New York, which McKinnie continuously traveled to and from because of studio sessions he had in Dover, NJ. There, he worked with a fellow classmate and collaborator, Andrew Gialanella, who laid down acoustics on his songs. McKinnie made some of his early songs in Jersey with Gialanella, including his 2019 EP “Soul Searching.”
And Jersey is where McKinnie continued to develop his sound.
He recorded music in a friend’s home studio in Irvington; spent time with another friend, who was a writer, from Jersey City’s Journal Square area; and traveled to North Hudson in Union City for some studio sessions.
When it came time to renew his lease in Brooklyn, McKinnie decided it was time to be “a Jersey boy.”
“I was like, well, some of my best stuff I made in Jersey, maybe that’s a sign,” he said.
“… And then Jersey City welcomed me with open arms… I just needed to find the place to [call] home.”
Introducing TYRIE
Ty is short for Tyrie, which is McKinnie’s middle name, making his debut album self-titled, but with “a twist.”
Unlike his first two EPs “The Silhouette” (2017) and “Soul Searching” (2019), “TYRIE” will have a mix of sounds like pop bops, singer-songwriter stuff and country, but in more simple terms:
“[The album] is a marriage of who I am and who I’ve tried to be artistically.”
Though McKinnie started recording the album in his Brooklyn apartment, the majority of it was born in his now Jersey City apartment, which is where he’s been living for two years now with his own home studio setup.
When he’s not working in the city or creating new music, he’s taking laps around Lincoln Park, which he jokes with fellow locals, “You’ve probably seen me running around Lincoln Park.”
But that’s just one of a few ways McKinnie’s tapped into the Hudson County community.
The first was in July.
The singer-songwriter was chosen for the Grammy’s Class of 2024 Recording Academy. This means that he’s an official member and ambassador of the Recording Academy’s New York Chapter, which covers the tri-state area. He hears the concerns of the tri-state area’s music community and has the duty of addressing issues, curating gatherings for artists, mentorship programs and more.
“I’m happy to be a part of the change that the Academy is pushing forward with adding more people of color and more younger demographics into the mix to help make the voting process more equitable. And… really showcasing what the actual industry looks like…,” he smiled.
“The people who move it and shake it every day are people of color. And a variety of folks. So I’m happy to be part of that change this year.”
The second way was being handpicked for this past summer’s inaugural PATH Performs.
PATH Performs is a live performance partnership between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the Hudson County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs. It allowed local talent to audition for spots to play at the Journal Square and Harrison PATH stations in front of thousands of commuters who pass by.
McKinnie explained that though he was hesitant to audition, it reminded him of his beginning: just him and his guitar. And though it seemed little, it was enough because he was scheduled to perform on Sept. 6 at the Journal Square stage.
“[PATH Performs] was actually more nerve wracking than doing a show [at] a venue [because] you can see people if they’re into it [or] if they’re not into it [and] you’re doing it by yourself,” he explained.
“[But I realized] I just gotta stop being so afraid and just get out there and just reclaim my instrument and reclaim that [nerve].”
“TYRIE” will be out on all streaming platforms on Dec. 19, which also marks McKinnie’s birthday. You can see more updates at @tymckinnie on Instagram.
