TAME Drops Heat on New Track

TAME, The Aspiring Me. Photo: Danielle Tillman

The Houston hip hop game seems to get a little more crowded with the passing of each and every year.  For all of the mic hustlers and rappers we expose, I can tell you that there’s no less than another 100 or 200 coming up every year, and about 25 of those will actually go hard at making a career of it.  Back in the day when the success of Rap-A-Lot Records was just beginning, they had a slew of rappers on the come up, one of which was Big Mello.  Known for his repping of Hiram Clarke and his album Bone Hard Zaggin’, Mello left behind more than a legacy when he tragically passed in a 2024 car accident.  When I heard that his oldest son, TAME, The Aspiring Me was hitting mics hard, I started to follow his path closely.  After a brief stint in NYC and an underground following, TAME is back with a new single “TSH (flexing),” found exclusively here, and it’s a doozy.

Incorporating an almost slow jam vibe with organ and backing vocals, TAME takes the lead on the mic utilizing a mix of auto-tuned vocals and regular spitting to create a song that sticks in your head.  More of a slow boil, there are elements of the chill summer jam while he takes no time to get the catchy chorus out and places it on repeat.  Keeping his street cred with hints of the elements his father dropped back in the day, TAME finds a way to get back at the haters in the best way possible: by dropping a dope track.  The song finishes as quick as it begins, but doesn’t stick around too long either making it almost the perfect slam track.

I caught TAME a month or so back at Nightingale Room and his live show was definitely on point.  Keeping things real while forging his own path, TAME proves that you can come from Houston rap royalty and stay fresh while staying rooted in the sounds that made Houston’s hip hop scene so vital.  Keep your eyes peeled for TAME’s next show, because when you can drop jams this strong, you can definitely bring heat when you perform.  You can also find him on Bandcamp, Tumblr, and Twitter.

by David Garrick