As a music hub, Athens often becomes home to musicians in surrounding areas that lack its quantity of bars, venues and musician-oriented culture. Although Atlanta is also close in proximity, its music scene can be daunting or have more barriers to entry, especially in its oversaturated hip-hop community. Over the last two years, hip-hop artist, musician and engineer Tyler Davis, stylized Tyl3r Davis, has made Athens an extension of his home, and the community has embraced him back.
Born and raised in Gwinnett County, Davis owns a recording studio, 333 The Studio, in Winder. Four years ago Davis officially started running the studio as his full-time job and base of operations with studio assistant Angie Carbajal. However, the 30-year-old entrepreneur’s life of music started young, first engineering at age 16, and before that playing in a rock band in middle school. His love for rhythm led him to rapping in high school, with influences like Mac Miller, Kanye, J. Cole and Drake.
Davis first started playing bars and open mics in Athens around age 18, often frequenting the open mic at New Earth (now Live Wire) with a friend. They would play an acoustic set harmonizing on choruses while Davis would rap the verses, and it was apparent at the time that hip hop was not receiving the same love as other genres. Then, after an incident when Davis was jumped in the city, he wasn’t fond of Athens. However, Davis says that he appreciates the love the city has shown him now, and that his story here has come full circle.
“The first venue that I booked and did myself was Live Wire. It was right after COVID, when they first opened back up. I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to just do it.’ I put the money up at the time, and was like, ‘Man, let’s just see what happens.’ And it worked out,” says Davis.
On July 7, Davis released a 14-track album titled If You’re Checking for Me, which he says represents where his “past and present kind of meet.” For the first time, Davis decided to make this project autobiographical in nature and provide insight into the person behind the rapper persona of Tyl3r Davis. It tells the story of his path leading up to now, but with a comfortable acceptance of where he’s at rather than a sense of bitterness from an angry artist.
“It might come from the development of the business and, you know, I’ve been doing it for so long that I’m happy where I am now,” says Davis. “This album, I really feel like I stepped out of my shell and really got to write my story.”
Different from past albums, Davis decided to step back from producing most of the beats and focus on being an artist. He notes that collaboration was key, and it shows from the variety of features on this album. New Jersey artist Chris Patrick appears on the track “Activated,” and California rapper Westside Boogie is on the single “Hieroglyphics,” which has already hit 150,000 streams on Spotify (in comparison to the album’s impressive 200,000 streams already). Davis says these two artists appeared on his Spotify Wrapped for the previous year, and he decided, why not shoot for the stars and reach out to artists he really enjoys to feature on the album?
“It was definitely the hardest thing that I’ve ever accomplished,” says Davis as he recalls how easily Westside Boogie got on board but how difficult it was to get all the pieces together. After sending an email requesting the feature, Westside Boogie DM’d Davis within six hours, then after not getting a reply, called the studio directly to get to work. It was at his suggestion that the two shot a music video for the track, soon to be released, but pulling together the vision, working out travel, and trial and error of hiring the right videographers created a bump in the road.
“How many times are you going to get hit in the face and keep going? You know what I mean? I feel like at so many points, I could have just been like, alright this is enough. But, you know, it’s worth it in the end,” says Davis.
Also featured on the album are two female artists whom Davis met as clients at the studio. After working together in that capacity, Davis said they “vibed really well,” and he felt like he already “had some stars in [his] back pocket.” KaMahri and Carson Jo Hayes are two of several clients who have become closer to Davis more as a team who learn from one another and share resources, although not yet a label.
One of the elements that sets 333 The Studio apart is Davis’ dedication to hospitality and ability to put himself in the artists’ shoes to create a better marketable product. With a work history in hospitality and customer service before starting the studio, Davis says, regardless of how cliche it may be, that you have to treat people how you want to be treated. Executing this core value, the studio has attracted clientele from out of state as well as across genres, from reggaeton and bachata to rock and audiobooks.
So what is the significance of the number 3 in everything Davis does? There are many layers to that, but ultimately it’s a product of synchronicity that ties his spirituality into his work. At the age of three, Davis’ grandfather passed away. His grandfather, Ned Davis, was a prolific steel guitar player who notably played with Eddie Rabbitt and Jerry Lee Lewis. Then Davis’ basketball and baseball number was always three. At 16, already a significant time period when he picked up engineering, he began seeing “333” all the time, to the point that people around him also noticed it and started associating him with the number.
“Every time I saw it, it was a reminder to keep going,” says Davis. “I’ve had people that come here because the number brought them here… This one girl was like, ‘I came here because this is my spirit number. God told me to come here. It’s tattooed on me.’ You know what I mean? I’ve heard it the least five times.”
For Davis, it’s something to believe in a world where that’s a constant struggle. Through his journey, he’s viewed his music as a diary, and he’s ended up where he needed to be. But for all the contentment he expresses in this album and for his current life, make no mistake that Davis’ brain is always laser-focused on the next move. Up to this point, he’s established a solid brand and base, and he’s ready to launch.
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