If capping off ScHoolboy Q’s Blank Face LP with a harrowing verse for the tensely-melodic continuation single “Tookie Knows II” last July isn’t impressive enough, Angeleno rapper T.F dug into his Wu-Tang bag with Kung-Fu incited visuals for “Panda Xprss,” a short film from his debut project, No Hooks, that was released in February. The track’s menacingly-smooth vibe infused with hazy imagery and seamless transitional flow is a complimenting byproduct of Enter The Wu-Tang 36 Chambers and A Touch of Zen, with LA flair.
It’s no surprise T.F has an amuse for visuals. His “September 7” single off the No Hooks EP was accompanied by a cinematic montage captured in a 10-month span in and around South Central. With cameos from ScHoolboy Q, Traffic, and Detroit’s Danny Brown, the visuals hit as hard as the song itself.
In a recent episode of Unique Access, the Los Angeles native sat down with Soren Baker to discuss his takeaways from ScHoolboy Q’s “Tookie Knows II,” his No Hooks EP and the inspiration behind his “Panda Xprss” song.
In today’s game, it’s not sustaining enough to have one trick and it can be difficult to stand alone in the flood of talent by being one dimensional. T.F explains what he picked up by working alongside a member of rap’s most influential click.
“At the point I’m thinking, is this how they make movies?” he said. “We went from set, to set, to set. We started at 9 and wouldn’t leave until 9, and this was all day for a good week. So, seeing that it wasn’t really hard, you just need to come up with a dope idea, get creative with it, and think outside the box. Being a part of that helped me think outside the box as far as visuals, and say, ‘You can do anything with this.’”
While the challenge of remaining focused and setting clear goals while expanding on multiple avenues of creativity can be artistically muddling, T.F details his goals.
“How I view things, different lifestyles and lingos are what I’m trying to get across because it’s a whole different world,” he explains. “You might be able to relate to it and you might not. You might not even know what I’m taking about, but I’m going to make it sound good.”
With LA at the forefront of the popularization of gangster rap, many rappers have strayed from that birthing movements by way of DJ Mustard‘s club-centered music. Thanks to a resurgence from YG and the TDE camp, street-centered music is prevalent again. T.F explains how he fits into the revolving culture.
“That’s why I wanted to drop No Hooks,” he reveals. “I didn’t want to be just another gangster rapper rapping about street stuff. I do rap about street stuff on this No Hooks project, but it has a hip-hop feel opposed to a gangster rap sound. I wanted to come new and try not to get boxed in.”
Creatively, T.F cites “Panda Xprss” as an atypical song that defies the lines of a traditional gangster rap song, allowing him to stand out and be distinctive.
“’Panda Xprss’ was the second song I did for the project and I was hype,” he reveals. “I was like, ‘Alright let me dig up in this bag man and pull something up out of this.’”