You’ve probably seen the photo. It’s the one where a teenager with a wide, almost innocent-looking grin sits in a courtroom, a stark contrast to the heavy chains and the 55-year sentence he’d just received. Then, fast forward to April 2025, and that number jumps to 135 years total after his second murder conviction. That’s Tay-K. But before the jail calls and the endless appeals, there was Santana World.
It’s a weird project to talk about in 2026. It’s barely 16 minutes long—shorter than most sitcom episodes—yet it basically shifted the trajectory of underground rap for a half-decade. Most people think of it as just a vehicle for "The Race," the song he recorded while literally running from a capital murder charge. But if you actually sit with the mixtape, it’s a lot more than a viral moment. It’s a dark, frantic, and oddly melodic time capsule of a kid who was living a life that was moving way too fast for his age.
Honestly, the "Free Tay-K" movement has mostly faded into a cautionary tale now, but the music? That's still sticking around.
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The Reality Behind the Santana World Tracks
When Santana World dropped on July 29, 2017, Tay-K (Taymor McIntyre) was already behind bars. He’d been captured in Elizabeth, New Jersey, the same day the music video for "The Race" premiered. Talk about a marketing plan you couldn't script if you tried. The project title itself is a tribute to his friend Santana Sage (Eric Johnson), a fellow member of the Daytona Boyz who was sentenced to 44 years for the murder of a college student in 2016.
The tape is 8 tracks of raw, unfiltered energy. It’s not "polished." It’s not "studio quality" in the traditional sense. It sounds like it was recorded in bedrooms and makeshift setups because, well, it mostly was.
"Murder She Wrote" is probably the most haunting track on there when you look back. He opens with "Ran up with some hope and he ran off as a ghost." Back in 2017, fans thought it was just edgy drill lyrics. By 2025, after a San Antonio jury heard the details of the Mark Anthony Saldivar shooting—a photographer Tay-K allegedly killed over a camera—those lyrics stopped being catchy. They became evidence.
Then you have "I <3 My Choppa." It’s bouncy. It’s got this weirdly infectious "plugg" style beat produced by PuertoView. It’s the kind of song that makes you want to nod your head until you remember the kid rapping it was 16 and facing multiple life sentences.
Why the Deluxe Edition Actually Matters
In December 2017, they put out the deluxe version, usually stylized as #SantanaWorld (+). This is where the industry really tried to capitalize on the chaos. They added remixes with 21 Savage, Young Nudy, and Maxo Kream.
- The Race (Remix): Adding 21 Savage was a massive co-sign. It took the song from a SoundCloud curiosity to a Billboard Hot 100 hit (peaking at number 44).
- I <3 My Choppa (Remix): Maxo Kream brought a level of Houston authenticity to the track that grounded Tay-K’s more "internet-era" sound.
The production on this tape is a who's who of the 2017 underground. You’ve got the late Hella Sketchy on "Saran Pack," a song that’s barely 70 seconds long. You’ve got Kenny Beats' early influence, and names like S. Diesel and Russ808. It was a perfect storm of the "SoundCloud Rap" aesthetic: distorted bass, short runtimes, and total disregard for traditional song structure.
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What Most People Get Wrong About the Legacy
A lot of critics at the time dismissed Santana World as "crash-out music." They saw it as a glorification of the very crimes that were destroying Tay-K's life. But there’s a nuance there that people miss.
If you listen to "Megaman," he’s making references to Capcom and old-school gaming. He sounds like a kid. Because he was. He was a teenager who grew up in the foster care system, surrounded by gang culture in Arlington, Texas, and who didn't have anyone to tell him "no." The mixtape isn't just a confession; it's a documentation of a system failure.
In April 2025, when Judge Stephanie Boyd handed down that second 80-year sentence (to run concurrently with his 55), the world of Santana World felt officially closed. There were some "new" tracks released in late 2025 like "Coolin" and "Half Off," but they felt like echoes of a ghost. They were old recordings dusted off to keep the estate moving. The real "world" of Santana ended the moment that ankle monitor was cut.
The Technical Impact on Modern Rap
You can’t talk about the current state of "Crash-out" rap or the "Sample Drill" scene without looking at what Tay-K did. He brought a specific kind of "realness" that the internet obsessed over. It was "hyperreality."
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- The Flow: He had this skittering, triplet-heavy flow that felt like he was constantly trying to catch up to the beat.
- The Length: Most songs on the tape are under 2 minutes. This pioneered the "short song" meta that dominates TikTok and Spotify today.
- The Visuals: Smoking a blunt in front of your own wanted poster? That changed how rappers used social media for clout, for better or worse.
Where Does This Leave Us?
So, is Santana World a masterpiece? Probably not. Is it one of the most important cultural artifacts of the late 2010s? Absolutely.
It’s a project that exists in the uncomfortable space between art and crime. We live in an era where "true crime" is a massive genre, and this mixtape is basically the musical equivalent of a 4K body-cam video. It’s fascinating, it’s repelling, and it’s undeniably real.
If you're looking to understand why the 2020s rap scene looks the way it does, you have to go back to this 16-minute tape. Just don't expect a happy ending. Taymor McIntyre is currently serving his time in a Texas state prison, and with a release date effectively set for the next century, Santana World is the only version of freedom he has left.
Actionable Takeaways for the Curious
- Listen to the "Standard" version first: The deluxe remixes are cool, but the raw 8-track original is where the actual "vibe" is.
- Check out the producers: If you like the sound, look up Hella Sketchy or Team Jacob. They defined that specific 2017 era.
- Understand the context: Read the court transcripts from 2019 and 2025. It changes how you hear the lyrics—turning "bars" into "depositions."
The music is a vibe, but the reality is a tragedy. Don't confuse the two.