The more you give them to digest, the better.”īeaumont is one of the most disenfranchised cities in the US, known for its high murder rate and increasing economic disparity (in 2019, it was estimated that over 16% of the population lived at or below the national poverty line). You understand, ‘This is what he’s seen growing up and how he’s living now.’ I feel like I finally had the confidence to do that and understand that people connect with someone’s story more than they connect with the image of the person. “It’s as if you were going into my childhood and you find a box of my cassettes which are my influences, my life. “The story I’m trying to tell is semi-autobiographical,” he says, with a pregnant pause, searching for the right words to continue. “ I think she’s from Port Arthur/ I fly her out to Florida,” he raps animatedly. With a similar rhyme scheme to Run-DMC’s iconic tune It’s Tricky, the track possesses an infectious sing-along sensibility over booming 808 beats and slinky synths. His recent single, Rock Paper Strippers, reveals an even more playful, genre-meshing direction. Although details are still scarce, the project will be his most complete statement so far, and will allow fans further into his singular world. His upcoming debut album, Ended Up Being Me, will be the way that he does it.

“No one really knew me for the music, and music, to me, is my foundation.” Leaning hard into these extracurricular activities, his music began to feel like an “afterthought”. “I was getting a lot of looks, tour opportunities, magazine covers, and I felt undeserving of it,” he says, admitting he fell prey to imposter syndrome. He isn’t rattled, and instead neutralises the accusations by addressing them head-on. Critics have been quick to dismiss Teezo as a fashion rapper, writing him off as style over substance. He ran for mayor in the fictional city of Midville and detailed what he would do if elected: policies including making it illegal for barbers to push back clients’ hairlines and for people to steal someone else’s lighter, as well as ensuring “ every baby will be delivered with a midwife”.īut Hanes, it could be argued, also offered a protective layer in another way. The campaign, which mostly took the form of Instagram skits, was equal parts absurd, hilarious and deeply steeped in humanity.

He promoted his 2022 goth-rap single Mid with a Rid the Mid campaign on social media. Like many of rap’s master universe builders, Teezo is adept at creating vivid alter egos to bring his concepts to life. I just pray and ask for ideas to flow through me.” I don’t want to take credit for anything that makes me seem like a genius. I look in the mirror and see my biggest enemy. “In a lot of interviews before, I was self-deprecating. “I’m glad we’re having this conversation now,” he says softly. It’s an ever-changing sound, floating between emo, rap, punk – an orbit which only Teezo can see.įor Teezo, each track is a fresh opportunity to flex his creativity and test out new ideas – which might, sometimes, come across as restless and searching (a state he’s increasingly open to, and comfortable in). An artist in thrall to zeitgeist-defining icons like Prince, Marvin Gaye and Kraftwerk, his musical style doesn’t feel boxed in. Since then, he’s released a string of loosies, including viral hits like Sucka!, I’m Just a Fan and Strong Friend. 100 Drums starts with a question – “ Is anybody brave any more?” – which epitomises Teezo’s MO. This is, after all, the rapper who introduced himself in 2019 with the kind-of-rap, kind-of-rock 100 Drums – a track that sampled Panic! At The Disco’s anthemic hit I Write Sins Not Tragedies. His team assist him in achieving this look every morning. On top of that, he has modelled and appeared in campaigns for fashion powerhouses like Telfar, Marc Jacobs, Moncler and Matthew M Williams all admirers of his unconventional and outlandish style, including his current signature look: hair studded with 15 pounds of construction nails. A look at some of his cosigns bears this out: Tyler, the Creator, Kenny Beats, Lil Yachty… rap’s galaxy brain thinkers and mavericks. There are few artists as open-minded, as willing to experiment, as Teezo Touchdown. The truth is much more exciting he’s evolving in real time. I want that in print, so in ten years, I can look back at this and know exactly where I was during this interview.”ĭeclarations like this might suggest that the Beaumont, Texas native has a ten-year plan. “Right now,” he says, pausing in the middle of a street in LA while his banking app loads, “I have $208.21, and yesterday, my manager sent me $200. Teezo Touchdown is about to hang up the phone when he suddenly exclaims: “Hold up, hold up!” The artist has been condemning the rising costs of goods when he suddenly remembers to check his bank account.

Just a fan teezo touchdown