The Coolest Screw Loose : Getting to Know Tedy Andreas
Written by Waylon O'Day
The Texas artist infrastructure has been one thing to watch over the past few years with the way it shows versatility. From the likes of Maxo Kream to Lil Rari, Tedy Andreas has broken the industry with his cool flow and lyrical tactics that's been making him a name to look out for this year. We had a chance to speak to the Texas by the Los Angeles artist about his influences, his path to success, the love for Houston he has and more.
Read below
How is your Modern Life?
Shit is alright.. more focused than ever trying to make my dreams a reality. Trying to stay positive n shit
What inspired you to start making music?
My mom was an avid music listener. I guess she inspired me without me even knowing. She’d listen from Jazz to Country to stuff like, Andrea Bocelli, and Missy Elliot. When I was young I heard a mix of everything playing loud everyday in the house. I started up playing Piano young, tried guitar, just always had a passion for it even before I got into rap. Like mad young. My older Brother was probably one of the biggest music lovers in the world too. I wanted to be like him but I always wanted to make a band and create something. I knew it was gonna be my life someday.
So you first broke out onto the scene with Origami Prophets, a rap duo including yourself and Notorious B.I.G’s son, C.J Wallace. Do you feel as though that relationship helped jumpstart your music career? Or do you feel as though you were going to find the spotlight regardless?
I’ll come all the way clean, I owe a whole lot to C.J. He looked out for me by putting me in a position to win years ago and everything has sort of been a slow domino effect since then. That whole situation I feel was misunderstood by almost everybody. But in the end it definetley got my foot somewhat in the door. So yeah it did, I can’t front. I still feel like I would have been in this position regardless, but I guess that was the way it was meant to be. And I’m never gonna forget how much it meant to me. I owe a lot to him, & my producer Alex Emami for helping me get to where I’m at now.
Who or what are some of your musical inspirations?
I have a ton of musical inspirations, most of them come from the 90’s era.. I’d definitely start with Nas. Him & Mobb Deep have been my biggest inspirations since my brother put me on in Middle School. I was a little late but they stuck with me the most. Besides them its DJ Screw, all the Diary Of The Originator tapes were my soundtrack with my boys in High school. 50 Cent, Jay Z, BIG, Pac, Z-RO, Freddie Gibbs, Guerrilla Maab, Drake, Wayne, Gucci Mane, Chief Keef, Wu-Tang, Blink 182, Meek Mill, the list really go on. The ones I named i Guess would be my biggest inspirations.
"No matter how many places I go I think I’ll always identify with Houston the most. I’m different from a lot of the people there but I’m used to it."
So you rep Houston hard, but you’ve also spent a lot of time in New York and Los Angeles. Which city do you identify with the most?
No matter how many places I go I think I’ll always identify with Houston the most. I’m different from a lot of the people there but I’m used to it. I love the people, the shitty weather, the city, the venues all of it. I get more influence from the East Coast but its a cool mix with being from the south at the same time
Musically, you have adopted aspects of all three of these cities. Your production often times sounds like the L.A. Beathead style sound, guys like Knxwledge. Your flow sounds like someone from the East Coast, rapid fire and the diverse rhyme structure. The verbiage that you use is uniquely your own, but full with H-Town imagery like drank, and slabs. How did you find this eclectic sound?
I don’t really know how we found it. I say WE because Alex Emami (my cousin & producer) assisted me through it all to get to this sound. It wasn’t just me because I don’t make the beats. We formed this on our own I guess its just our sound now. Its so genuine and I think I know how it got to where it is. We have amazing chemistry in the studio. Emami is from LA, I’m from Houston, but I always rapped to DJ Premier & Havoc beats growing up. So I guess it just made me rhyme more East-Coast like with a southern twang to it. He’s naturally from the West-Coast but came up studying J-Dilla. I think its just an authentic mix of all three coasts combined when we work. It just happened naturally and I love it.
Who did you grow up admiring in the industry?
HOV, Nas, Kanye, 50. Probably a lot more but I’m trying not to think too hard