At the downtown headquarters of Universal Records in Toronto, Tyrique Clark is explaining his ascent from a wild 11-year-old in East Scarborough to the in-demand house music star Tyriqueordie, promoting his new ep.

With fits, starts and revelations—a journey which took him from Lil Wayne to Azealia Banks, with a huge OVO assist—the stylish 29-year-old with a lisp and ride-or-die motivation, says music was all he ever wanted to do. 

“I was writing stories and 8-bar verses as a kid and always saw things different,” he says, on the eve of releasing You’re Not Invited, a sentimental house lament that’s showcasing a new side of the rave scene veteran who threw his ep release party at a strip club. “I come from Galloway, that’s a government housing complex and it’s very trench over there, very gritty, but I viewed it from the opposite lens—I found a lot of light.” 

The light Tyriqueordie shines is appealing, and growing every day. He spends time in the studio, he says, like Kobe Bryant practicing jumpers and knows that he’s found something that works. Originally, his neighbourhood looked down on house and electronic music and he was encouraged to stay in his more traditional hip hop lane, which he calls boom-bap. But as he ventured into the creative community of the underground rave scene during COVID, he says his world opened up and he saw a new place for his music to live. 

“Being Black, for me, it felt like entering the rave scene would be a lot harder because where I come from if you listen to rave music people don’t want to hang out with you,” he says, adding that in 2020 he began performing live at underground clubs in secret Toronto locations, like underneath the Gardiner Expressway or else out by the train tracks in the woods.

“When I started getting into the scene, people welcomed us with open arms and I started making great connections and realized there was something missing that only I could bring.” 

Tyriqueordie had already been making music for more than a decade when he touched upon the style which now dominates his music and his live shows. Influenced by underground hip hop like MF Doom, but with the crossover dreams of Travis Scott, the musician now says he wants to do for rave music what Beyoncé has done with country: take it back to its roots. 

“House music started off Black and unfortunately Black people started to kick it to the side and I’d love to bring that energy back,” he says. “We got my brother Shaboozey doing his thing on the country charts, Tyriqueordie will do that for house music.” 

The new single is almost an anti-love song and follows the long tradition of artists who wish they could settle down with the woman they love but just can’t because of their lifestyle, even though it’s breaking their heart. Tyrique says the first few times he listened to it completed—a track he envisioned from opening beat to chaotic conclusion—he cried. 

“That song is pretty much a pen to a girl I love but I know I can’t because of who I am,” he says, adding that he’s a Gemini. “I can love, but I can also not love because I’m scared and the song is saying that I’m sorry we broke up, but we had to because I’m a fucked up guy and if I bring you along, it’s only going to bring you down.” 

Meeting the young musician who says he enters the flow state onstage and can completely dissociate from life itself when he performs, feels like a full circle moment for him and KIND. Tyriqueordie worked at an underground dispensary before legalization and, once pot became legal, sold Health Canada-stamped prerolls and ounces at Sessions, where he used to read our magazine, including the cover story on Wiz Khalifa, from whose TaylorGangorDie meme inspired his name.

He shakes his head at the irony of his journey. 

“Sessions was my last job actually, and it was a great job,” he says, with a laugh. “It pretty much started the whole thing off and it will be a beautiful thing to go back there and see myself in the magazine. It’s just the last perfect image of how far I’ve come.” 

You’re Not Invited came out on October 17. For more on Tyriqueordie, including live dates, see @tyriqueordie.