Equal parts artist and businessman, Tai Verdes has carefully curated his image to seem like a super chill guy. His genre-bending music—best described as bedroom hip-hop with a touch of pop—features a mixture of rapping and speak-singing, which works in perfect harmony to create his laid-back love songs. Aptly named, Verdes’ sophomore album HDTV (2022) ups the quality of his fun-loving, groovy debut, TV (2021).
Though both of his albums are musically and thematically lighthearted, Verdes elevates HDTV through experimentation with new sounds. While the onus of musicality in TV was placed almost entirely on Verdes’ airy vocals, HDTV boasts full-sounding instrumentation from orchestral and synthetic backing. He also demonstrates more vocal power in both singing and rapping, imbuing this album with livelier energy.
Verdes is equally concerned with personal branding as he…
