Listen UP: Teeklef – Splits

Teeklef is working hard for Indianapolis.  Growing up in Lagos, Nigeria, he saw life from a unique perspective—““We grew up poor, we just didn’t know it.” Teeklef started singing in the church choir so his mom would buy him a pair of jeans he wanted.  But the music turned out to be far more important for him. In church, he learned to sing, play keys and play the drums.

Whenever he could make it over to one of the rich kid’s houses where they had BET, he’d watch 106^th and Park, and by the time he was in high school, he was writing and performing his own music.  Labels in Nigeria started coming after him, but he turned down his shot at making music in Africa.  At 18, he got a chance to come to America to attend school in Indianapolis, where he has started a new life for himself and doubled down on his writing and recording.

He spends every spare minute in the studio. Now, as a founding member of the HipNavi group, he is paving a path for himself. The local Indianapolis hip hop scene is disorganized and barely on the radar.  HipNavi is a movement for Indy, a new beginning for a scene that badly needs it. HipNavi is the ship. Teeklef is the pilot. From Nigeria to Indy to everywhere, keep your ears open.