Teddy Tee shares his thoughts on the future of Alabama hip-hop and life after his appearance on MTV’s “From G’s to Gents.”
How did you get involved with the “From G’s to Gents” show?
I saw the commercial for auditions for season two and it said all you had to do was send in an autobiography and contact info. I wrote a short bio on myself and just sent it in; two weeks later I got a call saying they were interested and the rest is history. It was really that simple. I didn’t have an agent or manager. I’m just a dude from the country that tried something.
What did you learn from that experience?
The thing I would say I learned was how to communicate with other people and that anything is possible if you just put forth an effort to do it. In my case I ended up on national TV because I decided to write the bio and send it in, rather than just talk about how I could be on the show. Coming from a small town, I was also able to interact with guys from all over the country and take in all the different personalities.
You were raised in Alabama, what do your remember most about your youth?
See when people think of Alabama they think it’s all country and farms but there are large metropolitan cities in the state of Alabama with high-rises and sidewalks, etc. I’m not from the city parts though, I’m from a very small town called Camden, Alabama, where the population is 2,250. So what I remember the most is my friends and family all struggling. We had the necessities but there wasn’t anything extra. The town is very segregated as well so we dealt with racism daily. I remember not wanting to deal with that anymore and wanting to make a change, but I knew I had to leave the environment to see and experience new things.
How has the movie Selma made people pay more attention to your home state?
I don’t think it made people pay more attention to Alabama because the world knows the history. It definitely reminded people and enlightened those who never really put much thought into the whole South being a war zone on Black people. It’s a war that still goes on in many parts of the South and all over the country.
Do you think Alabama gets the credit it deserves when it comes to hip-hop?
The credit it deserves? Come on, everyone knows Alabama doesn’t get credit for nothing and I’m not saying we deserve a lot of credit but what we do deserve is to be acknowledged, meaning a fair chance to be heard and discovered just like all the states that surround us.
What inspired the song, “Alabama”?
Like I said earlier I’m from a small town, but I’m proud of my city and of my state. I want people to know where I’m from and that we have diamonds all over the world, including “ALABAMA” so I decided we needed an anthem for our state like New York and Atlanta, and even North Carolina has that’s big for the state and the people. The original song was on my album Small World that I released in 2013. When I was about to drop the Horsepower mixtape hosted by DJ Scream, Doe B was the hottest rapper in Alabama at the time. I wanted to remix the song, so it was a no brainer to reach out to him to jump on the record. I sent the record to him and he sent me the verse back the next day and the rest is history. RIP The Kid, aka Doe B. An extended remix even included Rich Boy, which was added to the Horsepower mixtape as a bonus track.
How did the passing of Doe B affect the entire state and music industry?
Losing Doe B was tragic. As far as Alabama, it set us back again, because right when we had the scope on us again for having musical talent it was taken just like that! Doe was gonna be around a long time. He already had 4 or 5 hit singles out and he was working with no intentions of slowing down. So, yes the the industry but most of all Alabama took a major loss. RIP Doe B.
You got caught up with some legal issues due to hustling. What advice do you give to youngsters who are caught up in illegal activities?
Yes, I did prison time for possession with the intent to distribute. I was a victim to the streets early because I grew up watching my mom struggle so I never wanted to be a burden, so I took to street hustlers and wanted to get rich selling drugs. I learned fast that was not the route to take. Most kids think they can get in it and get out of it when you make enough money but the truth of the matter is you will never get to that point. I got a felony at 18, so I curved my future tremendously. I couldn’t get a good job or a job for that matter. My advice to the youth would be to learn to be patient. At the end of the day that will save you a bunch of hard life lessons. Start with patience.
What led to your move to Hawaii?
I met a lot of people when I went to Hollywood and I started to travel to different cities and states that I’d never visited before and Hawaii was one I visited when the ‘Gs to Gents’ was still bubbling. I went there and made some strong connections with the real-estate business so I decided to move there and get my real-estate license and set up different business ventures out there.
How do you want to be remembered in entertainment?
I want to be remembered as a country boy that made it out of the woods; that took the game and his craft serious and changed the way people look at Alabama. We’ve got a bunch of needles in the hay stack.
