“Who is Teezo Touchdown?”
That’s the question many University of Iowa students have been asking after the Sept. 10 announcement that the rapper-singer will headline this year’s free homecoming concert.
Lance Johnson, a third-year UI student, said “Literally, who is that?”
He was not alone — four other UI students also said they were unfamiliar with the artist and had no comments about him.
For some, though, the announcement sparked excitement.
Stephanie Tirrito, a UI fourth-year student, said she loved the pick. For her, Teezo Touchdown’s many collaborations with well-known artists made him an exciting choice and the reason she will be attending.
That excitement mixed with curiosity is exactly what Scope Productions, the UI’s student-run concert organization, hoped to spark when booking this year’s artist.
Kendall Deutmeyer, one of Scope’s talent buyers, explained how Teezo’s features with other artists were some of the reasons he was selected.
Deutmeyer credited Teezo Touchdown with pushing conventional boundaries not seen in past UI performances.
“Historically, Scope’s roster has been streamlined,” Deutmeyer said. “This year we wanted to do something new in terms of a visual performance, which is not typically seen at UI homecoming concerts.”
Deutmeyer said Teezo Touchdown stood out as an artist who could bridge the alternative, eclectic crowd that often attends Scope shows with the mainstream audience that recognizes him from collaborations.
Deutmeyer also emphasized his elaborate costumes and experimental sound as what makes him a boundary-pushing performer.
“He’s the perfect connection to bring excitement from multiple groups of people,” she said.
The decision to select Teezo Touchdown was not a simple one and is the result of months of planning led by Deutmeyer and the other executive board members at Scope.
Discussions began in April, when Scope’s executive board outlined what they wanted from the show.
From there, Scope worked with an agent to find an artist who fit the group’s collective vision and the budget, which is no small challenge in the talent-buying world, according to Deutmeyer.
So, who is Teezo Touchdown?
Teezo Touchdown, born Aaron Lashane Thomas in Beaumont, Texas, grew up surrounded by music thanks to his father, a local DJ.
As a teenager, he began experimenting with his father’s equipment, uploading music to YouTube under names like AyeTee and Teezo Suave before rebranding as Teezo Touchdown in 2016.
In 2019, he gained traction with “100 Drums,” a song critiquing gun violence in the U.S. Rapper Trippie Redd found the song on social media and reached out to Teezo to invite him to L.A. in 2019, where he stayed with his manager for six months before returning to Beaumont.
Since then, Teezo has bubbled up for his blending of rap, R&B, punk and rock in what “Dazed,” an alternative culture and style magazine, called “a delightfully weird, genre-defying enigma,” claiming him to be multiple rappers in one.
Teezo has also been highly featured, appearing on Tyler, the Creator’s “Call Me If You Get Lost,” Travis Scott’s “Utopia” and Drake’s “For All the Dogs.”
At the same time, he released his debut studio album, “How Do You Sleep at Night?” in September 2023 on RCA Records.
Although Teezo Touchdown is not a household name, Scope Productions said Teezo represents the kind of bold, unconventional music the group hopes will set this year’s homecoming concert apart and bring all music lovers together.
The free show is scheduled for Sept. 26 at 8 p.m. on the east Pentacrest lawn and welcomes all UI students and community members.