Artist Interview: Tiz
As a long time member of Aural Wes, I’ve felt that my niche has been to interview artists that I love, and who I feel are making waves on campus. Along those lines, It’d feel wrong not to interview Tiz, also known at Tiz508. Tiz is who some would call an underground Wesleyan performer. I’d notice him at Mic Checks my freshman year, tentatively taking notes of the performers, and filming songs he enjoyed. Then, a year later, I saw him at almost every single Mic Check throughout the 2023-24 school year. He closed out that year by joining Nolan Lewis on the Spring Fling stage to perform one of their many songs together. Recently, I got a chance to visit Mr. 508 in Music House. Here’s what the rapper had to say.
Cover photo credit: Emmett “Tiz” Favreau ‘26
AW: What’s up?
Tiz: A lot actually! I’m in London right now. I’ll be here until June-ish. Taking a little break from recording stuff as I’m still waiting on my equipment to get here but, I’ve been enjoying myself. Also keeping in touch with some music friends.
AW: Like who?
T: There’s this guy, Elliott, from back home. We both went to this tiny school called the Chilmark School, and we’d hang out sometimes to play Sonic Colors. Years later I found out he started a band with this other guy, Oli, who I went to highschool with. The group is called The L.A.B, and the member I grew up with makes beats as well. He produced “GNAT”, “DRY”, and “Deadfresh” off my last project. If you hear the tag “Raveyard”, that’s him. We’re working on some new shit all the time.
AW: Anyone else who you’ve made music with recently?
T: Yeah. Your last interview was with that dude Timothy Bright. He produced one of the songs on my last EP. I’m also branching out and rapping over a lot of hoodtrap/jerk beats, trying some new flows. If you know xaviersobased, it’s very reminiscent of his production style. I’m a silly guy. The last EP was really silly. It’s a silly project. I feel like my last few things were very introspective and I kinda wanted to just have fun for a while. Lord knows we need some fun right now.
EMMETT: True that. What was it called again?
T: Lord of The Woods. I’ve spent the majority of my life living in the center of a state forest, and I rep the 508 pretty hard, so I wanted to name the project in honor of that while also moving away from the Tiz puns.
EMMETT: Tell me about growing up, where are you from?
T: I’m from West Tisbury, on Martha’s Vineyard, MA, but I grew up in Harlem. I feel like my brief time in the city of Hip-Hop played a role in who I became. Raps have always been around me. Even when I moved to MV which is predominantly white, I felt like Hip-Hop is what grounded me. Like when my grades started slipping or when I found myself kinda lost, I’d pick up a pen and paper and start rhyming, and it’d make things better.
EMMETT: What Hip-Hop artists have you been listening to lately?
T: Lots of Sahbabii. Viking is probably the best song I’ve heard in a minute. I also really like a lot of the stuff that PlaqueBoyMax has been putting out like Pink Dreads and beaverskin. Also surprisingly a lot of Mach-Hommy. Can’t forget about K.Dot and Tyler, both dropped album of the year contenders in my opinion. Also Fimiguerrero, Rio, Jace, YT…. lots of people. I really like rap if you can’t tell.
EMMETT: Who are some artists you’d like to collaborate with?
T: Honestly I feel like a lot of the artists I listen to make music that I love, but I would have a hard time collaborating with. Kenny Mason and Carti are two of my favorite artists ever, but I don’t know about collaborating with them. But if I had to choose a top three, I’d say Tyler, Earl, and maybe Zelooperz or Doechii.
EMMETT: You said you listen to Carti a lot, any comments on his album not releasing in 2024?
T: Nope. As expected.
EMMETT: That’s fair. I feel like the whole mysterious, media-silent energy that a lot of artists bring to the scene is becoming an excuse to be lazy.
T: Exactly. I don’t think you have to be posting every day. But it’s been like, almost a year since he teased a project, and still no album. Imagine if I announced What The Tizzness Is last May and then never even dropped it. That’d be madness. But I think he’s able to get away with it because of fans like me.
Photo credit: Owen Favreau
EMMETT: Let’s talk about that project, how does it feel looking back at it?
T: I feel accomplished, and I think it’s fitting for a first project. Like, some of the mixing is straight ass, I know that, but there’s also really high moments that I’m proud of. It’s very introspective, plus the cover is fire.
EMMETT: What about OVERTIME?
