Totally Enthused About Making Really Really Raw art (and donât forget the three ârâs”). Such is the acronym built around the budding Haitian-American artist, Teamarrrâs name and the core of her artistic vision: healing through the rawest of elements (just like good olâ fashioned tea!). Though today we see a woman reveling in her truth, who plays with cutting lyrical content like sculpting a glass figurine and isnât afraid to tell you that she will be a superstar, but the road to this destination was a winding one.
The setting is Waltham, Massachusetts, the year likely sometime around 2002, having come from an ultra-religious Haitian family, sheâd be dressed head-to-foot in formless fabric, focusing primarily on academia and her faith. Her social experience in school was often an uphill battle, continually facing the torment of bullies and never really feeling like she belonged. That is until she found her flair for the arts.
That flair wasnât first sparked by music but by creating visual content. Whether it be her sharing humorous, personal anecdotes to the camera vlog style or helping her friends with their visual content, she began to develop a keen eye for style and sense for branding, a tool that has proven tremendously successful in her own music career.
What sets Teamarrr apart from her peers is her acute focus to both sonic and conceptual details. In other words, Teamarrr is not only concocting really dope music, sheâs creating a unique world for her fans to get lost in. A world filled with tea cups, piping with truth tea, hot enough that even household names are beginning to take notice. One such name belongs to writer, director, producer and actor, Issa Rae, best known for her hit HBO series âinsecure.â
‘insecure’ has become famous in the music community for its sensational music supervision and support of rising black artists. Though the details that proceed their encounter arenât entirely confirmed, the solidification of their creative partnership is a certain match made in heaven. The first signee under Raeâs joint-venture label with Atlantic Records, Raedio, Teamarrr and Rae have established a candid relationship, filled with laughs as well as hands on creative curation.
Today we find ourselves at the morn of Teamarrrâs latest single release âTemperature.â The single is the first of TeaMarrrâs included on the official ‘insecure: Season 4â soundtrack and will be featured in Sundayâs episode. A smooth, free-flowing track, borrowing elements from dance hall, while still incorporating the particular âbiteâ which has become so characteristic of her sound. Likening âmoodsâ to âtemperature, â the single chronicles the mood swings that come along with a romantic relationship. âTemperatureâ is joined by an animated visual companion, which depicts these changes among the cartoons in the story. All the while, a wise little tea cup (presumingly Teamarrr) watches sagely from the sidelines.
In celebration of the release we had the chance to catch up with Teamarrr. A dynamic interview and one my personal favorites, Teamarrr dives into the details of her story, making critical connections between her experience as an adolescent and how these experiences helped form the confident, self-affirming woman and artist she is today.
Where were you born and raised?
Waltham, Massachusetts
Youâre first generation American right?
Yes.
Your parents immigrated here from Haiti, do your Haitian roots influence your music?
It doesnât but the culture does in my videos.
Did you listen to Haitian music growing up?
Not on my own, like at a cookout, yeah. I was never really into Kompa because they would make fun of the way I danced to it. So I was turned off by the entire genre because I donât like to be made fun of.
What’s your family like?
My parents were really religious growing up⊠it was gospel everything. Whether it was gospel-Haitian music, gospel-Country music, gospel-American music, gospel-Black.. like down South-church music⊠I refused to listen to Haitian music growing up because it felt like it was being shoved down my throat.
What did your religious upbringing look like?
Growing up I wasnât allowed to show my collar bone, wasnât allowed to show my ankles, wasnât allowed to show my under arms. Crop tops? Forget about it. Show cleavage? Forget about it. It was just nun type of stuff. Long skirts always, long sleeved shirts and everything fits loosely enough so you canât see the shape of my breasts, my curves, my hips⊠long and no body (laughs). I was focused on grades and no sex before marriage, all the super standard stuff.
How were you able to leave certain aspects of your childhood behind in pursuit of your dream?
I donât know what really happened, I think I stopped being afraid of what they would do to me.
How do your family’s religious views coexist with your artistry today?
I feel like they love me so much that I knew that they would get past me wanting to be a superstar⊠The way my dad smiles when heâll guess âIs that Rihanna?â and weâll be like âOh my god, you know how that is?!â Like youâre hip, come on. I know he low key wants to see where this goes⊠It was weird, my mom was helping me with my EP release party, she cooked food for it and a vegan dish for my vegan friends⊠Theyâve been very supportive but in the back of their heads theyâre like âGod, please protect her. The industry is the devil.â So theyâre very one foot in, one foot out but still like âAw, look thatâs my daughter, Iâm proud of her.â
What was the greatest lesson your family taught you?
Stay humble and be nice… My parents would always say to show humility, show that youâre human, show that youâre humble. Be present and be grateful, donât take anything for granted. As well as, donât let anyone walk over you. Donât be dumb, donât be naive, and of course to stay true to who I am. My mom always told me this story about Oprah and how they were trying to make her change her name because it was âweirdâ and not a name for TV or whatever. Oprah stuck by her name and now sheâs Oprah!
How did your tea-centered artist vision come into fruition?
