Interview: Teamarrr, On Growing Up, Life + New Music
Photographed by Tyren ReddCritically acclaimed Haitian singer and songwriter, TeaMarrr, recently sat down with Glitter to discuss her new music, the moment that singing became a part of her life, how her style has transformed over the years, her thoughts on the state of the nation right now, and how she inspires others. TeaMarrr’s song, “Cool Enough” was on Season 4’s premiere of the award-winning HBO series, Insecure, starring Issa Rae. She’s just dropped her new EP, Before I Spill Myself via RAEDIO and Atlantic Records which includes tracks like “Kinda Love (Feat. D Smoke),” and additional features from SiR and Rapsody. She also dropped an emotional new video for “Chasing Amy” that many can relate to when new found love is not what it appears to be. Read on to read a snippet from her interview with our editor, Rachel Wilson, which appears in full at @GlitterMagazine’s IGTV.
GLITTER: Where are you currently isolating and outside of creating music, what have you been doing to keep busy?
TEAMARRR: I have been isolating in L.A., North Hollywood area, and I have been like going through, like, breakdowns of like me and my habits and my this and my that, so, I’ve been reprogramming and relaxing. So it’s been up and down, but mostly like I have a projector in my living room. So I always try to do yoga and stuff like that.
GLITTER: You refer to yourself as a musical pharmacist, what does that mean to you?
TEAMARRR: I want people to heal themselves with my sound. I hope they walk away thinking, ‘TeaMarrr is my new musical pharmacist.’ My catalog will heal whatever mood you’re in; if you’re in a lovey-dovey vibe put on ‘Kinda Love.’ If you’re angry at your ex and don’t understand why he couldn’t have done the one thing you asked him to, I definitely have a song for that too. Think of me as the sonic doctor prescribing music as medicine to help you heal.
GLITTER: How did you find your creativity?
TEAMARRR: So, I’m Haitian, so my parents were really religious and I wasn’t allowed to do anything. I wasn’t allowed to wear pants, I wasn’t allowed to like, wear, like, have my sleeves, neck, shoulder collar, anything showing, makeup, jewelry, tattoos, forget about it. Boys, forget about it. And so it was very much just like, home, church, and school. So my mom, when we were at home too, we couldn’t watch T.V., so I just was super creative. I found ways to paint, draw, trace, and do these little acts. I had like these imaginary friends that I still have.
GLITTER: When did you first start taking singing seriously as a profession?
TEAMARRR: Because my mom took away a lot of like the, like, outside stuff. I was more of an entertainer and just made silly songs. I always would change the words of songs like the lyrics to Family Guy, I would just change the tone and melody. You know, add harmony to it as I sing it. I would just always have fun like that. But I didn’t start taking it seriously until 2015, or 2014 when I was in Toronto and I just was like in the right place, at the right time.
GLITTER: Can you tell us what inspired “Chasing Amy?”
TEAMARRR: I had to have, like a self-reflection moment where “Chasing Amy” is where I’m looking in the mirror and I’m just like seeing my flaws and this person, this person sees them as, like, gems and trinkets about me that make me. The whole video, he has even bigger problems than me. It came from a vibe, where here’s this person who was very isolated and didn’t want to be around people, like, naturally on his own without a lockdown (laughs). I just was like, you know, what is that about? Like, you don’t even want this smoke, you’re not even ready. It is basically, it’s like that, but, like, cute, but like strange at the same time, another person that I met on an app who is basically like the guy who made me, like, realize that I had my first orgasm and like, I didn’t know my body could do that. So, I was, like, spending maybe four or five years doing the damn thing, not even knowing that I could do that. And he was like a very, very cool, like Virgo, like super, whatever type of guy. [His] birthday was like right after my Dad’s, like a humble and king-like. Years passed by and I’m looking for him and I’m blocked on everything. I don’t know why, but I found out he had like a whole like wife and kid, he was, just, like trying to cut people off, or whatever. I didn’t know. And then I was just like, okay, cool. But then years go by again and I’m thinking about [him] and that’s why I write this song. I’m like, wow, we had the best type of thing and I’m looking for him on social media and I can’t find him. And I finally find something that’s like, R.I.P. this person. So like he’s passed, and I had found out maybe like three years after. And I’m thinking about this as I’m writing the song. So, like, I was just like, what the hell and it made me think about social media apps. How, like, you can meet somebody today, swipe right on them, have a great conversation, you never know if you will ever see them again because you don’t know their friends or their family. You don’t know how to creeper, you know, whatever. But I just miss the way, like, you know, it ran down heavy on me and that was just kind of like manifesting like a new Virgo interaction.
