Anaheim-based producer, visionary, and all-around creative TeedotEinsof sits down with us for an in-depth conversation about his journey through music, from his early days supporting independent artists and writing for hip-hop blogs to discovering and developing his voice as a producer.
He reflects on the influences that shaped his sound, the importance of community, and the inspiration behind the creation and evolution of A Love Supreme. TeedotEinsof also gives us a glimpse into what he's currently working on, the collaborations he's excited about, and his vision for what's ahead.
An honest look into the mind, music, and vision of TeedotEinsof.
CHEF TALK is a conversation with the artists, DJs, and producers cooking up the next wave of independent music. We talk about influences, process, inspiration, records, and everything happening behind the scenes.
Chef Talk: First thing first.. How are you doing?
TeedotEinsof: Peace peace brotha Domo. First & Foremost shouts out the family Sunday Diner Records! Thank y'all for the invitation upon being a part of y'all Chef Talk series.
Everything has been & is copeaesthetic for the most part. Some transmutations & recent adaptations at the early part of summer that weren't on the bingo card yet the most high have been heavy with the reminders & continual results/opportunities. It's one of my favorite seasons out right now, fall, so Hemet has been getting beautiful weather outside the typical cook an egg on the sidewalk type beats.
Chef Talk: Yessir. Keep pushing G. Everything will fall into place. How did you first get into music?
TeedotEinsof: Factoids! It always does g. The most high be mad benevolent in all tings surrounding us regardless of our limited clarity at such moments or seasons. The first time I can recollect being heavily influenced by music was when I was 3-4 years old being put to nap/sleep to The Art Laboe show according to my moms stories. Actually getting into music creativity & around/within the environment of such was what would have been highschool for me (I didn't go to highschool) My best friend/ Brother Raymond Gardner a.k.a RayClev just started taking his craft as an MC seriously in high school. He would introduce mi to my other brothers Kevin Jerome & PILLA later in highschool. Around this time, RayClev, Kev & micellf would be in front of the cornerstore out in Menifee shooting them cypher back & forth. We'd upload those cyphers and free verses to YouTube where they'd rip beats from as well.
So I pretty much started early managing, A&Ring & writing for hip-hop blogs (word is bond, everydejavu) as a means to add value & help my brothers RayClev, Kevin Jerome, & PILLA along w/ a whole collective of friends we grew up w/ or met along the way. We were a part of a collective called AimHigh: A Nu School Of Thought. This was when SoundCloud was still heavy in motion and folks were listening/supporting. Same with twitter, I use twitter to network and connect with other college radio personalities, artists and hip-hop journalists.
Chef Talk: Dope! Are the cyphers still on YouTube?
TeedotEinsof: There's so much to type and share that it doesn't even bring justice to everything worth sharing & noting. There's most likely a few left if I typed in the right keywords. The homie Clef doesn't rap anymore as he is heavy in his Christian faith. He removed a lot of early traces
One of the cyphers:
Recorded in mi abuela garage in Menifee:
TeedotEinsof: There truly is so much to share that I've experienced, been a part of &:cultivating that it feels like there's so much yet it's only surface means
Chef Talk: Let’s stay here for a bit. How was the experience writing for a blog? I feel like me and you had similar experiences cause one of the early chapters of Dom, I used to have a blog called Pardon The Music, highlighting indie artists.
TeedotEinsof: My experience writing for a few hip-hop blogs back in the blog era was a pretty dope experience in my early twenties. While I was writing for everydejavu & word is bond I was able to not just promote and push my friends' music. I also got to further connect with other producers and MCs to write about their singles & pieces they were working on or just about to release. I got to cultivate some dope connections with some of my favorite artists at the time. Which was low-key being led to running interviews for word is bond yet that fell through & didn't come to fruition.
TeedotEinsof: That's super dope! How long were you writing for pardon the music and what was the inspiration behind you starting your blog?!
Chef Talk: I had Pardon The Music for a couple years before I started to shift my focus to thoughts of creating a label. For me, it was the excitement of introducing new artists and showcasing their music when I had my radio show.
Chef Talk: When did you realize that you needed to shift your focus to a label?
TeedotEinsof: I grew up with a lot of gifted artists around mi when I moved to Menifee after my parents split up. So it wasn't a means of focusing on labels more so just introducing a bunch of friends/loved ones I've met through school and moving cities. AimHigh: A Nu School Of Thought was just a group of friends that was in my abuela garage recording an off garage band, ripping beats off youTube on some jacking for beats shit or seeing what beats our producer hohmies had. This was way before I was making any music. This all ties into what I was doing before producing. From the age of 15/16 on I was managing AnRing, running a collective, writing for blogs, connecting to college radio & with artists.
