With a string of chart-breaking hits and high-profile collaborations – including with the likes of Post Malone, Kid Cudi, Anderson. Paak, Nicki Minaj and Quavo – Ty Dolla $ign is one of R&B and hip-hop's biggest names.
And while the Spicy rapper is known for his abilities with a bass guitar, he's also apparently pretty handy with a six-string.
Taking to social media on Monday (January 11), Ty shared a clip of himself jamming the main riff of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit on a Fender Strat.
Accompanied by his live band, the rendition starts as faithful cover of the original before moving in an altogether groovier direction.
🤘🏾🤘🏾 pic.twitter.com/VCEehGGHvdJanuary 12, 2021
The rapper has made no secret of his love for Nirvana in the past; back in 2019, he teamed up with Spin to recreate Kurt Cobain's famous black-and-white cover for the magazine. He also revealed in the same issue that he has a portrait of the Nirvana frontman tattooed on the back of his leg.
“The first time I ever actually loved a rock song was Smells Like Teen Spirit and then it made me go and listen to all of his [Cobain's] shit,” Ty said during the interview. “I wish he would have lived longer to really give off everything and I wonder what he would sound like right now.
“I definitely wanted to pay homage to Kurt because he’s the rock star of rock stars. I’m just a sex symbol, I’m trying to get there.”
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
We've seen a number of hip-hop stars share their six-string skills in recent months, most notably when Ty's Spicy collaborator Post Malone took on Eric Johnson's Cliffs of Dover.
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**
Join now for unlimited access
US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year
UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year
Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Sam was Staff Writer at GuitarWorld.com from 2019 to 2023, and also created content for Total Guitar, Guitarist and Guitar Player. He has well over 15 years of guitar playing under his belt, as well as a degree in Music Technology (Mixing and Mastering). He's a metalhead through and through, but has a thorough appreciation for all genres of music. In his spare time, Sam creates point-of-view guitar lesson videos on YouTube under the name Sightline Guitar.
“I didn’t have a bass guitar, so I had to make one. Unknown to me at the time, I built the first fretless bass, about five years before they came out”: Before the Rolling Stones, Bill Wyman needed a good bass guitar – so he created his own
“If there was ever a time to get off the rollercoaster, it was going to be at the top”: Being in a band is tough – just ask bassist Dirk Lance, who left Incubus at the peak of their powers