Tee Grizzley went “Blow for Blow” with J. Cole on his latest song, but their friendship formed over some video games.
“I’m trying to get J. Cole on GTA (Grand Theft Auto) and we’re kicking it about the game and chopping it up about real life,” Tee tells Billboard of how he first connected with Cole. “I told him about my experience with ayahuasca and stuff like that.”
Tee eventually reached out to Cole about a song. “Even if he would’ve said no, nothing would’ve changed about our friendship,” Tee says. “I know he in the middle of working on The Fall Off. I would’ve understood. But bro made it happen for me.”
He adds Cole already had their “perfect song” and sent it to him with a verse that challenged him to go hard in the booth.
“When I heard it, I was blown away by his verse. … Usually I go to the studio and go with the flow a little bit,” Tee says. “This one I had to sit with it and really figure out what I want to say on here. Ain’t no matching Cole. He gave his sharp pen and I had to get my sharp pen for my world.”
“Blow for Blow” is on Tee’s new album, Post Traumatic, named for the pain he references on its songs.
“A lot of the songs I realized I heard a lot of my pain in it when I was coming up with the album title. I come up with the album title after I make the songs. I was listening back like, ‘I been through some s***,'” Tee says.
“I feel like this is my best work,” he adds of the project. “After they hear this, they not gonna want to hear nothing else from nobody.”
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