Hip-hop producer
Tall Black Guy specializes in a predominantly mellow and sample-based sound rich with atmosphere and musicality. Counting
DJ Premier and
Pete Rock as inspirations, and
Questlove and BBC DJ
Gilles Peterson among his admirers, the native Midwesterner has been operating since the second half of the 2000s with an array of original productions, remixes, edits, and collaborations, throughout which he has been equally adept at working with rappers, singers, and sampled voices. His full-length recordings range from
8 Miles to Moenart (2013) to Airplane Mode (2021), and include the
Zo! collaboration
Abstractions (also 2021).
Originally from Detroit's east side,
Tall Black Guy (Terrel Wallace) moved with his family to Chicago in the late '80s. Toward the end of the next decade, he started beatmaking, using only rudimentary audio-editing software before he added components such as the MPC, keyboards, and plug-ins to his arsenal. He picked up his first official credits the next decade. In 2011, the year
TBG relocated to the U.K., activity and notice increased with his first solo 7" releases, issued through the Bastard Jazz and First Word labels. One of these A-sides, "Water No Enemy," was licensed that year by
Gilles Peterson for the Brownswood Bubblers Seven compilation. The first
TBG album,
8 Miles to Moenart, followed on First Word in 2013. A cinematic and primarily instrumental tribute to Detroit, it featured a guest verse from Ozay Moore, one of
TBG's most frequent recording partners. Another LP for First Word, Let's Take a Trip, was out three years later with the likes of
Daniel Crawford,
Masego, and
Moonchild added to the mix. Before the end of the 2010s,
Tall Black Guy had put in smaller-scale work for other admired labels such as Ubiquity and Street Corner Music, and set up an outlet of his own, Tall Black Guy Productions.
It was through Tall Black Guy Productions that
TBG issued much of his 2020-2021 output, which included Restless as We Are, an EP containing the producer's highest concentration of socially conscious material, and the full-length Airplane Mode, a spirit-lifting affair. Trailing Airplane Mode by mere weeks in 2021 was
Abstractions, on which
TBG partnered with
Zo! and featured artists such as
Josh Milan,
Omar,
Elzhi,
Black Milk, and
BeMyFiasco.
TBG had previously remixed
Zo!'s "This Could Be the Night" and contributed to the multi-instrumentalist's
FourFront. ~ Andy Kellman