Tes Rapper Alive! One of the most diverse musicians to date. Tes can belt any riddim and switch up styles on the fly. A truestyle master general who does it all and then some. FRom beatbox wizardry,to freestryles off the top really free, written tunes bonus conceptual imagery, and a ear for sound soon to be top producer in the entire industry.

"Which song from the past 12 months is most likely to gain classic status? TES - New New York because I'm listening to it now and it's a classic. It has both class and ic and I'm sure that it is the definitive." 
- Tim Gane of Stereolab, BBC (Oct 12, 2003) 

"Suffice to say that, whilst the 50 Cent's of the world kick up a storm of controversy along the lines of bullet-hole wounds and outstanding doctor-payments, it's aural refreshment to know that a cohesively less taboo-seeking hip-hop playa is lining the streets with a sound that could easily form one of 2003's most eloquently enticing listens. It feels as if something's happening here." 
- Matt Tomiak, Rock Feedback 


"already a mainstay in the NY underground, emcee/producer tes makes enters the solo fray - after a leaving a slew off mixtape and stages blazing. with the release of this, his debut ep, tes unleashes his incredible, breathless flow on 8 outstanding and impressively varied, self-produced tracks (with the exception of two remixes). the ep showcases a slew of different styles that somehow manage to touch upon elements of organized konfusion, anti-pop's m.sayyid, lateef of quannum, and the legendary freestyle fellowship, yet always retain an individuality that never allows you to lose sight of exactly who you are listening to. to borrow a term from spinna & co. - it's clear from the outset that tes is certainly not your ordinary emcee..." 
- Wax Factor, urban smarts 


"This special agent believes x2 to be a highly advanced form of communication. In addition to the subject's vocal powers, whose cadences play a choppy kind of "jump-rope" code we have yet to decipher, Tes' musical system is also relatively unique." 
- Julianne Shepherd, Pitchfork - 8.2 (May 11, 2003) 


" Tes rips the mic on the Uk Rap radio station Juice FM. While on tour playing shows throughout England and France, Tes stops by the hidden lair to be interviewed by dj host Lady Jay. Tes Uno was one of the very first(if not the first) US rapper to penetrate the UK grime scene. His legendary debut album entitled “X2″ had just dropped on Lex Records displaying elements…" 
- Lady J, Juice FM 


"X2 0ne Liners Tes "x2" "Times Two may be the sh*t hot hip hop record of the year" Vice "Clearly Tes is hip hop's brightest new hope" 9/10 NME "One of the best albums of 2003" Grand Slam "Quirky hip hop that's twice as good as the competition" four strars Muzik "Imagine the precise stutter and pivot of Prefuse 73 coupled with the house quaking ambition of EL-P's dirtiest-Tes captures the shape of things to come" The Wire "A parallel-universe RZA" four stars Bang "Tes is the HR Geiger of sound killing sh*t like no one else" " 
- unknown, Vice/NME/The Wire 


"The long awaited debut album from Tes is finally here thanks to the mighty Lex after a killer EP and 12" for the VF Prods label. Lex have really upped the ante for artwork and packaging, untouchable. Back to the album, Tes is a 21st century emcee - lyrics are dropped ala early Anticon, the time when you could understand most of what Dose delivered, original and fresh without burning the blueprint. The space and freshness this gives the music plus Tes' use of strange and bewildering sample sources only heighten the originality and enjoyment. Prefuse 73 meeting Marley Marl if you must. 'New New York' is unreal, a classic feel good vibe runs through with killer weird uplifting samples and a chorus line that sounds like Run D-M-C meeting Barbarella, I'm confused but this is one killer track. Twelve tracks of truly original artistic but rockin' hip hop with surprises at every turn. A massive recommendation." 
- Unknown, Boomkat 


"Uncut (8/03, p.97) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...12 tracks of sharply intelligent and highly addictive hip hop....Tes drops in his samples with a spare, dub-like delicacy, leaving wide open spaces through which to access his lyrical meditations on the urban treadmill..." The Wire (3/03, p.72) - "...A surprisingly rangy and evocative memoir of a young man growing up alongside HipHop..."" 
- unknown, The Wire/Uncut 


"Terrence Tessora, AKA Tes, hails from Brooklyn, New York and while the city's hip-hop heritage permeates this album, this is no old skool pastiche. Tes draws on a wider palette having spent his time honing his skills with other NY underground heroes like the now defunct Anti-Pop Consortium and Cannibal Ox. As debuts go though, this is a self assured piece of work, and shows Tes has a bright future in the grimy hip hop underworld. Though perhaps a few more excursions onto the dancefloor and out into the sunshine wouldn't go a miss in the future." 
- John Power, Music OMH (Apr 21, 0203) 


"Brooklynite Terrence "Tes" Tessora has served a lengthy apprenticeship in New York's unforgiving rap underground, yet releases his debut (x2, pronounced "times two") on a British label. He belongs to a long tradition: from Quincy Jones to Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix, Europe--and Britain in particular--has always been open to adventurous Americans bearing experimental musical offerings. This is a major stroke of luck for those of us this side of the pond, for Tes has delivered a record, that not only tips its stylistic hat to rap's late-80s' creative zenith, but takes on board that era's urge to unfettered creativity. " 
- Angus Batey, CD Market (Jun 05, 2003) 


"Tes Times Two (X2) (Lex Records) LEX012CD Tes’ X2 album was one of the first full length albums on Lex. Concise, punchy hip hop from Terrence Tessora, hailing from Brooklyn but leaving any kind of old school connotations far behind. The album moves from the dark and moody to disco orchestration of New, New York- single of the month for many magazines and radio shows worldwide. X2 is an East Coast underground essential. " 
- Tom Brown, Lex Records 


"The way in which the familiar tools of hip-hop are slightly repurposed make this album one of the most refreshing things to have emerged from a bedroom studio in a long time. So, another fine talent emerges from the New York underground" 
- James Poletti, UK Launch (Apr 25, 2003) 


"In the fight for most creative hip-hop centre, there doesn’t seem to be only two major contenders. On one side, the West Coast, with the Art fag collective, Anticon, and on the other, New York, with the new breed of new wave rappers largely championed by Lex Records. Hailing from the heart of Brooklyn, where he spent some time on the underground scene, Tes, or Terrence Tessora as he is known to his parents, is definitely one of the strongest talents to emerge from the Big Apple in the last few years. " 
- unknown, The Milk Factory 


"This debut full-length release from Brooklyn's Tes is set in an apocalyptic landscape that shimmies with an ever-present hum of basement-level white-collar frustration. It's enough to make you feel for yourself as much as you do for the man on the mike. Conceptually, x2 (times two) draws as much from the street-battle style on which Tes built his reputation as it does from his scratched-out self-produced instrumental turntabilist style. The first single, "New New York‚" features candid observations on the immediate aftermath of 9/11 with cleverly spliced vocal samples and deceptively upbeat string swells. The album was originally titled Off on Mondays, in homage to Tes' usual day off, when x2 was recorded, which may account for the occasional shouts to the working stiff. Tes, who came up alongside the rooted-in-realism wax charmers Cannibal Ox and Aesop Rock, has the journal-jotting tendencies of the Jukkies, but the seamless pitch of rhyme and beat. " 
- Suzann Vogel, Philadelphia Weekly (Apr 23, 2003) 



First EP Hollowed by failed ambitions out now!

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