Lynx Records

Local rapper Tap Tap was just 16 when he recorded his first album. Now 21, he just released his third, “The Re-Introduction.” As the title suggests, he sees a need to define himself.

After releasing his second album, Tap Tap pondered “how to recreate myself, to do something different.”

The result is “The Re-Introduction,” an album that seems tailored for mainstream acceptance. But that should not be considered a sign Tap Tap has substantially altered his style for radio airplay or a major-label contract.

Rap is about keeping it real, and good rappers offer a reflection of their real lives in their music. Tap Tap grew up as a middle-class kid in the suburbs (Parkland, to be exact).

The album title was selected about seven months into recording. “It reflects me recreating myself. I have a totally different perspective now,” he remarked.

Tap Tap’s growth as an artist is something of an evolution, quite natural for someone moving from being a teenager to a young adult. He was still in high school when his last album dropped. One song off the first album was about a girl at school who was pregnant.

Now he can get into the nightclubs and hear the DJ spin the first single off his new album.

“It is a whole new ballgame,” he observed. “I used to be at school dances. Being in a club is nothing like that.”

The single, “Get Your Ass On The Floor,” is currently at #15 on the charts for local dance club play lists.

The chorus and title for the tune came near the end of a long night of recording. His producer came up with the phrase.

“I did not want anything too provocative,” Tap Tap recalled.

“When we finished we knew this was going to be the song (picked for a single),” he said.

“The Time Is Now” is another new tune he is pumped up about. It is his observation on the current state of the music industry. “People love it. I am getting a lot of good feedback,” he noted.

His father, Tyrone Bradley, produced the album and owns Lynx Records, the label Tap Tap is on. “He knows what I should sound like,” the rapper remarked.

Tap Tap is quite driven, intent on taking his career to the next level. He would like to get Lynx Records affiliated with a bigger label. National distribution through a local label “is difficult, but not impossible,” he noted.

Being surrounded by supportive people, such as his father and his manager, is important to Tap Tap. At the same time, he is taking an important role in promoting his music

“I am 100 percent focused on my music. I am pushing this album with everything I have,” he said. “It all goes back to the team. I have to show them that I am working hard.”

Tap Tap has wide tastes in music. He lists LL Cool J as a major influence. “He has been there since the beginning,” he said of the famous rapper.

While he listens to Jay Z and Bow Wow, he also is into Nickleback and country performer Brad Paisley.

He admired the song Nelly and Tim McGraw did together.

“I am open to any kind of music,” he said.

Tap Tap’s next gig is at 7 p.m. on April 16 at Fremont Studios in Seattle, part of the festivities for Seattle Fashion Week. He has his team currently booking shows for the summer.

Tap Tap is confidant yet humble at the same time, grateful for the opportunities he has and the people who have supported him.

“I love all my fans. Some of them have been with me since I was 16,” he said. “They have grown up with me.”

“The Re-Introduction” is available at Silver Platters and FYE record stores. For more information visit http://www.lynxrecords.com

Published on April 16, 2009 - Tacoma Weekly-J. larson 4-16-09

When 21-year-old Tacoma rapper Tap Tap's latest disc, The Re-Introduction, first showed up at SW headquarters, his catchy club jam "Get Your Ass on the Floor" immediately stood out as the type of ridiculous party song that wins in every other music market except the Northwest. With a mixture of Southern crunk, Miami bass, and DJ Unk "Walk It Out" flair, it's a proper booty-shaking track just right for club DJs and urban radio. Whether the song can become a real hit here is a question I unfortunately know the answer to. Other parts of Re-Introduction have merit as well. "Time Is Now," with its Auto-Tune vocal effects and lyrics that drip confidence, help Tap Tap sound like a hungry MC. And while his song "Double My Dollas" sounds like a low-budget "Dirt Off Your Shoulder," it works production-wise and the verses are nice.

Parts of the album show growing pains, But that's partly age-appropriate, Re-Introduction is well worth exploring. JONATHAN CUNNINGHAM - SEATTLE WEEKLY 4-7-09