$teevoo Bares His Soul In New Single, Jaded
Stephen “$teevoo” Quesnel is breaking into the music industry and is determined to make it all the way to the top while staying true to himself and his artistry.
Your Caribbean Guide met up with the talented creative this week, ahead of the scheduled release of his new single, Jaded.
While his introduction to music came in the form of the steelpan and recorder, both in his formative years at school, Steevoo said he really started to take music seriously when he went abroad for school on scholarship.
“When I was away from home music is what kept me in a good place mentally. I just feel like it glued together everything for me…” he said.
$teevoo told YCG he’s always been a creative, even though at different junctures of his life, it’s manifested itself in different ways. It was approximately two years after he returned to Trinidad upon completion of his studies abroad, that he started to look at music as a possible career option. Through his relationship with Soca artiste Choppi, he was able to grow his network, meeting and interacting with other aspiring artistes and key players in the industry. He said it was these interactions that really opened his eyes to the fact that there are people in Trinidad and Tobago actively pursuing music as a career outside of the Soca genre.
“I didn’t know it was music until it became music… Soca wasn’t what naturally drew me. I know we have a big soca industry but seeing people who do other kinds of music here and getting introduced to them over the years as well, I was like, okay, I can do this…”
His pursuit of music wasn’t without challenges, but even so, Steevoo said it’s been a calming experience for him.
“My brain creates problems for me if I’m not occupied all the time. So like I did jewelry for a few years, and I realized I was plateauing, like I couldn’t learn anymore. I couldn’t continuously go up I was reaching a level… but I always tell people, I don’t have any natural musical talent so to say. So music was naturally the best field to keep me occupied because I literally feel like I started from the ground with nothing. I had to build and refine and polish. The reason I chose music is because of how extremely challenging it is. Not necessarily because I am super musically talented or anything like that.”
One of the biggest challenges he’s encountered so far in his pursuit of music was getting used to performing in front of an audience as for him, the real thrill comes from writing and studio sessions.
“When I first started, I wasn’t super excited to be on a stage in front of people. I really just love being in the studio and writing music. So it was really the music itself that I fell in love with and that called me. It’s not to say performing and commanding an audience, those stuff came later as I started overcoming the obstacles and that’s when it started becoming fun to me because you know, it’s a challenge. I love challenges, so…”
According to $teevoo, the challenges he encountered last year greatly influenced his soon-to-be-released single. The artiste said the Jaded, which was produced by Sims.808 and Brooklyn Decent, forced him to dig deep, unearthing a level of vulnerability he hadn’t tapped into before. Because of this, he was able to identify and capitalise on a new sound while producing music with more depth.
“…my friend was in his studio, some day last year and at that point a lot was going on with the gang everybody had their own individual stuff that was testing us. My bredrin just put on a production like he knocked up something in 5 of 10 minutes and I just told them to run the mic. I didn’t have anything in my brain. And that was actually it was a 23 minute freestyle that I shaved down is actually the first time I ever cried in the studio. It was a real vulnerable song. So after that, I just let that sit down there for a month or two. Is like a real cathartic experience for me I didn’t want to pollute it by trying to turn it into a song too soon, you know what I mean? Then later down the line I was playing stuff for Brooklyn, that’s my other bredrin and he was like, wow, the feeling of this one was really hitting, connecting with him. I was like, okay, cool. I went home and I listened to it for days, cut out little pieces and just wrote it. I like to write in a book because it’s a natural feeling and I get distracted from my phone and thing. And I just went and sifted it out and cut through it and pieced it together and made it into what it was. I went to the studio and doctored it, any little tweaks fixed it around and chopped it up. But it’s actually a special really special project to me because certain stuff I would have done before is more party-oriented more, you know, wine and jam… I never allowed myself to be so vulnerable because you know, as men especially, you’re in a room with men you don’t want be so vulnerable, that kind of stuff. Over the years and building relationships with my bredrins and my producers I’m now at a space, and we’re now all at a space where we could go and be vulnerable and it’s allowing us to produce this different kind of music and not just what we did before. We’re really trying to you know, push the boundaries…”
$teevoo said he doesn’t fit into any one box. He described his style of music as Island Pop.
“There are a few boxes that I occasionally visit…When I first started as most youths, I wanted to be a cool guy and then as time progressed, I just really found my voice I really have made it a mission to not try and do one specific genre. I think it’s because of Trinidad and how we have a big Soca industry and a lot of people want you to do Soca before you even get a chance to express yourself as an individual down here. People want to say you’re wasting your time boy, nobody wouldn’t listen to that, just go make some Soca, that’s going to put you on a stage. But as I said, a stage was never my real motive. I just wanted to make art. I see it as art. It’s really an art piece and as we communicate something it has to serve a purpose…”
According to $teevoo, much like life, his musical journey presented twists and turns he couldn’t always anticipate. He said regardless of the genre, the overarching theme for any music he releases, will always be authenticity.
“I really think individuality is very important. That’s like individuality and vulnerability. A lot of things that challenge the general perception of what a man is supposed to be, because I feel like in society, the more we get inter-connected with the internet and whatnot, we now have all of these narratives that people are believing that they should be; so for me music is very important for healing. Being real authentic is not about trying to flex or trying to be cool, or anything like that, because we already did that when we were 18 years old. So it’s really about being authentic and showing specifically the youths, that you can be authentic and you can still feel cool if you don’t fit the natural stereotype or archetype of a cool dude. Showing people to be individuals, that’s what is most important to me.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
$teevoo gave YCG some insight into what’s coming after the release of Jaded on Friday. The artiste is wasting no time! He has big plans for what’s left of 2024. Stay tuned for more info on the release of his three-part debut project. Like Jaded (yes, we’re among the lucky few who have already heard it) it promises to be a banger!
Jaded will be released tomorrow (Friday) on all streaming platforms.