When I first started social media I got a twitter and instagram and I asked my little sister, âWhat should I name myself?â And she was like âI donât know, how âbout Iâm a lilâ t cup?â Just because… my friends call me T, it wasnât even like they called be âTâ âEâ âA,â they called me the letter âT.â There was this one boy that I was dating at the time who always spelled it âTâ âEâ âAâ and I was like, âI like that! Whyâd you do that?â I donât know, that was in high school, this is my first time connecting that like out loud, him calling me âTâ âEâ âAâ⊠So I was always “Iâm a lilâ t cup” and then I branded my visual stuff with thatâŠ
Then when I started doing music my manager at the time, not Kareem, said, âSo we got to change the handle now to Teamarrr right?â And I was like âEw, no. Why?â And he was like âUhh thatâs how theyâre gonna find you, how are they gonna find Iâm a lilâ t cup?… Youâre a new artist, you should stick with the name…â And I was like âNO! Champagne papi doesnât have to do that” and heâs like âWell youâre not Drake!â And I said, âWell just wait.â ⊠Then we got into a little argument and he was like âYou know what? Maybe if we just bought a teacup, buy a teacup and make it make fucking sense.â And I was like âYou know what? Fine.â
Hence why you always carry a trusted tea cup around town with you?
Yes! So I found a cup that spoke to me⊠and I named her *Lillyâ and she meant everything to me, then I moved to LA and she broke⊠So I just got another one and thatâs âPrinceâ and then it just became a thing⊠The place and time of when Lilly broke was all symbolic, it was at Atlantic Records⊠and here I am signed to Atlantic Records. There are like these little signs that God gives me when the cups break.
I find that part fascinating, plus your âtea cup rulesâ that youâve shared on your Instagram. How did those rules evolve?
(Laughs) I have to get them laminated for you!
OMG I’d love that!
(Laughs) Itâs kind of like you know as you go, you know? As you go you realize, okay everyone who works with me gets a sip then it becomes, everyone I work with who I fuck with gets a sip⊠I just kept doing things and theyâd be added to the list of âthings” ⊠First it was just people that worked with me musically, now if you interview me, you get a sip; if you do my hair; you get a sip; if you style me, you get a sip… but also if you style me terrible youâre not gonna get a sip.
Fair enough.
(Laughs) Also I feel like… now this is subconscious, Iâm saying something I donât think Iâve ever said before, but growing up I was always bullied. I felt like I wasnât a part of any clique, you know? Me and my best friend Kim hopped around to tables, it was just me and her, we didnât really have a group of friends. Even before that I was bullied all the time, like I tripped and fell ONCE in front of these kids and they called me âdarkness fallsâ all year… So with this teacup I feel like âyou canât sit with us,â you know? (laughs) Thereâs a small tiny middle school girl version of me that enjoys her little mean girl club, but itâs also like I genuinely respect your energy and how you handled (yourself) and how you worked with me, please this is something I find very sacred and I donât offer it to everyone, will you please take a sip and let me record it?
Whatâs the name of your current primary teacup?
Her name is Malvina (Mal-Vye-Nah).
I know Issa Raeâs taken a sip⊠How did you become acquainted with her?
Through our management, I feel like a lot of word of mouth too. Like her manager and my manager have a mutual friend who loves music and is always talking to both of them about new artists sheâs found⊠so she was like âOh, you should put this girl on âinsecureâ…â And I think one thing led to another, they reached out, then we had dinner and she (Issa) was like âWhat do you like to drink?â And then she bought me a drink, then she drank it (laughs)⊠She was like âOh my god, my bad.â We have a lot more candid moments than business ones which is cool because I really like to be around her funny side⊠I kind of want to know how Issa found me too because I really donât know exactly how it worked out.
What has her influence on the project been like?
Itâs dope⊠I feel so honored that she found a place for my sound in her work. Iâm so geeked because I was such a fan of âAwkward Black Girlâ and to be a part of âinsecureâ is so unreal.
Your music is very honest and blunt, often encouraging healing through truth. Has being truthful ever been difficult for you?
Yeah⊠only because it hurts people when I do it, not necessarily saying that the truth always hurts but feeling like âFuck, I shouldnât havenât said it that way, that was too harshâ because Iâm like extra blunt… I guess telling the truth isnât scary, but when being truthful you have to be cautious because you donât know who youâre gonna hurt.
What are two areas of creative growth you focused on in the making of âWhen Tea Turns To Wineâ?
Topic is a big thing. I used to just spit and spit and spit and then cough something out and be like âThis is it!” Now Iâm trying to find double entendres, Iâm trying to find something more âŠ. I want to put some intelligence in the writing so when you go back youâre like âWhatâd she mean by that?â
Another main thing I wanted to focus on was my feminine and masculine artistry. I promise you this EP is half masculine, half feminine, the songs are for both of us. I feel like I injected a tone of âOohâ and a tone of âAah.â
CONNECT WITH TEAMARRR
INSTAGRAM // YOUTUBE // TWITTER
photo / Tyren Redd
story / Jessica Thomas
