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The Truth Behind Toosii
office met up with the rapper in NYC to discuss his latest album and hit single, his loyal fanbase, and his hopeless romantic tendencies, below.
We're going to start at the beginning. So you first emerged on the music scene around 2019. What was life like before then and was music always a goal of yours?
Before music, it was sports, but I still used to always write music. I just never knew it could be the thing that I did for the rest of my life. Before that, it was, you know, your regular, typical hood story.
So sports was kind of the path at the time and that was what you thought was going to be your future. But rap seemed to provide you with an escape.
Definitely.
Looking back now with all that you've accomplished, what words of advice would you give the younger you?
Honestly, I think I did a good job. So I would say...I wouldn't change anything. I don't have any new words of advice; I would just say keep going. I wouldn't change anything, because the thing is, I feel like I'm in a good space and I feel like everything happened for a reason. So I wouldn't change anything in the past.
Do you think that you had the confidence that you have now though?
Yeah. I always had this confidence.
Did you have any rappers or musicians that really put you into this zone to want to do this professionally when you were growing up? Who did you listen to?
Actually, my brother and my dad. They're my motivation and the reason I started making music. My brother used to make music and my dad used to make music as well, and I just wanted to be whatever my brother and my dad were.
I love that they were your main motivating factors. Your debut EP, Why Not Now, has been described as conveying your journey from the streets to the studio, as you mentioned before. How did things change after that project was released and how did you navigate those changes?
I was already kind of popular, so it didn't really set me apart but it definitely let people know that I am for real. It solidified me in the music world and I feel like everybody started to look at me as an artist. And from there it was just continuing to put out good content, great music, and sticking to what I believed in and what I love.
Would you say that's cemented, for audiences and other people, the way that you already felt about yourself?
Not yet. I think to this day I'm still trying to get it to get to that point. I'm not all the way there yet.
I think that's a good mindset to have though, because then you keep pushing for something. After the EP, you put out two mixtapes, Platinum Heart and Poetic Pain. Can you dive into those and what inspired the projects?
I was just in the midst of having fun. I was still finding my sound because I didn't really know who I was yet. I feel like every artist has that. That time period where it's the beginning of their career and they're just having fun. Nobody knows who they are. Nobody knows what their sound is. They're just making music. But I realized sooner or later that I had to find a sound. Who's gonna be my core fan base? Who are gonna be the people that I sell my merch to — my core audience? I think the tour with Summer Walker in 2018 was when I kind of opened my eyes and realized: this is gonna be it for me. This is what I want to do. This is who's going to be my core audience. My core audience is going to be beautiful ladies. Because I'm a ladies' man, and what better fan base to have than women?
And that has definitely become your signature for sure. You talked about your sound and leaning more into who you wanted to become at that time. I think now, you have this sound that's distinctly you. You've found this really clever way to mesh trap sounds with really harmonious melodies — melodic rap. But your lyrics are where we get to see behind the curtain, see who you are, and see these emotions. How does music help you get in tune and work through certain things that you're feeling?
I think music has always been my coping mechanism to get through the things that I go through on the daily. It's what makes me who I am, and everybody has their own coping mechanism. It's therapeutic.
And how did you get into that? When you were younger, did songwriting just come naturally to you?
It definitely came naturally. It was something that I liked doing. I remember English was one of my favorite subjects. Outside of English, I used to love math a lot. Math helped me with learning how to count bars. My English and my math grades used to be my highest grades. Other than that, other classes I didn't do so well in. But English was always fun for me; I got to write poems, I got to write music, and be myself.
That's funny, usually, it's like you're good at English or math — not always both.
Listen, I'm a math genius.
And as you said, now these are both things that you can bring with you into what you do. I've read that you've said before that you don't really get nervous performing. What keeps you grounded in front of audiences and doing what you do every day?
I just love it. I love the music. It's crazy because, performing, I don't really ever get nervous. But I get a little nervous talking to girls. I don't show it though. I'm good at hiding stuff. But when I'm performing, I'm in my element. That doesn't really bother me. And it's crazy because it's 90% women out there.
Ever get nervous doing interviews?
Oh, I used to all the time. I used to dread it. But it's the same thing as you, it comes with what I do. I want to talk about the most recent release — “Favorite Song.” It’s a viral love song — or rather a song about heartbreak — that has taken social media by storm. Who or what inspired that track?
It was a real-time song. And what I mean when I say real-time, I mean that I was in the midst of having a conversation with someone and we had an argument about the things women desire. As men, we know what women desire and what they look for in a man. But how often is it that people take heed in it? How often is it that a man actually goes out and does it for a woman? So it's kind of me just laying out the steps, giving people the step-by-step.
