2004–2011: Career beginnings Griffin began his music career by learning how to play the bass guitar and later picking up drums, guitars, keyboards, and the
Akai MPC music workstation. Griffin and his writing partner Kory began working together after meeting in
New York City in 2004, forming the duo Ty & Kory. The duo also made
guest appearances on albums by other artists such as
Sa-Ra Creative Partners and
Black Milk. They performed the song "U", which was featured on Black Milk's album
Popular Demand (2007). The duo signed a recording contract with
Venus Brown's Buddah Brown Entertainment and then released a
mixtape,
Raw & Bangin Mixtape Vol 2 (2008). Ty & Kory had a falling out related to these ventures. Griffin began working with Los Angeles-based rapper
YG which provided him with the mainstream success of YG's 2010 single "
Toot It and Boot It", which he co-performed and produced. In 2011, Griffin released his first solo song, "All Star" (featuring Joe Moses; remixed featuring
Kid Ink) and his first solo mixtape,
House on the Hill (2011). His follow up single, "My Cabana" (featuring
Young Jeezy) was ranked on
Complexs Best 50 Songs of 2012 list at number 23. Griffin co-founded and was a member of the production team D.R.U.G.$., alongside fellow music producers Chordz (or Chordz 3D) and G Casso, the latter of whom was murdered in 2011. Other producers later joined D.R.U.G.$., including Nate 3D, Buddah Shampoo, Fuego,
DJ Mustard, and
DJ Dahi.
2012–2014: Beach House mixtapes In 2012, Griffin signed a recording contract with
Atlantic Records. He released his next mixtape, titled
Beach House, on October 1, 2012. He followed with the sequel
Beach House 2 on July 1, 2013, with guest appearances from
Too Short,
Wiz Khalifa,
Juicy J, and
Kirko Bangz, among others. Griffin signed a touring deal with Khalifa's
Taylor Gang Entertainment. In mid-2013, he toured with Khalifa and
ASAP Rocky, among others, on the Under the Influence of Music 2 concert tour. On September 10, 2013, Griffin released a single, titled "
Paranoid", which features a verse from
B.o.B and production from DJ Mustard. The song was later announced to be the first single off his upcoming
extended play (EP). On October 22, 2013, the Ethan Lader-directed music video for "Paranoid", premiered via
Diddy's
Revolt. The single was a hit, peaking at number 29 on the US
Billboard Hot 100 and eventually being certified Platinum by the RIAA. On January 7, 2014, Griffin released a second single titled "
Or Nah" featuring Wiz Khalifa and DJ Mustard. The song's production was handled by DJ Mustard and it contains a
sample of
Trillville's "
Some Cut". The music video was filmed during January 2014. The single was
remixed featuring vocals from Canadian singer
the Weeknd and was later certified triple Platinum by the RIAA. On January 21, 2014, Griffin released his first
major label project,
Beach House EP. The EP features guest appearances from
Casey Veggies, Wiz Khalifa,
Twista,
Jay Rock,
Trey Songz,
French Montana,
Travis Scott, and
Fredo Santana, while the production was primarily handled by Griffin himself, along with DJ Mustard,
Cardo, and
Young Chop, among others. The remix to "Paranoid", featuring Trey Songz, French Montana, and DJ Mustard, was also included on the EP.
2014–2016: Free TC and Campaign On February 23, 2014, Griffin revealed that his first full-length major label album would be titled
Free TC, and would be released during the third quarter of 2014. He told Revolt, that he had already completed eight songs for the album and that he would be going on
tour with Wiz Khalifa during 2014. preceding album's third single, "
Saved" (featuring
E-40), which was certified Gold. Griffin revealed that on October 13, 2015, exactly one month before his album came out, he would release a new mixtape
Airplane Mode.
Free TC was released on November 13, 2015, via Atlantic Records. The album debuted at number 14 on the
Billboard 200, with 31,000
album-equivalent units and first-week sales of 22,000 copies in the United States. In February 2016, Griffin guest featured on
Fifth Harmony's hit single "
Work from Home", which peaked at number 4 on the
Billboard Hot 100. In June 2016, Griffin,
Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa,
Imagine Dragons,
Logic, and
X Ambassadors released the collaboration single "
Sucker for Pain" for the motion picture
soundtrack for
Suicide Squad. In August 2016, Griffin and
Nick Jonas performed the song "
Bacon" at the
2016 MTV Video Music Awards, where Griffin also won
Best Collaboration for "Work from Home" with Fifth Harmony. On September 23, 2016, Griffin released a project titled
Campaign, which peaked at number 28 on the
Billboard 200. ) in
Toronto, 2015
2016–2018: Beach House 3 and MihTy On June 19, 2016, Griffin announced that his next project following
Campaign would be
Beach House 3 and that this installment would be an album rather than a mixtape. The lead single "
Love U Better" (featuring Lil Wayne and
The-Dream) was released July 10, 2017. The second single "
So Am I" (featuring
Damian Marley and
Skrillex) was released on September 1, 2017. The album was released on October 27, 2017, and debuted at number 11 on the
Billboard 200. In February 2018, Griffin was featured on
Post Malone's single "
Psycho", which peaked at number one on the
Billboard Hot 100. In May 2018, he was featured on
Christina Aguilera's single "
Accelerate" along with
2 Chainz, the first single from Aguilera's eighth album
Liberation. On June 1, he was featured on "
All Mine" by
Kanye West on West's album
Ye. On June 8, he was featured on "
Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" by
Kids See Ghosts, on their
self-titled album. On June 14, he was featured on
Bhad Bhabie's single "Trust Me". On June 16, he was featured on the song "Boss" from
Beyoncé and
Jay-Z's joint album
Everything Is Love. In 2018, he was featured on
Tinashe's single "
Me So Bad" with French Montana, which had moderate success in Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. He was also featured on
Drake's album,
Scorpion, on the song "After Dark". He also featured on
Lecrae's album
All Things Work Together on the song "
Blessings". On October 26, 2018, Griffin and Jeremih released a collaborative album under the joint pseudonym MihTy (a
portmanteau of both the artists' names) through
Def Jam Recordings and Atlantic Records, their respective labels. The duo's
eponymous album was released to mild critical and commercial reception, and featured guest appearances from French Montana, Chris Brown, and Wiz Khalifa, and
executive production from
Hitmaka. The duo had released several singles throughout the fall season of 2018 in anticipation of the album's release and performed "The Light" on
Jimmy Kimmel Live! in the week leading up to the album's debut. The project included the singles "The Light" and "Goin Thru Some Thangs".
