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TeeFlii
TeeFlii performing in 2013
Background information
Birth name	Christian Joel Jones
Born	(1987-07-17) July 17, 1987 (age 37) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	R&B hip hop
Occupations	Singer songwriter rapper record producer dancer
Years active	2007–present
Labels	Excuse My Liquor E1 Epic
Children	6

Christian Joel Jones (born July 17, 1987), better known by his stage name TeeFlii (stylized as TeeFLii), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer from South Los Angeles, California. He is best known for his 2014 single "24 Hours" (featuring 2 Chainz), which entered the Billboard Hot 100. The song, released by Epic Records, served as the lead single for his debut studio album Starr (2015), which failed to chart. Also in 2014, he co-wrote the single "Show Me" for fellow California rapper Kid Ink, which peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Early life

Jones developed an interest in music as a child attending church, drawn to keyboards after seeing how much his grandfather, who was a pastor, paid his organ players. Frequenting his grandfather's church, he learned to play multiple instruments, such as the organ, piano, guitar and drums. He played drums for Barbra Streisand at a Democratic Party event. Music helped provide stability in his life, as his mother battled drug addiction throughout his childhood, and he did not know his biological father until his teens. Jones began smoking marijuana at age eight and moved out of his parents' place for good at age thirteen. He described his childhood self by saying, "I was bad—fighting, stealing. I'd go take your bike, bring it to my backyard, spray-paint it, try to ride it around."

As a teenager, Jones began dancing and krumping, performing under the name Baby Tight Eyez, and earned placement in a few early Chris Brown music videos as well as appearing in a major role in Rize, David LaChapelle's 2005 documentary about Los Angeles' Krump scene. After the film was released, by the time he was 19, he had been living at various friends' houses, and after having his first daughter he went through an issue with the mother, where he lost visitation rights. He then started writing songs for other people to "get the vent off" and started seeing a better chance at stability in his life, so he pushed himself as an artist.

He created his stage name partially from his experience in the movie "Rize." He says in an interview, "TeeFLii came from dancing. I was in the Rize movie, and my name in the movie was Baby Tight Eyez. I was under somebody in dancing named Tight Eyez, then I wanted to branch off and do my own thing when I started getting older. I wanted to have my own name and something I could say that I did for myself. I grew up under another dude named Flii Stylz who choreographed for Chris Brown, Usher, Omarion, everybody in the game. I took a liking to him and next thing I knew, I just took the name TeeFLii."

Career

Early on his career prior to releasing his first project, TeeFlii collaborated with West Coast-based rappers such as Problem, YG, Nipsey Hussle and Skeme. His debut mixtape AnNieRuO'TAY 1 was released on November 21, 2012. It featured collaborations with Skeme, Problem, Bad Lucc, and Nipsey Hussle among others. AnNieRuO'TAY 1 was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. His second official mixtape AnNieRuO'TAY 2: The TakeOver was released on March 5, 2013. It featured production by DJ Mustard, 1500 or Nothin' and TeeFlii himself. At the same time he was recording his next mixtape, a project entirely produced by DJ Mustard to be released soon. He also indicated that he was working on a project with Nipsey Hussle. AnNieRuO'TAY 2 was met with mainstream coverage from publications such as Chicago Reader, and Fact, among others.

On July 4, 2013, TeeFlii released his third mixtape in eight months, the DJ Mustard-produced Fireworks. It featured collaborations with Dom Kennedy, Casey Veggies, Ty Dolla Sign, Omarion and E-40, among others. The mixtape would receive positive reviews upon release, Stereogum would end up naming it the "Mixtape of the Week". Rolling Stone also would name it the fourth best mixtape of 2013. They said, "Where Mustard's beats normally evoke a strip club's booty-whomp, here he pushes himself, brilliantly, towards R&B smoothness." On July 16, 2013, the music video for "This D" was premiered by Vice. In August 2013, TeeFlii signed to Epic Records after being actively persuaded by label executive L.A. Reid. Then on October 2, 2013, "This D" was released as his debut single. The following day, he released the remix to "This D", featuring Jadakiss and Tyga. After "This D" received major radio rotation in Los Angeles, he got a major co-sign from rapper Snoop Dogg. The song would peak at number 35 on the US Billboard Rhythmic chart.

In October 2013, LA Weekly named TeeFlii the best R&B singer in Los Angeles. On November 25, 2013, he released his fourth mixtape AnnieRUO'TAY 3: Who The Fuck Is Annie?. The seventeen track mixtape featured a collaboration with Dom Kennedy and production by The Futuristiks and himself, among others. On December 9, 2013, "That's How We Livin'" a collaboration with Snoop Dogg and Warren G was released. It was then included on Snoop's mixtape That's My Work Vol. 2.