I never came to that realization cause I started my journey making beats/producing at the age of 25. I wasn't thinking of a label or anything. I just wanted to finally choose myself after years of putting myself on the back burner and watching opportunities fall through the cracks. So I went to medical school as that's what my dad and brother advised and I used the financial aid money to invest into my music setup. What launched that final push was winning a TR-8 drum machine from low end theory festival in 2015
I was an early engineer as well before I even knew what the fuck I was doing. I was just setting up the mic in the garage, hitting the record button on the garage band & exporting the files for one of our homies to attempt to mix. It was a lot of having fun and figuring it out as we go
I was surrounded by amazing artists that were my friends so that was my biggest means of influence writing for those blogs and connecting with college radio was to spotlight my brothas RayClev, Kevin Jerome, PILLA, Scott Xylo, Dex Amora, etc
Chef Talk: All of these moments lead you here. Talk about you as a producer. How was that journey?
What helped shape your sound?
TeedotEinsof: One's journey into production happened when I won the Roland TR-8 drum machine from the festival they threw in 2015ish. Before leading up to that significant moment of one's life, I was always curious and wanting to make beats. My homies around mi always encouraged mi yet I was mad timid choosing micellf through those seasons of life. Winning the TR-8 that day along w/ Dan from Roland getting the drum machine signed by the likes of Ras G, SamIYam, FlyLo, GLK, etc felt like it was a divine intervention from the most high. The following year of 2016 when I ended up going to medical school at the suggestion of my pops and my older brother, I used my financial aid to purchase my first music equipment. I bought my ASUS laptop, one KRK monitor, focusrite interface & an akai 25 key mini midi keyboard to get things flowing.
What helped shape my sound was early childhood days being put to sleep by my mom's to the Art Laboe show or weekend cleaning the house to Janet Jackson, Sade, Chaka Khan, Marvin Gaye, etc. While all this was going on inside out in the garage my dad worked in as a mechanic he would be playing black Sabbath, pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana. Growing up it was my older brother Eddie and my cousin Johnny who really expanded my taste and introduction to hip-hop. Putting mi onto the likes of Tupac, big l, too short, nas, biggie, mobb deep. As I was growing and time was moving as well my cousin Johnny put mi on to the likes of Blu & Exile, Fashawn, Cool Calm Pete, Digable Planets, ATCQ, little brother. As I did my due diligence and grew up and studied more of the culture and the production aspect I started come into the names of Madlib, Dilla, KanKick, Grap Luva, Shabazz Palaces which led mi to start going to Low End Theory & Beat Cinema before I was of age due to having my older brother take me. That's when my fascination & influence for production/beats really moves through the names of seeing Dibia$e, RAS G, Mndsgn, Mono / Poly, SamIYam, Linafornia rock live beat sets off their machines. The whole melting pot of one's childhood into adolescence and the environments & beat makers I was around truly helped shape my own unique sound
Chef Talk: Wow. All of these moments and people helped shape you and prepare for your next chapter.
Tell me the moment when you had the idea for A Love Supreme?
TeedotEinsof: Yea man it's been a mad interesting journey to say the least. Everything in contact directly or indirectly definitely played a heavy part g.
It actually transpired when brotha BurnTheTopiary hit mi up after a twitch stream of organic beat sessions ran that was being curated by Matt E. J for Pharcyde TV. Shouts out brotha Matt and the whole OBS loved ones. From the means of BTT hitting mi up, he was wondering if one would be interested in throwing beat shows at the warehouse that his wonderful wife and himself was running their warehouse certification business out of. So from there I would say the idea started to come together from that convo & mentioning putting together a good team of folks that would be committed to the opportunity & wanting him to be a part.
That was around the summer of 2022.
Chef Talk: Alignment at its finest. S/O to Matt too, I met him at sunofthesol’s album listening event a couple years back. Who is officially a part of ALS?
TeedotEinsof: Shouts out to Matt for reals. A real dope spirit. He's a part of the FABC LA chapter as well! He brought mi onto OBS to assist with curation of line ups and to help DJ their Wednesday night slot on Pharcyde TV.