2019–2022: Featuring Ty Dolla Sign and Cheers to the Best Memories Griffin released an album preview in February 2019 (via
Instagram) featuring a new song produced by
D.A. Got That Dope along with a verse from Tyga. On May 20, 2019, Griffin released the single "Purple Emoji" (featuring
J. Cole) as the intended first single. On August 9, 2019, he released another single titled "Hottest in the City" (featuring Juicy J and
Project Pat). He later announced that his third studio album was originally called
Tyrone (named from his birth name) and was set to release fall 2019. However, he stated, "I had a meeting one time with Kanye, and played him the album, and he was like, 'Bro nah, you need to do what you do. Add more bass, add more drums, add more, the real shit, that's what no one else is doing. Be the best you, bring that shit all the way up to the forefront...That conversation definitely inspired me, and made me go back and go crazy with the live instruments". On July 1, 2020, Griffin released "
Ego Death" (featuring Kanye West,
FKA Twigs, and
Skrillex) as the official lead single to his third studio album. On July 3, 2020, Griffin announced to
Big Boy that his third studio album is called
Dream House and would be released "sooner than you think". The second single "
Expensive" (featuring
Nicki Minaj) was released on August 28, 2020. On October 14, Griffin revealed that he changed the album's title to
Featuring Ty Dolla Sign, a reference to his work on other artists' projects and songs since his last release. He said the album title came from his gift of collaborating, and features many of his industry friends.
Featuring Ty Dolla Sign was released on October 23, 2020. The album features artists including
Kid Cudi, Post Malone, Kanye West,
Anderson .Paak,
Quavo,
Lil Durk, Nicki Minaj, Big Sean,
Jhené Aiko,
Kehlani,
Future,
Musiq Soulchild, FKA Twigs, and Skrillex. Griffin was also featured on the song "Safety Net" by
Ariana Grande for her sixth studio album,
Positions on October 30, 2020. On August 11, 2021, Griffin and Canadian R&B duo
Dvsn posted the artwork from a forthcoming collaborative album titled
Cheers to the Best Memories to their respective Instagram pages, captioned with the release date of August 20, 2021. The album featured
Rauw Alejandro and Griffin's longtime associate YG, as well as a posthumous guest appearance from
Mac Miller, with whom Griffin had collaborated in the past. The release preceded Griffin's appearances in the following two weeks on "Junya pt 2" from Kanye West's
Donda and "Get Along Better" from Drake's
Certified Lover Boy.
2023–present: ¥$, Vultures trilogy and Tycoon , Italy, for
Vultures 1 (2024) In October 2023, Griffin announced a collaborative project between him and frequent collaborator Kanye West via social media, accompanied by a "multi-stadium"
listening event in the following month. It was reported earlier in the month that he and West were shopping for
distributors for the album, as West is an independent artist. The duo, referred to as "
¥$", originally planned for a collaborative project in 2016. The event failed to materialize, although their debut collaborative single under the recording outfit, "
Vultures" (featuring
Bump J) was released on November 22, 2023. The following day, a version of the song with an additional verse from Lil Durk was released. Amidst numerous delays,
Vultures 1, the first album of a planned trilogy, released on February 10, 2024. The album debuted at number one on the
Billboard 200, becoming West's eleventh and Griffin's first respective number one album on the chart in their careers. On February 7, the initial lead single off
Tycoon (before being removed from the project), titled "Wheels Fall Off", was first teased with a behind the scenes music video shooting in Los Angeles where rappers Kanye West and
the Game were present, it was later released through the
Yeezy website, with two different versions, labeled "WFO – 01" and "WFO – 02", and subsequently through streaming platforms. The song features West, who also produced it alongside Kobe "BbyKobe" Hood and
Darhyl Camper. Griffin contributed to West's 2026 album
Bully, co-writing the songs "Last Breath", "Bully", and "Highs and Lows". ==Artistry==