tay assassin

Tay Assasin (aka Dante Sawyer) was born on July 23, 1984 at the Kaiser Medical Center in San Francisco, CA.

While growing up in many urban areas of San Francisco, Dante was exposed to all the pro’s and cons that living in the city had to offer.

At a young age Dante lived with his mother in Bay View/Hunters Point area of the city. As a child, Dante was constantly moving from his grandmother’s house in the Fillmore to his aunts house, located in the Lakeview district. Tay Assasin (TA): “Growing up I never had stability.” Because Dante’s family lived in all areas of San Francisco, he never stayed in the same place for too long and he was on a constant move since he was 14 years old. TA: “I lived almost everywhere in the city and I’ve seen everything before my eyes; drugs, pimping, hustling and lots of violence. Because of my experiences on the streets, I’ve learned a lot, and that’s what gave me the urge to start writing.”

Before Dante started rapping, he was a young, up and coming basketball star. TA: ”While I’ve always loved making music, my first love was always basketball. It was something I grew up with.”

At the age of 16, Dante Sawyer started catching a lot of college recruiters’ eyes for his remarkable basketball skills. TA: “I was getting basketball scholarship offers from numerous colleges around the country.” In high school, Dante led his basketball team to a winning championship, while earning a few achievements such as “Player of the Year” and “All Metro Player of the Year” awards. Dante was ranked one of the top 5 prospects in the nation and his ranking earned him a basketball scholarship to the College of Southern Idaho.

The wonderful opportunity was a bit of a set back on his music career. TA: “My first year in Idaho was all about basketball. Still I wrote rhymes everyday and that’s how I kept my lyrics sharp with my teammate, Boo Banger, another young, up and coming artist from San Francisco. You may know him from the SF Anthem, a song all about basketball. TA: “I was concentrating on my career for the future of my family.”

In his first few seasons playing for the So. Idaho team, Dante earned a point guard position, in which he received achievements and was ranked 1 point guard in the JUCO/NBA ranking. Such achievements brought out a lot of the NBA scouts as well as college recruiters to watch Dante play. Sadly, after his sophomore year, his basketball career was put on hold after and incident that caused him to lose his transfer. TA: “The university hired a new coach with whom I had my differences with.”

Dante left the College of Southern Idaho and transferred to Fresno State University where he was reunited with his previous coach from Idaho, but due to coaching violations it kept him off the floor for a year, which cost Dante his scholarship.

After the disappointment, Dante returned home to San Francisco. Dante was welcomed back with open arms. TA: “ Even though I was back home with my family and friends, I was still upset over what happened to my basketball career, so the mic became my emotional outlet. I’ve been around music since and early age. Growing up, I listened to JT Da Bigga Figga, San Quinn, Messy Marv, Cellski and Ballhead Rick, so I know what good music is. I watched a lot of artists come up from ground zero to the top, as well as I watched a lot of talented artists give up on their craft. I’ve seen it all and I’m here to stay!”



Tay Assassin "About Money" Music Video from Brian Storm on Vimeo.



Tay Assassin "Im Bout Money" promo from Brian Storm on Vimeo.