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920 Represent: Clout Boi TeJy

  • Writer: TID3S
    TID3S
  • Mar 21, 2019
  • 4 min read



Wisconsin is an untapped breeding ground for hip-hop talent. Milwaukee’s IshDARR is a local superstar, with infectious, hook-based hits like “Too Bad” and “Sugar” - and Madison’s Trapo is an indie favorite, with 90s boom-bap flavored production and a more lyric-centric approach to the craft. However, Appleton - Wisconsin’s sixth largest city with a population of nearly 75,000 - gets next to no credit in this discussion. Appleton-based rapper/singer/dancer Clout Boi TeJy, real name Temaj Bess, is a promising young artist who is aiming to change that.


Although originally from Chicago, TeJy currently resides in the 920 and is a junior at Appleton West High School. What separates TeJy from any other high school SoundCloud kid is his dedicated work ethic - he’s been steadily uploading tracks and small mixtapes on both SoundCloud and YouTube for nearly a year. His songs have a charming, do-it-yourself feel to them - for instance, “Move Me” finds him delivering sparse, boastful bars over aquatic synths and booming 808s. The music video sees TeJy dancing around the hallways of a dim-lit house while strobelights frantically flash, casting his shadow on the walls for only seconds at a time. He definitely has a “home-grown” aspect to his music that works in his favor. A personal favorite TeJy track of mine, “Sensei”, is a hyper flex-fest over a more contemporary trap instrumental, sporting possibly his greatest lyric to date - “I’m the only one like Malcolm in the Middle”. Its respective video features the artist and his friends rapping around downtown Appleton - almost like it’s their playground of sorts. In addition to his original tracks, TeJy has also uploaded plenty of remixes of recent hip-hop hits - including renditions of popular tracks by Lil Durk, Lil Baby, Meek Mill, K$upreme, Calboy and Gunna.


To sum up his overall style, most of his lyrics revolve around braggadocio - but he occasionally discusses topics of love and demons (the latter most notably on “Gotta Beware”, his most venomously emo rap-influenced track by far). Many of his instrumentals are very contemporary - sporting trap drums, heavy bass, and the occasional cold pianos, glimmery synths or melancholic acoustic guitar lines. Lots of his tracks have a raw, melodic edge to them - although he additionally flaunts his bona fide rapping skills (“Nobody”, “Did Wrong”, “For Nun’t”) and often will mix these two types of deliveries together. I can’t pin down another artist that I can directly compare TeJy to - I’d actually say he takes collective inspiration from many of his musical peers, and incorporates elements from all of their styles in his own tracks.


I had the chance to sit down with TeJy and do a full interview with him - the full transcript of which is below. Special thanks to TeJy for taking time out of his day to talk with me and to Mr. Nathan Ossmann for letting me use his space for the interview!


TID3S: Who are the biggest influences to your music?

TeJy: I gotta say A Boogie and Lil Baby.


Where do you find your beats? Have you ever used ‘type beats’ - like, for instance you search up “Playboi Carti Type Beat”? Do you have a certain producer that you stick with a lot?

Yeah. I gotta say iamQUVN.


What’s your writing process? I know you have a few freestyles, do you usually freestyle any of your other songs?

I sit down, have writing sessions.


So you moved here from Chicago - do you think your music is more influenced by the Illinois or the Wisconsin scene?

Wisconsin scene.


Who in Wisconsin influences you, because I know there’s the Milwaukee scene, there’s the Madison scene. Appleton doesn’t really have a certain sound.

I gotta say… it has to be Appleton, cause Appleton kids listen to a certain type of music, so I base my stuff off of that.


Do you plan to make music into a full-time career?

Yeah.


What do you think is the best song you’ve ever recorded?

*laughs* The best song… it has to be... “Did Wrong”.


Which song of yours took the longest to craft? Recording, mixing, mastering, writing in general.

Which song? “Move Me”.


How do you keep up such a strong work ethic? You’ve only been putting out music for around a year now, but most SoundCloud kids - they’ll drop something once every few months, but you’re out here weekly just dropping music. How do you keep up?

I’m vibing everyday. I’m constantly listening to beats and constantly writing. Once I get to the house, I just record like five songs a day. I drop almost every day, or at least try to.


What kind of music do you have around the corner for us? Do you plan on dropping a full album in the near future?

Yeah. I’m working on some stuff right now - and this is like, getting to really know my feelings, like deep music. I’m working on it right now, I might drop it during the summer.


Have you ever tried to get into producing your own beats?

Yeah.


Are any of your songs self-produced?

Not yet…


Do you plan on doing something like that in the future?

Yup.


Do you think there are any downsides to using YouTube and SoundCloud as a promotion service?

Yeah. When you drop on YouTube, it’s easier for the artist to see what you got. And they could tell you to take the video down. That has happened once.


For copyright issues, or samples?

Yeah.


Are there any other Appleton artists, or specifically artists who go to Appleton West that you believe deserve a shoutout?

Yeah, shout out to Breezy the CEO, that’s one of ‘em, that’s another big influence. MixedKJX and Finesse Cam. There’s a couple other out there but, you know.


Finally, do you have any recent songs that you’d like to namedrop?

Recent songs? I gotta say… “Bad Guy”, my new track that I just dropped, like, a week ago.


After our interview, I feel that I can safely say that TeJy is a local force to be reckoned with. He’s determined, versatile and true to his roots - so you better be on the lookout. His latest single, “Bad Guy” featuring Yung Dza, is now streaming on YouTube. Follow TeJy on SoundCloud and YouTube to be the first to hear his upcoming music.

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