Tes

Tes looks like a sailor or some scruffy, down to earth cat that you would never expect to rap. When people hear him rhyme, it's amazing to see their reactions. He has this crazy trumpet voice. At first, I thought this kid could be a producer who is real ill with machines and shit, but then I heard him spit and bust out the crazy hand movements. Whenever the topic of hand movements comes up, Tes is always mentioned. I first met Tes in 1998. We were both part of a project called Holograff Travelerz. It was ill. We did shows together at The Nuyorican Poet's Café. The stage featured four producers on four drum machines and keyboards, plus emcees sitting in the audience freestyling. Tes was playing the MPC and rhyming while Afra beat boxed. From there we went on to perform together at The Nuyorican, CBGB’s, Columbia, and NYU. The Columbia show was packed and we opened for Freestyle Fellowship
When I first heard Tes rhyme, I was like - 'wow, this kid is straight out of an era that I was mad familiar with'. With his ill cadence, Tes represented someone I already knew. His flow brought me back to a time when I was battling emcees in Washington Square Park. I had a broken leg from playing a soft game of football. The doctor hooked me up with the ill NFL crutches because I'm a big dude. I remember being there and hearing emcees with all types of style, everybody back then had like nineteen styles. Nobody cared about what was going on in hip-hop. Emcees were just having fun. When I first met Tes I knew he was from the 90's era of coming up with crazy styles. Tes is from an era that I miss. I miss being in Washington Square Park cutting high school.

The fool will sleep on Tes. People need to relax and absorb what this veteran emcee has to say. He is so musical with his cadence play. When you hear a Tes song it stands out and singles him out from regular cats. No one comes with his vibe. He entertains with ill concepts, rhyme schemes, flows, beats, and arrangements. Tes is known to bob and weave seamlessly in and out of the track with an ill off-on beat style. His beats are melodic and his production has a dark aura. He is not afraid to bang on pots and pans. Tes is the Geiger of sound killing shit like no one else.
"x2" draws from real life experiences and while some songs are straightforward others require dissection. He makes it exciting to break music down. "x2" clearly shows growth and change from his earlier material. We live in a world right now where people live in fear. To hear Tes test the boundaries is refreshing. The EP represents innovative wordplay, flows, and production. The songs touch on real things that have affected him. The album is about standing up to your fears and conquering them. It’s also an album about New York. Every song is distinct, carving a niche. The track, "New New York" is about Tes existing in the city after September 11th, like memories of smelling burned flesh for weeks. The chorus on "New New York" is dope in the way Tes cuts up various vocal samples and tweaks rhyme patterns vocally. 

LoDeck lost his mind on "Late to Work", a great addition to the EP. Pressing up the instrumentals gives respect to Tes' production side. The fanatics of freestyle will love Tes' instrumentals because the beats are created with an emcee in mind. As a matter of fact, I am trying to rhyme on the "Late to Work" beat!
You're going to enjoy where Tes is going. "x2" offers a new state of mind and is living proof that Tes refuses to get trapped in one dimension. Tes is an emcee who is focussed, but can still have fun and blitz out. He is neither a goofball nor a preacher but somewhere in between and that’s what I love about "x2". He comes from the heart and "x2" is going to show a world that only Tes can show.