We recently connected with Jimmy Teflon and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jimmy, thank you so much for making time for us today. Let’s jump right into a question so many in our community are looking for answers to – how to overcome creativity blocks, writer’s block, etc. We’d love to hear your thoughts or any advice you might have.
Whenever i run into a block of any kind I always take a step back from that creative process, I can’t force myself to make a song or a beat, because at that point ill just be selling myself short of what I’m truly capable of. The best songs I’ve ever written where during moments of inspiration and being in a flow state. If I’m not in either of those things I just wont write good music. So it’s important for me to take a step back from that activity to do something else, and be patient. I’ll wait for the inspiration to come back to me (as it always does) then ill take advantage and create something I like.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
My name is Jimmy Teflon I’m a songwriter and rapper from Reno, Nevada. I intially got my first crack at making music when I was 16 years old, but until I turned 20 I wouldn’t really make anything that truly did something. But for me it was still exciting, I didn’t really care about anything but making something that people would like, and once I made my proper connections with an engineer and such, I was able to make my first official mixtape ‘Money Talks’ after that I would go on a year long journey of releasing a 5 song EP every other month, through that I dropped over 30+ records in the span of 12 months, and a few songs got some real motion on TikTok and such. My biggest song being ‘Okay’ which is sitting at a little over 10 million streams today, When that whole process was over with I really wanted to get back into just making a full fledged album, to which I would connect with another artist out here in Reno, and over the past 9 to 10 months or so we’ve been creating our album together. But I was also at a level where I needed to be releasing more so I dropped a filler tape titled ‘Tangible Assets’ which is a little collection of all the songs that I made in between the sessions for the collab album. Prior that release I started writing songs for other people as well, which has been a fun process. I was against it at first but once we made a few records where they read my lyrics that’s when i started to settle into the position a little more. I really enjoy surprising people so its always cool to see a reaction from a friend of mine when I show them some pop song I wrote.
I got a few projects in motion right now, I’m constantly working on current and new ideas. New concepts and such, I know that in April I have something special lined up for those who watch and listen to me. Really excited to see their reactions to it.
As for what makes my music special I’m not sure, I just like to make shit that I think is cool. And people gravitate towards it.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I’d say the three qualities where just being genuine, respectful, and passionate.
As for advice I’d say just put your money where your mouth is. There’s a reason my first tape was titled ‘Money Talks’ shit I even have that tattooed on my forehead, You can’t walk into this game thinking you can hit the court for free, there’s a tax and you got to pay it. If you don’t, well good luck because this business just got 10x harder for you.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
Honestly its been a wide range of people, Stu J and Unguyd3d where definitely of the first people that gave me some real game on anything. If it wasn’t for Stu I’m not sure if I’d be in the situation I’m in right now. Same with Unguyd3d he was pretty essential in the early days of my career. My boy Bozzy shoutout to him, without him my music wouldn’t sound as good as it does, he really put on for me and just let me get my shit right. And my dog Scaai he and I got close after I finished dropping all those EP’s, he really helped me hone in on my writing and just overall style. Nobody’s really pushed me to get better as an artist like he has. So if i had to categorize it I’d say Stu and Unguyd3d helped me with the business, Bozzy helped me with my sound, and Scaai helped me with my style.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/jimmyteflon
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teflon403/?hl=en
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Teflon403
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/jimmyteflon
Image Credits
All of my photos are captured by Brandon Perez
