In late May, Teezo Touchdown — clad in all-black leather, sharp silver claws digging into his shoulders — jumped onto the stage at the Fonda Theater in Los Angeles. As he performed his legendary 2023 song “Mood Swings,” he let out a sun-kissed “Wee!” ad-libs mid-air, and a live bouquet of flowers containing his microphone floated with him.
“A night at Lil Yachty's house” inspired his mic setup, Teezo says today as he intermittently eats a raw orange carrot to match the couch he's lounging on. Teezo and Yachty have marathoned Morrissey music videos, and the way the former Smiths frontman nonchalantly waved a bouquet of flowers in the video for “This Charming Man” “really affected” Teezo — so much so that the avant-garde 31-year-old rapper -meets -rock star finally made it his own.
He's now twirled that mic onstage at the country's biggest arenas and stadiums, thanks to opening concerts for Tyler, The Creator in 2022 (after featuring on Tyler's “RunItUp”) and Travis Scott in 2023 (after appearing on Scott's UTOPIA track “Modern Jam”). “Being an opener is so hard,” Teezo admits – but he's gained valuable perspective by playing for early arrivals interested in the main act.
“I'm like the doorman who welcomes you to Tyler's crib, Travis' crib: 'Can I grab you anything? It will fall soon. But while you're here, let me entertain you,” he explains. That attitude also informed Teezo's recent guest appearances on tracks by artists like Drake, Doja Cat and Don Toliver — chart-topping collaborations that catapulted him onto the Billboard Hot 100 with “Amen,” off Drake's 2023 album. For all dogs, marking Teezo's highest charting entry at No. 15.
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