Who is Tebi Rex and how did your namesake come about?
We’re an interracial alternative hip-hop band. Our name is inspired by that fact as well, meshing two different words from 2 different cultures to create something new and unique. Hopefully…
What artists or bands are on your must-listen to list lately and why?
Oooh that list feels almost endless because we always say we’re equal parts music fans and musicians. I mean Monjola, Moio, Ahmed, with love, Curtisy to name a few. The Irish music scene is class right now but I think everyone’s kinda realising that. Fontaines, Sprints, CMAT the list is endless.
When you went into the recording studio to work on ‘Fin’, what were your must-haves?
Our main producer for this project Adam Redmond (also from the Irish group Just Wondering) had this really funny habit of pulling up YouTube videos of some fella driving around LA. It was really weird at first, but eventually became quite soothing. Like passively experiencing all this life, this beautiful place, but on a screen. It’s definitely a must-have moving forward. So peaceful like.
Which song, or songs, off Fin. would you recommend to a first-time listener and why?
I would recommend the title track ‘Fin.’ as well as “And I’m Mad’. I just feel like they’re the perfect shorthand for what the album is about and the story we’re trying to tell. The emotional core of the project in my humble opinion. Also they’re a bop. A sad bop but a bop. That’s the vibe we’re tryna go for with this project.
Which song of someone else’s (artist or band) would you have liked to feature on and why?
There’s a new Chance The Rapper album and honestly, any song from that. They feel a little mirrored in the sense that this project is about endings and his one sort of feels like a new beginning, and that’d be a class pairing. Also, I’m a fan you know, so on the way out it’d be sick to pair up with em.
What has led you into becoming musicians and why do you keep making music?
Music and musicians can sometimes feel like an unappreciated art form. Unprotected, disrespected and kinda seen as a money-making factory. But…music to me is the most impactful thing human beings have ever created. For example who is the cinema version of Beyonce? That person doesn’t exist. There are big people in cinema, stars, icons but there’s no cinemas Taylor Swift or Kendrick. I think we have such a strong emotional connection to music, but also a personal one. Robert Pattinson is a sick actor, but that’s not his story, his life right? It’s a performance. So while I can gush over Mickey 17 and the writers and the directors, I’m not connecting with a human being necessarily. I’m connecting with an idea, a concept. When a Swiftie is crying at a Taylor concert, they’re connecting with her, the person. I do music because it lets me connect with people in a way nothing else can.
