BEHIND THE MIC: KING WEST$IDE

UNDRGRND Magazine | August 24, 2021

At the north end of the Las Vegas Strip, where Las Vegas Blvd. intersects Sahara Ave., Tyler Tate works at one of the city’s newest dispensaries, Cookies On The Strip. But away from the neon blue lights that cover Berner’s new marijuana shop, Tate is building a music career under the name KING WEST$IDE. 

In 2021, the 27-year-old rapper from Antelope Valley, California has released a series of singles — “WEST$IDE,” “Sumthin 2 Say,” and “Neva Change” — blending his poetry expertise and West Coast influences with an assertive delivery and laid back beats. 

But Tate holds dreams beyond weed and music. He sees them both as stepping stones to fulfill his lofty expectations.

“Music is just the gatekeeper,” Tate tells UNDRGRND. We’re walking along Fremont St. in Downtown Las Vegas. “I want to try acting. I want to have my own modeling agency. I want to do my own clothing line. It’s so many different doors I want to open up, but I feel like music is where I'm more talented. And that will generate the revenue, the network, and everything that I’ll need to build those other things.”

He sees weed in a similar way. Tate says that he may want to also open a dispensary himself — he has the “cannabis background” to do so.

As Tate works towards a career that spans industries, his focus currently remains on music. He traces his passion for art back to his interest in poetry and English he had in high school. In 2017, Tate performed for the first time, and discovered the possibility for him to pursue a career in music. But in the following years, he struggled to find his footing in the scene.

“I did a whole bunch of shows between 2017 and 2019. And after 2019, I kind of, like, lost my job — lost a whole bunch of shit,” he says. “I had my kids, so I couldn't really focus on music too much. So then I got into this crazy depression, bro. I felt like I wasn’t gonna do music no more.”

Tate said through listening to Nipsey Hussle — his favorite artist — and other poetic hip-hop artists, he was encouraged to get out of a mindset that was plagued by turmoil.

Since, Tate has reignited his career. In February, he dropped “WEST$IDE,” his first single of this new chapter in his life. “I know it’s been a minute, ni**a / but I’m back to talk my shit,” he raps on the opening lines.

As Tate looks ahead to his future ventures that involve movies and modeling and fashion, he promises to drop more new music in 2021. Music, he says, that is undoubtedly his own.

“You don't always have to throw yourself into a wave that's already there,” he says. “Make music the way you want to make it, and 90 percent of the time it's gonna come out 100 times better.”