Austin rapper Terell Anthony Jackson proudly wears his “pretty boy trap” tag as the Teeta. Unfortunately, his designs on debut long-player Teeta World play out more off-brand than Off-White. Besides a couple pins close to home, such as a Colony Park mention on “Free Clout,” it’s easy to mistake the local MC as an Atlanta or Chicago native. Remixing Hoodrich Pablo Juan’s run-on sentence flow at one point, Teeta also indulges in some whispering that’s reminiscent of Kanye West signee Valee. Teeta even unwinds over a “The Message”/”Lucid Dreams”/”Shape of My Heart”-type beat on highlight “Grey Area.” The aesthetic of sharp lyricism over bass-heavy beats looks good on paper, but sounds uninspired out loud, and Teeta World fails to buck that trend. The subject matter feels even slighter when Teeta vainly discusses women and his high position on the Austin hip-hop pyramid.

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This article appears in April 5 • 2019.

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As the Chronicle's Club Listings Editor, Derek compiles a weekly list of music events occurring across town. The University of Texas alum also writes about hip-hop as a contributor to the Music section.