Timi O is a threat to the images you’ve grown accustomed to — attached to, even. He’s a hazard to all the preconceived notions you’ve been content to accept as fact. And he’s not backing down because his individuality grates against the stereotypes comfortably embedded in everyone’s subconscious.
The Worcester-raised rapper blazes a singular trail in hip-hop with his single “THREAT,” which dropped last week (March 31). Propelled by A-Space-Odyssy-esque synths, the new track blasts O into the stratosphere, just so he can impact the culture with maximum force when gravity hurls him back towards Earth.
“I feel that decades of the media’s portrayal of Blackness in America has set a stereotype in place for what is expected of you as a Black person,” Timi O tells Vanyaland. “Growing up, I saw that when you diverge from what is expected, or ‘accepted,’ rather, you are negatively labeled as ‘different.’ However, the things that made me — and others like me — ‘different’ have become embraced by my culture in recent years. That embrace inspires change and understanding.”
“Music saving lives / But that don’t mean I’m a hero / I’m a threat,” he emphasizes, his concise lyricism feeding into the song’s mounting intensity.
“Being yourself, is not allowing others’ views on you to change who you are and what you love about yourself (unless it is for the betterment of oneself),” he concludes. “If they are for you, they’ll try to understand and embrace you. This shines through on ‘THREAT’ because I didn’t make this to be a club banger or to gain approval from anyone. I crafted it to express how I feel in a way that’s unique to me. I take great pride in that.”
Tune into “THREAT” below.