Chef Talk: Yea he's the one that helped Solito find the space and run live sound for his album listening event. That's the evening I believe I first met you.
TeedotEinsof: A Love Supreme started out as; BLKGod9, Ya Boy Pax, BurnTheTopiary, Jetlag Trav, WhoKnws, thxk_u & micellf/teedotEinsof when we first started July 30th 2022. Brotha Whoknws ended up stepping away due to life means & we added brotha Zalente ( who kept showing up & was interested in being a part due to our friendship/brotherhood that was being built) & brotha Zlorngler ( who kept showing up, rocking the open aux & assisting us with the visuals we'd run from our projector) all within the first few months.
Since the early additions in our early years we've added our brothas Dom Cruz, Jonathan UniteUs, Theodis Soul, Roberto, Kevin Jerome, Nopal who bring more value through each one's gift as an artist yet even more through the spirit they carry! We got mad affiliates, shouts out to all our Love Ones that rock with us!!
Fuck I forgot brotha Splashious!!! Damn you tee. Brotha Splashious is a huge part of ALS as well. Not just from the audio side and being a great spirit himself yet he was/is doing all our fliers for all the ALS events of amazing artists we've curated in the last 4 years
Chef Talk: Beautiful G. ALS recently celebrated their 4 year anniversary. How was it?
TeedotEinsof: Yea man, we celebrated our 4 year anniversary of a love supreme being created August 1st of 2026. We started it at the end of July of 2022.
The celebration was amazing! So much love & joy was circulating throughout that mug. It was lovely to observe what has been built in the last 4 years with everything we've cultivated and been a part of. We threw our 4 year anniversary in my back yard at the nu habitat I just moved into last year. We ended up grilling some asada and pollo for tacos & the hohmie Bxbby Suave of Plane Jain Records came through to vend his Ceviche (word to his business Estilo Suavecito. He caters/vends ceviche throughout LA). The family Nopal & mi little brother brought their video game systems as we projected onto the wall.
We had some Love Ones from out of state come through to rock with us in; brothas WigFlippa, Producer Trent Taylor, WeirdDough, Fredman, QNoRapName along w/ our Love Ones Phantom Thrett, Xpompa, BurgersNBeats, Low-key & The BurgersNBeats Collective.
It was such a memorable celebration and a huge reminder of the kind of spaces we INjoy cultivating & folks INjoy being around.
Chef Talk: Describe ALS in three words?
TeedotEinsof: If I could describe ALS in 3 words they would be;
Motley (just learned today), MultiFaceted, Refreshing
Chef Talk: What are you currently cooking up? Is there a particular project or medium you’re most excited about right now?
TeedotEinsof: Right now, I currently have seeds in a lot of places as that's a low-key reflection of how mi mind works. So there's ProLyfe, a duo between brotha Jay Hill & micellf. We got some tings releasing and cooked up at the same time. We shot some shit while I was out visiting Cincinnati last month. The first installment of dotXylo is coming out soon & we are working on dotXylo 2 while he is visiting me in Cali from England. It's always exciting working with mi brotha as I've known him for more than a decade before I was even making beats. When brotha BLKGod gets back hOHM we are finishing up some reSONance 2 to hopefully have for y'all next year which is always exciting. Anytime brotha BLK and micellf create I feel like we just are in our own orbit. I am also gonna be working on PILLA which is the follow up EP to PAUL that I cultivated to honor mi brotha who passed away in 2017. The SDR x ALS mixtape joint we've low-key been tossing ideas about is mad exciting.
Being able to A&R both of our teams with brotha Wig is gonna be a fly time and some lovely music. Definitely gonna get into cultivating the next ALS EP with the family & I know we want to further involve our loved ones and build off the love off the last EP. Brotha BLK & micellf got a few BlkEinsof produced joints on our brotha Dom Cruz's Good upcoming LP Good Mourning Dystopia.
Like I mentioned earlier there's always seeds being planted with the information circulating around mi so I am subconsciously always anticipating and trusting in what the most high has in store for mi upon this journey as well.
I feel like it's also the season for a nu teedotEinsof EP. The last time I dropped individual pieces was in 2021 with Ether~Net & Emet.The Forest From The Tree w/ Blue Alley Records.
Chef Talk: Yessir! I'm definitely looking forward to 2027! We got some dope shit for the music scene.
What’s something you want to accomplish with your music that you haven’t done yet?
