Review Fix Exclusive: Tekh Togo Talks ‘Dressed to Kill’ and More

Review Fix chats with rapper Tekh Togo, who discusses his new video “Dressed to Kill,” featuring Joose of AGO. Preparing for the release of BlackWater, his forthcoming album featuring Mick Jenkins, Nitty Scott MC and Dougy Lo Hot as well as production from Mistro, Nixon and Seventh of AGO, Togo also breaks down his goals for 2016.

Review Fix: What inspired this video?

Tekh Togo: Dressed To Kill was more a brainstorm of ideas then being inspired by something in particular. I think with this type song it could’ve easily been a generic video. I knew I wanted to go left and almost have the video mean something different than what the actual song is saying, convey a different message. My guy Andy Miller laid the initial groundwork, then my girlfriend Ashley and I bounced some more ideas around. When the mannequin idea came about that became more of the theme and story throughout the video. I like to leave things open for interpretation so it’s not so cut and dry, you get to draw your own conclusion or meaning on Dressed To Kill.

Review Fix: What was it like to work with Mick Jenkins?

Togo: I heard a joint he did I believe it was posted on NahRight a track off his first tape Trees & Truths. I don’t follow the hype, this is before the space he is in now. I just thought he sounded dope and different. I thought he would sound dope on the End of the Rainbow song I had so I hit him up. He checked it out said he liked it and liked my flow, he knocked it out and did his thing on it. So it wasn’t like we vibed out in the lab. It was more email correspondence, “your shit is nice, can you jump on this?” “yeah, I fuck with what you’re doing too” boom here you go.

Review Fix: How do you want this video to be remembered?

Togo: As the genesis for Tekh Togo the artist. My previous works that have got any light was me behind the camera mostly. Now you’re getting to see me on the other side of the lens adding visuals to my music. I think Dressed To Kill adds a piece to the puzzle, it’s like ok I see this guy Tekh Togo is just ill all around.

Review Fix: How was this song written?

Togo: My dude Nixon sent me over a track he said it was weird, but he thought I could do something with it, he even named it Weird Beat. I was expecting some extra wild sounding shit so when I played it I was kind of shocked to hear what sounds like a boys choir singing (not so weird to me) but the beat was ill. The beat has a haunting slightly dark feel to it so I knew I wanted it for my Blackwater album. It fit perfect. I write to the beat so “we deep down in the trenches in trench coats” is just what I was seeing listening to the beat, I see war listening to that track. I kind of just played on fashion and intertwined it with war after that first line. I hit up the homie Joose The Conqueror to get on it, I felt his rhyme style and cadence would fit dope with the beat. I let him hear it, ran down idea of where I was going lyrically, he got busy and put it down.

Review Fix: How important is interacting with your fans on social media to you?

Togo: It’s important, especially when they give praise or positive feedback on the artwork. I’m very competitive with myself, a lot of my work is me trying to manifest the ideas and visions in my head. It’s also for the world, so when people hit me up to let me know they liked the art or felt it I feel I should show appreciation for that whether it’s just a thanks or a conversation ensues.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Togo: Blackwater the album dropping January 28. More videos for the project, Unfortunate is next. Just a lot more art from me this year, music, visuals, shows etc 2016 you’re going to see a lot of Tekh Togo.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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