T: To be honest, I don’t love OVERTIME all that much. If you don’t know, my album got copyright striked by some random European dude who thought I was stealing his beats. It went down late June and wasn’t back up for months. So during that time, I really locked in and started to record stuff to release in the meantime. That’s where “GNAT” and “X Flow” came from. Also the “Sosa Flow” remix and the “Corolla Effect” remix, because when Nolan visits you just have to cook up. So OVERTIME ended up being way longer than I thought it was going to be, and I found myself kinda rushing the mixing and mastering process. But LORD OF THE WOODS is better, in my opinion.
EMMETT: What do you think inspires your work?
T: Life. I’m generally an unlucky person, so if some bullshit happens to me, I rap about it. I kinda see rapping as a way of journaling my thoughts and feelings sometimes. I’m also a massive fucking nerd. So many of my punchlines are anime references or cartoon references.
EMMETT: Do you ever catch any flack for that?
T: Yeah for sure. A while ago, I told someone that my least favorite comparison is when I’m called “meme” rap. I consider meme rap to be Ugly God, Yung Gravy, and people who don’t really take their craft seriously, and are kinda just making shit that’s hard but incredibly ignorant or provocative. I told him to listen to my music and he proceeded to say I’m “definitely a meme rapper”. And I guess it kinda just pissed me off. I don’t think I make satirical rap. I think I’m funny, and I’m a nerd, but so is Ski Mask, so is Denzel Curry, are they meme rappers? No.
Spring Fling photo credit: Natalie Williams ‘24
EMMETT: You describe yourself as a member of the “Wesleyan Underground”. What do you mean by that?
T: I think when you go to a campus like this, there’s unfortunately a hierarchy of musicians. At the top of the pyramid you’ve got the people packing the [ADP] Grotto every weekend, getting booked for everything, and who are in several bands. Then below that you have the freshman bands. They’re new and exciting so they pull a lot of fans. The layers go on and on until you reach what I call the Wes Underground. That’s people who are on their grind, and make really good shit that goes unnoticed unless you’re tapped in. I think giving it a name gives me comfort. I know that I only perform for about 10 or so people on average. But it’d rather have a small ride-or-die fanbase than 10 thousand ruthless fans. And I know it’s kinda a controversial opinion but, if there isn’t a hierarchy of musicians, why was no rapper booked for Duke Day? It’s kinda just messed up.
EMMETT: What genre would you consider yourself?
T: Underground, nerdy backpack rap with hints of several different genres. I’m like a mix between Denzel Curry and Baby Keem.
EMMETT: You’ve mentioned Denzel Curry twice now, what does he mean to you as an artist?
T: A lot, I feel like Denzel taught me how to rap. If you listen to his old shit, like [Nostalgic 64], he raps in a rhyme pattern where it's like, he rhymes the same word a bunch of times, and then ends the bar with a rhyme that fits the theme and the punchline, but starts a new rhyme scheme. For example he says some bar like, “From the old days I’m the one that’s chosen / thug from the nineties I’m cryogenically frozen / Avenger but yes I be the joker and the riddler.” Like, “avenger” matches the theme but starts a new rhyme scheme. I base a lot of my bars on that structure.
EMMETT: That’s dope that you think about bars like that.
T: I’m a DOOM fan, it comes with the territory.
EMMETT: So what’s next for Tiz?
T: I’m working on this new project called Martha’s Vineyard Masshole Music. It’s going to be close to album length, with some introspective songs and some fun songs mixed in. Some of the regular features, lots of talk about the Vineyard. Both the good and the bad. I feel like I have a lot of great feelings towards Martha’s Vineyard as my home, but also a lot of animosity towards some of the things I’ve experienced while living there. And I wanna rap about it.
EMMETT: It’s been great but we’re on to our last question: if you had to get a stranger into your music, what three songs would you recommend?
T: I’d start with “GNAT.” I think it’s my best by far, and I perform it at every show. Then I’d listen to “Mindless,” which in my opinion is the best track off What The Tizzness Is. I think “Sosa Flow 2” is important to listen to. Nolan Lewis really gave me a start, so I love how many collabs we have. Lastly, “Outside of Boston” is a banger.
EMMETT: Any final comments?
T: Support rappers, notice rappers, come to Mic Checks!
EMMETT: Thanks!
Check out Tiz’s EP, LORD OF THE WOODS, below.
