Baton Rogue artist TEC converts hip-hop into what he refers to as “Poetic Activism.” Within deft rhymes and hypnotic melodies, he shows the toughest corners of street life and its consequences in order to seek wisdom and redemption rather than floss braggadocious-ly. This unfiltered approach asserts his status as an underground phenomenon with over 50 million cumulative YouTube views to date and acclaim from The Fader, XXL, and AllHipHop.

In 2019, he delivers a proper full-length debut entitled Keatha Son under his own Spider Nation and EMPIRE.

“It’s not just rapping; I want to be a poetic activist,” he explains. “I love so much hip-hop, but the majority of artists are talking about cars, women, and a lot of the same subjects over and over again. I step out of that. I’m saying, ‘Yeah, I used to keep a gun. There’s consequences though, and they could’ve totaled my life’. I give you both sides of those stories and situations. There’s more to the world. If you’re woke and watching, I try to rhyme like a poet for the people.”

Born and raised in Baton Rogue, TEC grew up with a single mother and two younger siblings. Pops split to start another family, so he “had to be the big brother, step up at an early age, and be man of the house.” He gravitated towards music, looking up to Louisiana heroes such as The Hot Boys and Boosie.

The budding rapper went from performing at talent shows at eight-years-old to recording professionally a few years later. TEC’s uncle brought him to a real studio for the first time in junior high, and he dove headfirst into it. After his uncle’s passing in a tragic accident, he “went harder.” An early recording made its way on to local radio, and Master P heard it.

The legend invited the young artist to California, but trouble caught up with him in 2011.

“I ended up having to do some time,” he admits. “I was going back and forth to jail, catching charges, and doing stupid shit. When I finally got out in 2015, I had to do things on my own.”

So, he put his head down and focused on making music independently. He joined forces with local homie Maine Musik and released a steady stream of projects as a duo. Following their first upload “Fundu,” they unleashed a series of viral bangers. “Go Crazy” blasted past 11 million views with “Aint No Comin Down” racking up 4.5 million and “Aw Mane” [feat. Tayda Santana & Yungin] surpassing 2.1 million.

Amicably parting ways with Maine, 2018 saw TEC go solo. “Pay Up” cracked 3.5 million views as “Thru The Storm” exploded. The latter became his biggest hit thus far with a staggering 16 million-plus views. With buzz growing on mixtapes Web Life and Web Life 2, he aligned with EMPIRE for the release of Keatha Son during 2019.

Getting more personal than ever before, it marked noticeable progression for him as a lyricist.

“This is who I am,” he declares. “Keatha is my mom’s name, so I thought it would be the most personal vibe. It’s different. I’m telling the story of me as a person. I express myself. I’m showing you my point-of-view as a son and giving the world a new version of me.”

He introduces that version on the single “No Love.” Organ-style synths give way to airy production as a woozy croon takes hold on the hook,

“Don’t got no love on these streets.” In the verses, he leaps from a hard-hitting cadence into high-pitched punctuation, illuminating dynamic vocal range in the process.

“‘No Love’ is how I view the world today,” he admits. “I feel like people only see the negative, and there’s a lot of hate. There’s no more love right now. It’s so hard to find, so I opened up about it.”

Elsewhere, “Gusher” [feat. Money Man] couples melodic delivery with stark piano keys and pronounced hi-hat hits. Atlanta trap phenomenon Money Man drops by with a fittingly hypnotic cameo.

“It’s a feel-good catchy song dedicated to my favorite weed strain,” he continues. “I don’t do too many features, but Money Man and I are cool. He killed it.”

In the end, TEC’s poetic activism sparks a movement for Spider Nation and hip-hop far and wide.

“We’re building our own nation,” he leaves off. “If you’re caught in the web, it means you’re focused on what you’re going after. You live and breathe one main focus. Mine is the music.”

TEC

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