Caye: A Genre-Bending Bostonian Pioneer
Image by Natasha Arnowitz // @natasha__art
Caye Tittman, known to most by his stage name Caye, is a singer, songwriter, producer and rapper out of the Boston area. Raised in Belmont, Mass. Caye made his vision of becoming a successful artist publicly known in high school, attending Boston College High School in Dorchester, Massachusetts. I happened to attend the same school, and I first discovered Caye at an impromptu concert outside of our cafeteria, as he was known to occasionally hold spontaneous performances around campus. Caye’s unique mastery of the steel drums, which he added to our school’s music program, immediately caught my attention. With the release of his breakthrough hit “Coma (feat. Anibal)” in 2015, Caye became a local celebrity, soon touring at college campuses across the nation. Toward the start of his career, he began performing and collaborating with the Golden Boy Music Group, including Danny Diamonds and Chase Murphy.
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Caye’s discography, which currently contains three major projects, has already proven itself in terms of innovation. His blend of Caribbean-style production with the lyrical flow and percussive beats of modern hip-hop has introduced an organic and genre-bending approach to music. In regard to the influence of reggae music, Caye’s mother suitably named him after Bob Marley & The Wailers’ 1978 album, Kaya, a masterpiece that Caye grew up listening to. The inspiration of Bob Marley has reflected in the soulful style that Caye continues to evolve. In an interview with Social Blackbook, Caye revealed, “I want to take all the sounds I practiced; jazz, funk, hip-hop, reggae, pop and add them together.” His musical talent expands to several instruments such as guitar, bass, piano and his forte: steel drums.
His debut album, Shades, Pt. 1, was released in 2016 as his first cohesive body of work. This seven-song project marked his transition from a local performer to an established artist, even illustrated in the cover art. On the album cover, Caye is sketched wearing purple shades and a baseball cap split into two halves. The right half has a Boston Red Sox logo, an undeniable symbol of his life in the East Coast city where he grew up. The left side, on the other hand, shows the L.A. Dodgers, representing his move to California. Fresh out of high school, Caye enrolled in the University of California’s Thornton School of Music. In 2017, Caye courageously took a leave of absence from USC to follow his dream of becoming a professional musician on the West Coast. In the track “Changes,” Caye reassures his loyal Boston fan base that he won’t let the entertainment industry change who he is. Caye has affirmed that he will always stay true to his Bostonian roots, as they have supported him since his humble beginnings as a self-made producer. Shades, Pt. 1 delves into the dichotomy of excitement and anxiety he felt during this life-changing transition.
In June of 2018, Caye dropped his second album entitled, Pink Tree Paradise, which demonstrated a significant progression in his music career and showcased the “Caye Life” lifestyle. This eleven-song project was appropriately dropped in the summer, given its tropical and relaxing atmosphere with the help of his co-producer Dawgus. The biggest hit on Pink Tree Paradise was undoubtedly the track “Easy” which included a verse from rapper Wiz Khalifa, Caye’s most popular collaboration yet. His most recent album, Isa, was released this past June. Despite it being rather short in length, consisting of only four songs, Isa has a very profound meaning to Caye’s career moving forward. Being born into a family of Filipino origin, Caye is familiar with his ancestral heritage. The word “Isa” is translated as “one” in Tagalog, an Austronesian regional language that is spoken throughout the Philippines.
Amidst the protests and rallies in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, sparked by the tragic and unjust death of George Floyd this past May, Caye decided to shift the central purpose of his music to promoting love. Applying this theme of unity expressed in his music into action, Caye decided to show solidarity with those who have suffered the injustice of police brutality. In order to honor the countless other unarmed Black victims who have been murdered across the nation, Caye donated one hundred percent of his revenue from streams of his 2020 single “Happy?” to the Black Lives Matter organization. Other than Joyner Lucas, Cousin Stizz, and the duo Gang Starr, not many Massachusetts-native hip-hop artists have made it big in the music industry. Although Caye has certainly not confined himself to one lane of music, the clear influence of hip-hop guides his journey as an up-and-coming artist. Be on the lookout for this rising talent out of Boston and his new single dropping November 13th!