TeedotEinsof: Facts, there's so much continual warmth upon the horizon in 2027 man. I am mad excited to see what the whole SDR as well as all the loved ones I get to be surrounded by cultivate & share with everyone in the coming year.
That's a good question, mi g. To be honest with you I don't really put much thought into it as I feel like I am always creating with mi love ones & making so much dope music & in a sense accomplishing so much that I haven't quite put any thought into it. opportunities be presenting itcellf or an idea be popping up in those odd type moments is how a lot of tings have transpired in mi life hahahaha As I sat with this question a few tings came to mind; one, was getting back to learning & evolving in playing the keys (as that's where i started, per say) to be able to further explore & add to the beats/arrangement. Two, getting music I create or I created with the family pressed into vinyl. A third would be, scoring an anime or video game & sync licensing. That has always been something I've been curious about & would be ill to accomplish & to share with mi moms. She likes that kind of stuff hahaha
Chef Talk: Def claiming it for you G. Now it's time for the Che's Special, the first answer that comes to mind.
Chef Talk: Favorite record to sample?
TeedotEinsof: Blue & Green by Miles Davis or Everybody Loves The Sunshine Roy Ayers.
(To be honest anything jazz or has mad space. I just be throwing records on and chopping, I don't have a favorite record to sample).
Chef Talk: Coffee or tea?
TeedotEinsof: Tea (chamomile mint or jasmine)
Chef Talk: Morning sessions or late nights?
TeedotEinsof: it doesn't matter, I just create. As long as I got mi herb.
Chef Talk: Favorite city for music?
TeedotEinsof: Los Angeles for its rich history with jazz, Memphis due to family history I was accepted into. My grandpops played the drums for Al Green or Cincy for their rich history in funk
Chef Talk: One piece of gear you’d never sell?
TeedotEinsof: My laptop hahahaha outside of that, mi SP 404sx
Chef Talk: Dream collaboration?
TeedotEinsof: Dream Collaboration overall would be John Coltrane (R.I.P) Madlib outside of that!
Chef Talk: Favorite meal while creating?
TeedotEinsof: Herb, I am just smoking. If I had to pick a meal some fire coconut chicken curry w/ rice or anything Mexican or Caribbean
Chef Talk: What’s the one record you’d save in a fire?
TeedotEinsof: John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" or Miles Davis "Bitches Brew"
Chef Talk: Favorite record in your collection?
TeedotEinsof: Yesterday's Nu Quintet/ Madlib's Uno Esta
Chef Talk: Favorite producer of all time?
TeedotEinsof: Madlib
Chef Talk: Vinyl or digital?
TeedotEinsof: Vinyl
Chef Talk: One artist everyone should be listening to right now?
TeedotEinsof: Outside Of Sunday Dinner Records, A Love Supreme & All The Love Ones, I would say for an MC; Radamiz. For a producer; Reginald Omar Mamode. Overall musician: Wardolphin. Who everyone should know
Chef Talk: Favorite place to dig for records?
TeedotEinsof: That's a great question, I don't have a favorite space. Wherever the universe takes mi.
Chef Talk: What’s always playing in your kitchen?
TeedotEinsof: What's usually playing in the kitchen when one cooks is the tings one grew up on from mi moms & abuela; blood stones, temptations, Marvin Gaye, Chaka Khan, Janet Jackson, Sade, etc unless I am just playing beats or West Coast music I grew up on.
Chef Talk: What’s the secret ingredient to your sound? 👨🏾🍳
TeedotEinsof: The transmutation of hueman emotions & getting folks to feel the depths of cellf! A woman astrologer did a reading upon mi chart awhile back & mentioned that mi inner placements being a means that connects sound and the cosmos.
Chef Talk: Blue and Green is my fav Miles album. Dope G. Before we go, anything you want to say or share with the people?
TeedotEinsof: I just want to say Thank YOU. Thank YOU to The Most High for all tings, Thank YOU to mi family for the responsibility & love, Thank YOU to all mi Love Ones I've met along & got to really connect w/ upon this wild journey for their trust & support, Thank YOU to any & everyone who has took the time to share some space & time with mi music. Thank YOU Domo for this opportunity to share some information G.
I'll leave w/ some sentiments I've come across through ones studies that I connected together for another angle of view point.
"Beauty Is In The Eyes Of The Beholder, The Same Eyes That Windows Your Spirit. So What Beauty "You See(k)" Is Right Out Your Window"
FOLLOW / SUPPORT / SHOW LOVE
TeedotEinsof
ALOVESUPREME