So can people refer to that as a type of template?
Yeah. That's the template, for sure. I gave you the layout, now take it and do what you want.
Would you call yourself a romantic?
Yeah, a hopeless romantic. I like walks on the beach and stuff.
You get that through the music and through the lyrics. You recently collaborated on a fashion line and scrolling through your Instagram, it’s evident you have a vibrant fashion sense — there’s a recent all-pink matching set you wore that I loved. Where do you draw style inspiration from?
It depends. Nine times out of 10, on the daily, I won't even get dressed. I just throw clothes on. But I do love to get dressed. But I only love getting dressed when I'm in a good mood. Other than that, if I'm mellow and I'm chilling, I'll throw some sweatpants. I think the fashion side of me comes from never having nothing. I never really had clothes or money to go buy clothes.
Something else that I interpret as an accessory are tattoos. And you have a bunch of tattoos. What tattoo is next?
I've gotta go get my son's name. My son is about to be one in eight days. So I gotta go get his name, Teddy.
Amazing. On your debut full-length album, NAUJOUR, how does it feel to go from putting out those mixtapes that we talked about at the beginning of our conversation to this full project? How do you want the project to make your fans feel when they hear it?
I want people to know that it's the real me. And that's really all I want from that. I want people to take with them an understanding of who I truly am. I'm just a regular guy who comes from the middle of nowhere, who made it out. And I want people to know that they're not the only ones going through certain things in life. I feel like we all have our problems and have our issues. We all have vices. And those problems I went through help me tell my story now, and I hope other people can relate.
When you mentioned touring with Summer Walker as a moment where you felt like you were really finding yourself and your sound — is this project what you were going for at that time? Do you feel like you've now found that?
Yeah, definitely. I just wanted raw emotion and I feel like I definitely got that with this project.
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Donna Missal Seeks Enlightenment
Can you hear me?
I can hear you. Ok. I feel relieved. Sorry about that.
No, you're good. How are you?
Good. Good. I've been sick for a couple days. I went to Mexico for a week, which was really, really fun, but I came home with a little cold.
I just went to the gym for the first time in a while to try and sweat it out. Where are you based?
I'm from Long Island. You're from New Jersey, right?
Are you in Long Island now?
Yeah. I hate it here.
I get it. I hated New Jersey for a really long time. But you come to love it for all of its little flaws especially if it's where you're from.
You just grow a kind of tenderness for it. Have you lived somewhere else before?
Yeah. I lived in Atlanta for a few years. You’re in LA?
Yeah I’m in LA. It doesn’t look like it but I am. It’s been the most gloomy of times. It’s gloomy as fuck.
What's your big three by the way?
What's my, what?
Your sun, moon and rising?
Oh my God. I'm a Capricorn and I don't know my other ones. I feel like I'm supposed to because I’ve lived here for so long.
I definitely have them on hand in an app. But for some reason they won't penetrate, I can’t memorize them. I know I have a lot of Capricorn placements. Do you know yours?
I'll send you my chart.
I posted my chart once because I've been asked so many times, but I left out a couple of things because I heard you could get into some witchcraft shit. People could cast spells on you and curse you with it.
It’s not really in my belief system but it’s the internet. So, you never know.
So what have you been up to since you dropped Lighter?
Oh I've gone through existential crisis, I suppose. I was dropped from the label after I made the EP that followed Lighter.
I made that EP because I couldn't get the funding or support to make another album with that label, but they wouldn't let me go. I was really trying to understand what my place in the world was, which I’ve come to find is the process of enlightenment.
It’s ironic because in our Western culture, we usually hear about enlightenment from privileged White people on youtube talking about yoga and going on retreats and shit. I was approaching it from a genuine place of losing material possessions, material comforts and experiencing housing insecurity.
What would you say the main idea behind Revel is?
It really ended up becoming this album about enlightenment but from the perspective of being really broken down. While I was writing it, I was living in my car and didn't really know what I was gonna do next.
I needed to reach for something outside of the material and pull myself out of this darkness by imagining what was beyond the capitalistic climbing of the ladder. I was looking for growth and expansion from a more emotional place.
I discovered that if you want to find light, you have to accept that there is a lot of darkness to hold both things in balance.
How did being independent influence the sound of your album?
I spent a lot of time being really influenced by the structure that the label wanted for me. I wanted to do the opposite of whatever they said.
It’s a rewarding experience to follow your intuition but you also lose a lot of relationships with people that are trying to create a product to market.