On March 26, 2014, TeeFlii premiered his second official single "24 Hours" featuring 2 Chainz, with production by DJ Mustard. Along with its release, it was announced that TeeFlii's debut studio album would be titled Starr and released during mid-2014. "24 Hours" was serviced to urban contemporary radio in the United States on April 7, 2014, and then was serviced to rhythmic contemporary radio on May 6, 2014. The track peaked at number 85 on the Billboard Hot 100 and served as a bonus track on Starr.

On August 27, 2021, TeeFlii released his EP, "Today", which included his new single "Automatic" produced by Grammy Award Winning Producer Los Da Mystro.

And on the 8th of July 2023 he released the Album "TruFlii" with the artist Tru Carr.

Personal life

TeeFlii's invocations of his faith are frequent as he believes in Christianity. His grandmother was a gospel singer and his aunt harmonized for Elvis Presley's backup group, The Sweet Inspirations. His grandmother is the one that taught him the most about singing. He has five children; four daughters, and one son.

Discography

Studio albums

Mixtapes

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Guest appearances

References

1. ^ "GEN F: TeeFLii". The Fader. October 3, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
2. ^ Weiss, Jeff (June 13, 2013). "TeeFlii Starred in Rize. Now He's About the Hottest Underground R&B Singer Going | Los Angeles News and Events". LA Weekly. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
3. Capell, Frances (April 2, 2013). "Meet TeeFlii, the Ratchet Prince of Los Angeles R&B". Noisey. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
4. Dell (December 1, 2012). "Tee Flii – AnNieRuO'TAy 1 [Mixtape] | OnSMASH". Freeonsmash.com. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
5. "TeeFlii :: AnnieRUO'Tay :: TeeFlii.com". Rapreviews.com. April 30, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
6. ^ "Download TeeFLii's AnnieRUO'TAY 2 Mixtape". The Fader. March 6, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
7. "Meet TeeFlii, the Ratchet Prince of Los Angeles R&B | NOISEY". Noisey.vice.com. April 2, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
8. Galil, Leor (June 17, 2013). "Take a break from all this Kanye and Jay-Z talk with TeeFlii | Bleader". Chicago Reader. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
9. "Tee Flii channels The-Dream on new mixtape AnnieRUO'TAY2 – FACT Magazine: Music News, New Music". Factmag.com. March 7, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
10. "DJ Mustard, TeeFLii "Fireworks" Mixtape". Complex. July 4, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
11. "Mixtape of the Week: TeeFLii & DJ Mustard Fireworks". Stereogum. July 10, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
12. "10 Best Mixtapes of 2013: DJ Mustard TeeFlii, 'Fireworks'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
13. ^ "Here's the New Video for TeeFlii's "This D" | NOISEY". Noisey.vice.com. July 16, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
14. "TeeFLii f. Tyga and Jadakiss, "This D (Remix)" MP3". The Fader. October 3, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
15. "The Break Presents: TeeFlii – XXL". Xxlmag.com. October 21, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
16. "Chart Search – Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
17. "Los Angeles Best R&B Singer | Arts & Entertainment | Los Angeles News and Events". LA Weekly. October 3, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
18. Ju, Shirley (November 25, 2013). "TeeFlii "ANNIERUO'TAY 3: Who The Fuck Is Annie?" Cover Art, Tracklisting, Download & Mixtape Stream | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHop DX. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
19. Trent Clark (November 27, 2013). "TeeFlii – AnnieRUOTAY 3 Mixtape". Hiphopwired.com. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
20. "TeeFlii f/ Snoop Dogg & Warren G "That's How We Livin'"". Complex. December 9, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
21. "Premiere: TeeFlii feat. 2 Chainz – "24 Hours"". March 26, 2014. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
22. "Urban/UAC Future Releases – R&B, Hip Hop, Release Schedule and Street Dates – ..." Retrieved October 1, 2017.
23. "Top 40 Rhythmic Future Releases – R&B Song and Hip-Hop Music Release Dates – ..." Retrieved October 1, 2017.
24. Montes, Patrick (August 9, 2013). "TeeFLii Turned R&B Into "Fly'n'B" With a Little Bit Of Ratchetness". Blogs.ocweekly.com. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
25. Cory McClanahan (May 30, 2018). "TeeFLii (@teeflii) & Jermaine Dupri (@JermaineDupri) - Next Level". Global14.com. Retrieved April 15, 2020.

• 1987 births
• Living people
• 20th-century African-American male singers
• 20th-century American male singers
• 20th-century American singers
• Singers from Los Angeles
• American contemporary R&B singers
• 21st-century American singer-songwriters
• Record producers from California
• 21st-century American male singers
• Epic Records artists
• African-American songwriters
• 21st-century African-American male singers
• American male singer-songwriters
• Singer-songwriters from California