Teezo Touchdown on Studying Rock Legends, Learning From Modern Icons, and Giving Back

When Teezo Touchdown hit the stage at New York’s Governors Ball in June, he made room for all kinds of fans in his audience. “I don’t like asking who’s been here since day one,” he told the crowd. “Because today can be our day one.” The musician joined Rolling Stone backstage at the music festival for an episode of The Green Room, where he reflected on the most valuable lessons he’s learned in music — like showing up for his audience with open arms.

“You may catch me when Aaron is having a bad day, but you’re coming up to Teezo Touchdown,” the artist born Aaron Lashane Thomas says. “I always say once I step out of the hotel room, this is what I chose to do. So I try to uphold that.”

It’s a practice he picked up from studying rock legends. He described digging into the archives of great rock journalism to draw parallels between himself and artists he idolizes. “It’s good to know that other greats who I look up to went through some of the same things that I feel indifferent about or that I feel down about,” he says, nodding particularly to the section of Led Zeppelin’s book that recounts how their early releases were received critically. “You can kind of go back and see what people were thinking on their first album, on their first tour.” The more he learns, the more connected he feels to rock beyond the perceived spectacle of pyro and leather.

But Teezo Touchdown’s greatest lessons haven’t just come from old books about music icons. He’s also learning in real-time from modern greats. “I’m a product of what can happen. I mean, I made a Coachella debut because of Doja Cat. First time in Pompeii, literally with Travis Scott. First tour, Tyler, The Creator. All of that came from an ask,” he says. “They all reached out to me to be on their work. I think they’re giving me the confidence to do the same with artists that I want to work with.” He has his sights set on working with Robert Townsend next. “I’m just doing the researcher right now of who I think is dope and getting ready to end that shot of like, ‘Hey, you want to jam?”

Teezo Touchdown is also doing some reflective work about how he can pour into other people the way they have poured into him. “I feel like I’ve been moving ever since Chance the Rapper posted me on his story. I’m gonna take this week to really just sit down and just be grateful for the fans I’ve been able to meet on this journey, the people I’m fans of who I’m able to meet on this journey,” he adds. “I think I’ll do that this week — really sit down and think about everything that everyone has told me as I’m getting ready to go into this next level.”

Last September, Teezo Touchdown released his debut studio album, How Do You Sleep at Night?, which moved between both rap and rock. He was recently tapped to reimagine Talking Heads’ “Making Flippy Floppy” for a Stop Making Sense tribute album. Later this year, he’ll hit the road with Don Toliver on the Psycho tour.