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The Arlington, Texas rapper was involved in two killings by the time he was seventeen. Arrested on murder charges and placed under house arrest until hearings were to take place, Tay-K sawed off his ankle bracelet and announced to the world via Twitter that he was going out on the run. He made it from Texas all the way to New Jersey where he recorded his most infamous song, “The Race”, detailing his time on the lam. The song’s lyrics and video blurred real life and art and quickly went viral garnering over 100 million downloads. It also worked as a set of clues for authorities to use to piece together the young fugitive’s whereabouts. The viral nature of the song and video, the ensuing twitter phenomenon and infamy surrounding the young fugitive also caused tipsters to come out in droves and eventually led to Tay-K’s arrest.

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Sources

New York Times: Tay-K Was a 17-Year-Old Violent Fugitive. Then His Song Went Viral

Billboard: Viral Rapper Tay-K, A Rundown of the Tumultuous Journey of 'The Race'

COMPLEX: Who Is Tay-K and Why Is His Song 'The Race' Blowing Up

Disgraceland is a podcast about musicians getting away with murder and behaving very badly. It melds music history, true crime and transgressive fiction. Disgraceland is not journalism. Disgraceland is entertainment. Entertainment inspired by true events. However, certain scenes, characters and names are sometimes fictionalized for dramatic purposes.

Music

Score by Jake Brennan.

Mixed and Engineered by Sean Cahalin.

Disgraceland theme song, "Crenshaw Space Boogie" written and produced by Jake Brennan. Performed by Jake Brennan, Bryce Kanzer, Jay Cannava and Evan Kenney. Mixed and engineered by Adam Taylor.

This episode featured the song, "Walk Of Shame" written, performed and produced by Bodega Girls with Adam Taylor.

*illustration by Avi Spivak @avispivak