Infusing trippy genre-bending beats with modern rap is Texas-hailed musician Teezo Touchdown. Having first emerged on our radar with his rock-inspired tune “100 Drums”, Teezo has been whipping up a viral storm with his pop-punk rhythms and unique lyricism.

From filming and constructing music videos on his phone to co-signs from BROCKHAMPTON and Chance the Rapper, Teezo continues to blend melodic soul-searching with real-life haunting experiences. As the young artist continues to pioneer his pop-punk sound we caught up with the rising star talking inspirations, new music and what’s next.

Check out the interview below…

Hi Teezo, how has lockdown been for you? How have you stayed creative?
“Lockdown” is such a harsh word. I’m free, you know what I’m saying? I’m blessed to still be free. There’s not really a lock on me right now but I will say that it seems like the days are like literally repeating and that I’m living the same day over and over. Other than that, as far as staying creative, I’ve been creating and training pretty much to make this second nature so I’m blessed to say that ideas are still coming. I always compare my creativity to a deer… this little deer that’s easily startled but is strong. I think that’s how I’ve been staying creative. Repetition.

How did growing up in Texas influence your music?
Let me give you a scenario: you’re in elementary school, it’s a Saturday. Your dad wakes you up in the morning and says “get ready, we have to be at the venue in two hours.” So you get up, brush your teeth, put on some clothes. Then you go check your computer on which you’ve been downloading music all night. You’ve been downloading the Hot 100, you’ve been downloading the billboard, you’ve been downloading every line dance that’s ever been created, and you’re putting together playlists and you’re putting it together with the other 30 or so playlists that you’ve created. Then you go to the venue and it could be a family reunion or a wedding reception or a graduation party. And basically, for 4 to 6 hours, you gotta play heat. And I learned early on sonically what people respond to, what brings people together, what makes couples dance, what makes the kids get up and run around. I just learned the signals that music sends off and doing that every weekend all the way up to high school I’ve just been watching the effects that music has on people. I think that influenced me big time

Your dad was a DJ – how did this inspire you and who did you listen to?
You know as a kid, whatever you see is pretty much what you know. So as a kid I’m seeing turntables and records all around the house. Once my dad saw I had an interest in that, every Christmas it was something different. It was a turntable one Christmas, it was a piano another Christmas, it was a studio the Christmas after that. Having a dad that was hip to music just made my life 10 times cooler. And as far as what I was listening to, I was listening to pretty much everything that came out on Tuesdays because I had to figure out what I was gonna play on Saturdays. Pretty much everything I was listening to on Tuesdays was mainstream and then of course I also had to listen to Texas underground and hear a lot of those mixtapes.

How would you describe your sound in three words?
Rhythm and soul.

You’ve had amazing co-signs – how did they come about?
I mean… cosigns are amazing. It’s a lot of great things you can do with them. You know you can get a new car, you can get a loan, you can get approved for a new apartment. You know, I’m blessed to have a lot of great cosigns and hopefully I can return that favor, you know… seeing the importance of cosigns I can’t wait to return the favour but first, my credit has to be good. Before you give a cosign your credit has to be good so I’m just looking to help how I was helped

Congrats on your new song “Strong Friend” – what was it inspired by?
If you go to the gym or if you were to go to the gym, I don’t care if it’s the strongest dude in there or whoever you think is the strongest dude in there, if he goes to that bench, 9 times out of 10 he’ll have a spotter, you feel me? So it’s kinda like a translation to that man. I don’t care who you are, when life gets heavy, I’m pretty sure you have a spotter and “Strong Friend” was just like… a reminder to check in on a person who’s there to help you when life gets too heavy on you.

Where are the most unusual places you pull inspiration from?
Lately, I’ve been watching movie reviews… like 30-minute movie reviews. I don’t know why but I’ll watch like 5 different reviews on 1 movie and I’ve been doing that while I’ve been creating as of late. So right now, it’s movie reviews.

Who’s your dream collaboration?
Robert Townsend.

What’s next for you?/what are you excited about this 2020?
I’m excited about the prayers that’s going to be answered this year, the friends I haven’t met yet, the places I haven’t seen and the music I haven’t made. I just want to see where this crazy ride takes me.