Six years ago, in the spring of 2018, Teezo Touchdown and some friends drove nearly 250 miles across Texas from their hometown, Beaumont, to the state capital of Austin. SXSW was in full swing, bringing thousands of people each day to the downtown thoroughfare of Sixth Street, where Teezo and his friends set up. “We got ourselves a speaker and a microphone,” he recalled last night. “But we didn’t have no shows.” So, Teezo said, he spilled his soul right there on the street until the cops made him leave for performing without a permit.
He shared this memory from a very different vantage point: the stage of the Moody Theater, across town on Willie Nelson Boulevard, where Teezo was headlining the first night of Rolling Stone’s second annual Future of Music SXSW showcase to a capacity crowd of 2,700 — his first proper headlining show at the festival.
In recent years, Teezo has marked himself as one of the most daring and original voices in music, earning cosigns from the likes of Drake and Tyler, the Creator, and landing a digital cover story as part of Rolling Stone’s upcoming Future 25 list. At the Moody Theater, just a few hours after that story’s publication, he made a slam-dunk case for exactly why he belongs there.
The night began with an opening set by Chase Shakur, who strolled comfortably across the stage while singing soulful selections from his growing catalog, like “Honda Civic ’98.” An East Atlanta rapper who turned to singing a few years ago and found that people responded to his “R&B shit,” Shakur showed off impressively supple vocals backed by a hype man/DJ and a live keyboardist. The Def Jam signee closed his set with his 2022 breakthrough song, “Too Far Close,” which he described as “the reason why I’m here.” By the end of his set, he had the venue bouncing.
Next up was Karrahbooo, another fast-rising talent from the A. (Note the spelling, if you please: “Three O’s in the ’booo, don’t you ever forget it!” she reminded the crowd in one verse.) Her playful talk-rapping has a lot of appeal on singles like last fall’s “Running Late,” and it translated well onstage. The conversational flow and sense of humor that made Lil Yachty sign Karrahbooo to his label, Concrete Boyz, last year were evident. She’s not necessarily someone who feels the need to impress you, though — it’s on you to recognize the talent running steadily through her bars. If you pay attention, it’s time well spent.
The energy went higher when her friend Anycia came out for a surprise performance of their riotous collab “Splash Brothers,” bringing a level of charisma that complemented Karrahbooo’s low-key vibe perfectly. “Big Booo, Big Ny-Ny, we like Steph and Klay,” Karrahbooo rapped. They make a very fun pair, and it was a treat when Anycia stayed onstage for another song. Would it be too much to hope we get a whole album or at least a mixtape from them some day?
“Anyone here ever been to New York?” DJ Ominaya asked before the next set. Whatever the answer, everyone got a taste of the city as soon as Lola Brooke raced onstage. The Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, native has been making an energetic bid to join the canon of New York rap with releases like her debut LP, Dennis Daughter, and she put in the work onstage, too, running back and forth in a bedazzled silver jumpsuit and spitting tough verse after tough verse. “Can we get some bars?” her DJ asked her rhetorically, and she complied with another rapid spray of no-nonsense lyrics. (“Ain’t go from rags to riches, I’m still in the trenches.”) One more question: “Texas, can I get a yerrrrr?” Lola asked the crowd. She most certainly could.
Veeze emerged next to the biggest cheers of the night so far. The Detroit MC was rocking a very sparkly diamond chain and a hoodie with various corporate logos collaged to spell out the name Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous inventor of Bitcoin — a fashion choice that mirrored the kind of sly, creative references he’s made a fine art of. He was an understated but engaging presence as he performed songs from his studio debut, Ganger, making you listen close for his sneaky punchlines. Many of them were about how other artists are constantly trying to bite his style. “I’m the one that taught ’em how to walk on them beats, they should bring me an apple,” he scoffed on “GAIG.” “Feel like a proud dad when I watch YouTube,” he quipped on “Lick.” He delivered these lines casually, knowing he had the crowd on his side; not mad, just amused. “Shout-out to Rolling Stone for having me here,” Veeze said at the end of his set. “I am the future of music!”
DJ Rosegold, who’d been serving up hits between sets all night, got the crowd moving one more time. Then it was time for the main event — the one that the young fans wearing T-shirts with the name of Teezo Touchdown’s 2023 debut, How Do You Sleep at Night?, had been waiting for. The stage was dark as Teezo walked onstage slowly, holding a bouquet of flowers and sizing up the room. He carefully mounted the bouquet on a mic stand in front of his face. Then, as the lights came up, he began singing the falsetto intro to “Careful,” one of the strange, catchy songs that helped him start attracting an audience in 2020.
Teezo made a striking figure onstage: black leather boots, pants, jacket, and gloves, and lots of his signature nails in his hair. But it wasn’t just the clothes. It was his physicality, the way he moved deliberately and then wildly, running with the bouquet-mic in his hand, demanding attention like the rock star he is. After telling his story about busking at SXSW in 2018, Teezo performed the majority of How Do You Sleep at Night? in order, from the anthemic pop-punk of “OK” to the alternate-universe Eighties balladry of “UUHH” to the motivational synth jam “Impossible” and more.
He made all of these sounds completely his own with a kinetic, theatrical performance that made it hard to take your eyes off him. When he sang about getting down on his knees to beg in “You Thought,” he fell to his knees. When he sang “Neighborhood,” an upbeat song that hides a haunting and slightly creepy parable about how we relate to one another, he held the audience in rapt attention.
Teezo invited anyone who thought they knew how to dance to congregate in front of the stage, then showed off his own gawky/smooth moves for “Modern Jam,” his song from Travis Scott’s Utopia — capably doing both his and Travis’ parts. Petals from the bouquet-mic were all over the floor. The crowd was loving it. The future felt like it was happening right then and there.
(Full disclosure: In 2021, Rolling Stone’s parent company, P-MRC, acquired a 50 percent stake in the SXSW festival.)
