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Tom Delay Beats
A producer, DJ, and engineer residing in Queens, NY, Tom Delay Beats picked up an MPC in 2007 and began developing what continues to be recognized as his signature sound. Emerging with some dusty samples and robust drums, he teamed up with renown battle emcee A-Class and supplied superb production for the artist’s solo release, Motive Response. Two years later, Delay completed work on his brainchild Cases, a hip-hop whodunit complete with beats, mixing, vocals, and cuts from the panoptic producer. By 2010, Delay had linked up with Baltimore hip-hop legends Dirt Platoon to provide superlative production on Deeper Than Dirt, which has been consistently lauded by the Baltimore media and the international blogosphere. In 2011, the Baltimore City Paper crowned Delay the “Best Beatmaker of the Year” for his work on a number of successful releases.
In 2012, Class and Delay got together again to devise the Deathsuit EP, a 10-track collection that also included a short video for the single “Sniper”, produced and directed by Tom Delay.
Upon moving to Queens in 2013, Tom Delay Beats released his first instrumental album, complete with visuals for the lead single, “The Living Dead”, from English filmmaker, Louis Martins. An eclectic collection of dark, organ-laden beats, Sharks in The Sky is an audile odyssey in hip-hop instrumentation, tracks from which have been featured on the VICE documentary, “King of Cannabis”, VH1 programming, Levis commercials, Monster Energy ads, and the WWE.
In late 2014, Tom Delay Beats produced the entire ‘Nightwriter’ EP for A-Class, which has received positive reviews online. He also produced two songs (including the title track) for Dirt Platoon’s Bare Face Robbery LP, which was released on Effiscienz.
By 2015, Delay had assembled his second instrumental effort, Programming, which was released on Brake Fast Records and included a video for the lead single “Milk Money”, directed the by Delay, as well as a visual for “His Story”, derived from Louis Martins’ short film, Persona.
Most recently, Delay formed a production team named AYOWOLF, which released its first instrumental effort, Snag in late 2016. In 2018, he dropped his 3rd instrumental project, Rings, accompanied by some video shorts of the Baltimore cityscape and the rolling hills of Scotland.
Through the years, Tom Delay Beats has amassed production credits on songs with a number of esteemed emcees including C-Rayz Walz, Skyzoo, Chaundon, and more. Functioning not as just a “beatmaker”, Delay has also accumulated executive production credits on a number of releases. He also continues to secure music placements on television programming, and in commercials and film. His addictive loops are augmented by superior drum sequencing, crisp mixing, and creative use of synthesizers. His style is ever-evolving, as he continues to build on the same hip-hop formulas devised by his inspirations and predecessors.
