Tay Keith’s Cause of Death Revealed

The cause of death for Tay Keith — the Grammy-nominated producer who died in June at age 29 — has been revealed. A source at the medical examiner’s office in Nashville confirms to Rolling Stone that Keith died from an accidental drug overdose.

Per the source, Keith died from “combined mitragynine, 7-Hydroxymitragynine, mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, and ketamine toxicity. The manner of death was accident.” Mitragynine is a naturally occurring alkaloid that can be isolated from the leaves of Mitragyna speciosa, a medicinal plant also known as kratom, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s National Library of Medicine. The news was first reported by TMZ. Rolling Stone has requested the full autopsy report.

The Tennessee native was found dead in his Nashville apartment on June 18. The Metro Nashville Police Department said in a statement at the time that no foul play was suspected. “He was found dead in his Martin St apt this afternoon by officers performing a welfare check,” read the statement. “His death is unclassified pending autopsy results.”

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Keith, who was widely respected as an architect of modern hip-hop, started making beats as a teenager and went on to create a signature sound adapted from legendary Southern groups such as Three 6 Mafia and 8Ball & MJG. 

By the time Keith turned 21, he garnered his first hit with Drake and BlocBoy’s “Look Alive.” Other collaborations of note included co-producing Travis Scott’s 2018 hit track “Sicko Mode”; co-producing Eminem’s “Not Alike” for the rapper’s 10th studio album, Kamikaze; co-producing “Before I Let Go,” a bonus track on Beyoncé’s Homecoming: The Live Album; and executive producing Sexyy Red’s 2024 album, Sexyy We Trust, whose breakout hits “Pound Town” and “SkeeYee” were also produced by him.