GLITTER: How has your style transformed over the years?
TEAMARRR: My style gradually transformed. But I was always very colorful. [I wore] pants with the buttons that would open on both sides. But I wore like red heels and a denim heel, like I still do weird like things like that. But I still try and keep it sexy. You know? I loved to match, that was, like, my biggest thing as a kid was matching, but I hated when my socks matched. I always looked nice, but I hated when my bra, panties, and socks matched. I was one of those like, nah, psycho (laughs). That’s what they said if your socks didn’t match you were crazy. But yeah, very, very like tomboy, but sexy. Yeah. I like to be comfortable but I also like to be, “What is that?” At the same time. But not too “What is that?” Which is like medium rare, “What is that?”
GLITTER: Do you have any style icons, anyone that you look up to or are inspired by, or do you rely on your creativity?|
TEAMARRR: I feel like it’s like the, what are those? The centuries? Not the centuries, the decades. The decades, the decades. The decades, the decades, like the ’90s, the way they dress with the high waist, crop tops all day.
GLITTER: How do you respond to companies or artists that ask you to wear their merch?
TEAMARRR: I would love for you to wear my shirt” or whatever. I’m like, can I crop it, though? Will you be mad if I crop it, like, anyone sending me stuff. This shirt was supposed to be a long thing, cropped. Like, everything gets cropped. And I like to alter a lot of things too. Like I got these onesie jumpsuits… I may cut the sleeves. So it’s very thrifty, like I be thrifting.
GLITTER: What do you think about the state of the nation and the #BlackLives Matter Movement?
TEAMARRR: It is scary to see us revolt in such a violent way. But I feel like they’ve pushed us to. Like, we’re doing exactly what they want us to do. So they can just put more of us away. And I feel like we need to, we need to find a peaceful resolution, even though they’re not being peaceful with us. It’s being mindful of the trauma that’s being added on like, more people are dying now. It was one person and now it’s, now people are getting, you know, hurt more. We’ve got to fight it with something else. You know, you don’t fight fire with fire and the elements teach you exactly what you gotta use to put it out with. But I’m speechless.
GLITTER: How does your music inspire and empower women?
TEAMARRR: Oh, I think my music inspires women, just by my delivery sometimes. And I feel like I try to invoke peace in, peace of mind in the rage in their hearts and the confusion in their hearts and in the excitement in their hearts like, the ‘are you sure?’ Like, yeah. Like, doing it wrong. Are you gonna try and make it better? Like there’s stuff that we always hear in our head on some Carrie from Sex and the City sh*t that we’re never actually like we all think we’re Carrie, but we’re not actually, I’ve been doing it, you know? So I just feel like, I’m like the musical Carrie. But like, something of that, like just putting a little ear in their head, helping them recognize. Let me try and move a little different with this one or something like that, you know? Recognize themselves a bit.
GLITTER: Where is the best place for fans to keep up with you and your projects, your upcoming projects?
TEAMARRR: I think fans can keep up with me on Instagram and Twitter. Producers should keep up with me on Twitter. I feel like you gotta peep my moods. Oh, ‘she’s hella happy today.’ So like, send me that beat like my tweets really tell you what song I should write.
GLITTER: Thank you so much for joining us.
TEAMARRR: Thank you so much. This was really, really cool. I appreciate everybody coming through. Go listen to Before I Spill Myself right now. Don’t forget those three Rs. If you can’t find me, it’s with three Rs. Because I’m really, really more. Don’t sleep on the Rs. •
Award-Winning Publisher