After I went independent, I was left with this big empty space to fill by myself. So there's just a lot more freedom and fluidity in this record. It's funny because I was in a place in my life where I felt stuck but I was really free.
I know that your brother plays the guitar and a lot of people in your family are musical. When did you realize that you wanted to be a musician?
Oh, man, I grew up singing, like my earliest memories are singing. I come from a big family, there's six of us and we were home schooled. So we just spent all our time with each other.
I didn't really have anyone watching over me or monitoring me so I was constantly singing, making up my own songs and writing poems in my journal. When I got older, I went to theater school and discovered my love of being onstage and performing.
But, I always imagined that I would just write music for other people because I thought it was more practical. I guess that’s where my Capricorn energy comes in. I wanted to save myself the heartbreak.
When did you stop being afraid of heartbreak in terms of pursuing music?
Oh, I'm still afraid, my heart's broken all the time. It feels a little bit like it’s permanently broken now. That's how I approach music. I've just come to terms with heartbreak as part of the experience.
I think in the early stages of my career, I was getting a lot of validation and encouragement from people at major labels. They were blowing smoke in from every direction.
It's easy to believe what people tell you.
Do you enjoy interviews and talking about your work?
I don't get to do this a lot anymore and office is one of very few publications that I really respect. I enjoy interviews when the conversation is meaningful. You know, there's a difference between answering for the 1000th time “Who are five artists that inspire you”? versus when you're asked about your process.
You get to really think about why you do what you do. I’m really obsessed with growth and evolution, it’s inherent to all the creative work I do.
Where do you want your sound to go next?
I think as long as it’s really authentic, I don’t care. I made a decision recently not to fixate on how my music is perceived or how it’s going to turn out or whether people like it or not.
I understand how difficult that can be to wrap your head around as a consumer but I just decided that if it's gonna be smaller, I need to keep it genuine. So, I'm just gonna keep approaching music like that. I mean to be totally honest, I don't know if I'll even be able to make another record. I think that's why this record is so important to me.
I'm really in a place of putting one foot in front of the other and just kind of hoping for the best, that’s what being independent is.
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May Rio's "French Bath"
I originally knew of May through a mutual — Blake (Blaketheman1000). She was featured on “Blake 2”, and also on The Dare’s “Girls” and Frost Children’s “Wonderland”. Beyond her collaborations on other people’s projects, her own second full-length release French Bath - following the debut East Bammer in June 2021 - comes out this week. Co-produced with Tony 1 of the duo Tony or Tony, there’s also live instrumentation from Simon Hanes of Tredici Bacci, Greg Rutkin of Customer, Syl DuBenion of Standing on the Corner, and Dougie Poole.
My conversation with May was refreshingly candid – a quality I always appreciate, and one that resonates in her new music.
Just to go over the background details — you're from Austin, you went to art school, and got into music during college?
Near the end of college, there was this pawnshop in Providence, and I bought this acoustic Yamaha guitar. Didn't know how to play it all, but just as a challenge to myself, I was like, “all right, I'm going to write a song.” And I wrote a really simple song - A, D, C. I just kind of knew at that point, this is what I want to do - but then it felt like it was too late to begin. I do think this is changing, but I think so much of music is such a youth oriented industry, and especially women are supposed to look young, and be young. Also, I think growing up in Texas, I had a lot of honestly weird ideas about women that I had to unlearn, and I'm glad to have unlearned them, but there were a lot of internalized things holding me back with that.
Can you talk more about the emotional space that you were in making this new album. Where were you at in your life?
I had been in a band for a minute called Poppies. Basically, right after I moved to New York, after I graduated, I started a band straight away. So, Poppies was the first real thing - real project - I'd ever had. I'm very proud of that project, but it was very difficult. I recorded the last solo record Easy Bammer, and before I put it out, I ended up leaving the band. Those two things weren't related, but that was just the timeline. With this second album, I had already left the band when I started working on it. That felt really big for me, and was a really hard thing to do, but also very liberating. This album, compared to the last one especially, just feels a lot more grown up to me. And I've always done this thing, which I'm not getting rid of, but I will often sort of maybe veil things in poetry a little bit. I read this quote a long time ago that really struck me, and it's just talking about poetry, and how good poetry is just a transfer of energy. You don't necessarily have to comprehend literally everything, and that was cool for me. But I do think you can hide behind that sometimes. I feel like on more of these songs, I say things a bit simpler. It definitely isn’t the same space throughout the album, but a lot of it does feel more reflective. But then there's other songs that I just kind of write to amuse myself.
What do you mean by amuse yourself?
