ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: TEEJAY3K

“Even though I smile, my life get wild, I hold my heart in my lap. I feel anxiety inside of me, I feel like I'm trapped. This been my life, that's why I fight, I swear you don't know the half.”

These lyrics from singer and rapper Teejay3k’s song “No Friends” featuring Quando Rondo, encompass the artist’s honest and story-like approach to his lyrics and music. The 24-year-old represents Pompano Beach, Florida, which is where his journey in music started back in 2014. After halting his pursuit in football, Teejay3k’s friends took him to a local studio where he heard himself rap for the first time. He published the song onto SoundCloud and has never looked back.

The music Teejay3k released early in his career was much different than what he is creating now. His early releases were often collaborations with underground producers consisting of upbeat lyrics with similarly upbeat production. One of the biggest successes of his early career was his song featuring Kodak Black titled “Paper Soldiers”

Teejay3k started to take a different approach around 2018. His current music favors traditional music instrumentals, such as piano or guitar combinations, mixed with hip-hop beats. Much of his new music, especially his latest project “Soul Searchin” tell stories of his difficult upbringing and other struggles the artist has gone through to make it to where he is now. The lyrics are heartfelt, and also speak on the struggles he faces today. “I don't know how to feel no more. I don't know who really real no more. I don't know who really here no more” are lyrics off of his song “Bad Vibes”.

Though his new music more often involves a different sound, Teejay3k is not afraid to go back to his beginnings with successful upbeat releases, such as “Murda Season” featuring Shootergang Kony which was released in 2019. His most recent projects are Introvert: Side A and Side B, both released in 2020. They both provide a similar sound, and have been picking up a good amount of traction. Right now, Teejay3k is working on putting out visuals for his latest drops, and is constantly working on new music. After releasing multiple projects within the past few months, it doesn’t seem like Teejay3k will be slowing down anytime soon.

Written by: Ash Guha