For Teezo Touchdown, his sound started with his look. When the Beaumont, Texas singer/rapper went into the studio in 2019 to record what became the Panic at the Disco-sampling track “100 Drums,” he surprised himself by leaning hard towards rock influences — an approach that would become the template for his recent debut, How Do You Sleep at Night? “I already had made the change aesthetically of going to rock before I even did it sonically,” he says in the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now. “I was already painting my [face], I had the hair. and I think it just seeped in when I went to the studio. ‘This is what I look like.’”
Teezo has courted praise, bafflement, and criticism by not sounding quite like anyone else, and doing so in features on high-profile albums from Tyler the Creator, Lil Yachty, Travis Scott, and most recently, Drake‘s For All the Dogs. On the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, Teezo talks about making one of the most intriguing and controversial albums of the year, his superstar collaborations, and much more. For the full interviews,go here for the podcast provider of your choice, listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or just press play above.
On Travis Scott’s Utopia, Teezo has one of the most striking guest appearances on an album full of superstars, seeming to channel David Bowie with his vocals on the track “Modern Jam.” “That’s my best frontman voice,” he says. “Look at a Lennon, look at a Freddie Mercury, look at Prince.”
How Do You Sleep at Night? relies so heavily on guitars and rock influences that it feels like it fits far better in the rap-rock canon than in hip-hop per se. Still, Teezo says, “I always say I’m an MC at heart, through and through… I feel like all the genres are married now.” Teezo hasn’t listened much to prior rap-rock fusions, instead shouting out names from Bruce Springsteen to Alice Cooper, whose “School’s Out” an obvious influence on the track “Too Easy.”
When Drake called How Do You Sleep At Night? “the best music ever,” before its release, it set Teezo up for a backlash. But he says he never intended to divide listeners. “I just wanted to reach whoever it connected to.”
Download and subscribe to Rolling Stone‘s weekly podcast, Rolling Stone Music Now, hosted by Brian Hiatt, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts). Check out six years’ worth of episodes in the archive, including in-depth, career-spanning interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Mariah Carey, Halsey, Neil Young, Snoop Dogg, Brandi Carlile, Phoebe Bridgers, Rick Ross, Alicia Keys, the National, Ice Cube, Taylor Hawkins, Willow, Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Dua Lipa, Questlove, Killer Mike, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Liam Gallagher, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Donald Fagen, Charlie Puth, Phil Collins, Justin Townes Earle, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Eddie Van Halen, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, and Gary Clark Jr. And look for dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with Rolling Stone’s critics and reporters.