One example is with “Mr. Horny Puke Man”... What inspired it is, a few years ago, my friend had a birthday party, and he made everyone negronis, and one of our other friends puked on the train after. And, so, like that, you know? And I love this friend - it’s making fun of him more than I would in real life.
I read in a previous interview you described the first album as a release for you. What has this one felt like?
I do feel like it's something that I just kind of did instead of thinking about it. I just did it really quickly - I wrote the songs really quickly; recorded them really quickly. The whole thing was done so soon - it was crazy. At the time I started this project, my main thing was still the band. I think I just needed a really big burst to sort of rocket myself into this other place. I feel like with this second album, I could maybe sit a bit more comfortably in that place - and sit still in it. With this album, I spent more time writing it; I spent more time making it. There's more layers of production. More live players were brought in. The actual writing of the songs themselves - not all of them, but definitely some of them - felt kind of like self-medicating, and self-soothing. “Aspartame” and “Self Service” are the ones that I'm thinking of. All of my songs I just write alone, and when I'm writing them I'm always just writing them for me.
Let's talk about the phrase "french bath" — why that title? (Defined to me as “the deceptively luxurious act of dousing oneself in cologne to disguise an unsavory stench”)
I liked that title because, first of all, I think it sounds really elegant, but then you realize what it is, and it’s kind of nasty too. I also think that's one thing that I find interesting about perfume anyway — I'm going to fuck this up a little bit, but something like — the most successful perfumes have an element of rotteness in them too. Anything that's too sweet is going to be kind of disgusting. I always like things that have layers to the meaning, and you can sort of interpret differently depending on the mood you're in.
I’m going to go through each song on the album, and if you can either give an explanation, or whatever you want to say. So, the first one is “Need You Like”.
So, initially, I had dummy lyrics for that song, and one of the only lines I had was actually in reverse. Instead of it being, “you went to bat for me,” it was “I went to bat for you.” And then I had a conversation with Blake where I was like, “I'm stuck with writing. I don't know what to do.” And he was like, “You should write an evil song.” And then I was thinking about how I love country, and there’s definitely a collection of classic country songs that are written from this psycho perspective. I've always thought that was really funny, so that's what I did. I was like, “Okay, I'm going to write an evil song,” and I flipped that lyric, and then and then it just came really easily.
“Monkey Do”.
That was actually originally over a different chord progression, and it did sound a bit more country. It was over three chords instead of four. That’s one of the ones that's from my lived experiences with an ex.
“NYC UMTs”.
So, a UMT is an unemployed model type. I think I probably heard one person say it once, and I was like, “that's so funny.” That song is definitely a joke song - it’s really funny to me. I know some people who are sort of like that, but I definitely took this idea and ran with it, and projected hard, and made it more of a fantasy thing.
“Cursed Fortuna”.
That one's a bit more heady, but one of my favorite books is called A Confederacy of Dunces, and the main character is a very exaggerated person. But he's obsessed with this idea of fortuna, and how the wheel is always taking you up, and then bringing you back down. And that's where that came from.
“Dollars”.
That's just kind of a little song about my family and money and how broke I am.
“Getaway”.
That was when COVID was still a thing, but I think that was the only point of COVID that I was actually struggling with because there was so much snow here. I was not leaving my apartment for days at a time. I was like, “this is really not good for me.” So, I went back to Austin to just sort of escape the winter. Literally the day I flew in, this storm happened, and I got to my parents house, and right away lost power. I wrote that song during those few days, and made a demo. The weather following you around is the inspiration.
I guess we already talked about “Mr. Horny Puke Man”. So, what's next? “Aspartame”.
Yeah, “Aspartame” is my baby. I will say I feel like “Aspartame” is probably one of my biggest achievements. I'm very proud of that song. I wrote that in a day, which is always cool when that happens. It's definitely sad, but it also is angry, and feels empowering to me. I think I just kind of reached a point with this person where I was like, “You know what? I'm sick of this kind of shit. I told you I was sick of it, and I'm not going to deal with it anymore.”
“Self Service”.
“Aspartame” and “Self Service” kind of feel like an A-side/B-side. I do feel like those are sort of part of the same coin. “Aspartame” is like my “fuck you, I'm done with this bullshit” song. “Self-Service” is just kind of self-soothing - being gentle with myself.
And then the last song — “I’m Not Crazy”.
That song, I knew that we both had really strong feelings for each other, and I'm like, "Why the fuck are we not doing this then? We both cried the last time we saw each other. We both told each other that we feel like soulmates. Why are we not doing this,” you know?
