How Do You Sleep At Night? is the debut studio album by American rapper and singer Teezo Touchdown. It was released through RCA Records and Not Fit for Society on September 8, 2023. The album features guest appearances from Janelle Monáe, Fousheé, and Isaiah Rusk. Production was handled by brothers Justin Raisen and SadPony, Tyler Cole, Khris Riddick-Tynes, Bnyx, Brendan Grieve, Hoskins, Bolooki, Tizhimself, Roofeeo, Jose Julian de la Cruz, Solomonophonic, Dylan Neudstadter, Y2K, and Dylan Brady. How Do You Sleep At Night? is an experimental hip hop album.[1] It was supported by the singles "Familiarity" and "You Thought" featuring Janelle Monáe. The album's deluxe edition, How Do You Sleep at Night? With You, was released on January 10, 2024.[2]
| How Do You Sleep at Night? | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 8, 2023 | |||
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| Length | 39:37 | |||
| Label |
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| Producer |
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| Teezo Touchdown chronology | ||||
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| Singles from How Do You Sleep at Night? | ||||
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Background and promotion edit
In an interview with Zane Lowe of Apple Music, Teezo Touchdown shared his thoughts about the album and described its genres:
This is, as far as the sonics of what you're going to hear, I haven't said this publicly yet, but it's the sound that I'm crafting that's called rock & boom. It's R&B with the intensity of rock. It has R&B top lines. The boom, of course, for boom bap, it's the boom bap penmanship.[3]
Before the release of the album, Teezo Touchdown frequently promoted it and gave hints about it through Instagram posts and stories, and Canadian rapper and singer Drake also co-signed the album ahead of its release as he saw it as "some of the best music ever".[4]
Critical reception edit
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 56/100[5] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Clash | 8/10[6] |
| HipHopDX | 2.7/5[7] |
| NME |   [8] |
| Pitchfork | 5.3/10[9] |
| Rolling Stone | 4/10[10] |
| Slant Magazine |  [11] |
How Do You Sleep at Night? received mixed reviews from critics. It received a score of 56 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on seven critics' reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reception.[5] Writing for NME, Kyann-Sian Williams felt that "this love for dramatic highs and muted lows on this album makes the record a rollercoaster of emotions and sounds, and a polished and entertaining debut".[8]
Critics widely noted the genre-bending nature of the album, but had divided opinions on its execution: in a positive review, James Mellen of Clash described How Do You Sleep at Night? as "a brilliantly dizzying melting pot of genre and sonic identity",[6] whereas Pitchfork's Alphonse Pierre criticized the album as "a genre mash-up that isn't as offbeat as it wants to be".[9] Several critics gave negative evaluation of Teezo's songwriting, which was described as "lack[ing] specificity" by Slant's Paul Attard and as "juvenile at best" by HipHopDX's Louis Pavlakos.[11][7][9] However, Teezo's singing performances were praised even in some otherwise critical reviews: for instance, Jeff Ihaza of Rolling Stone described Teezo as a "genuinely gifted singer" with "an effective R&B register",[10] and Pitchfork's review found that Teezo's voice "slides nicely into the R&B lane".[9]
The guest appearances by Fousheé and Janelle Monáe were positively received: both singers were described as delivering strong vocal performances that juxtaposed interestingly with Teezo's.[7][10]
Track listing edit
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "OK" |
|
| 1:57 |
| 2. | "You Thought" (featuring Janelle Monáe) |
| Cole | 3:01 |
| 3. | "Uuhh" |
| Khris Riddick-Tynes | 3:29 |
| 4. | "Sweet" (featuring Fousheé) | Aa. Thomas | Bnyx | 2:12 |
| 5. | "Impossible" |
|
| 2:46 |
| 6. | "Neighborhood" |
|
| 3:27 |
| 7. | "Mood Swings" |
|
| 2:53 |
| 8. | "Too Easy" (featuring Isaiah Rusk) |
| Cole | 2:52 |
| 9. | "Familiarity" |
|
| 3:27 |
| 10. | "I Don't Think U C Me" (featuring Isaiah Rusk) |
|
| 1:43 |
| 11. | "Daddy Mama Drama" |
|
| 3:52 |
| 12. | "Nu Nay" |
| Solomonophonic | 1:46 |
| 13. | "Stranger" |
| Neustadter | 3:37 |
| 14. | "The Original Was Better" |
|
| 2:27 |
| Total length: | 39:37 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Up and Down" |
|
| 3:04 |
| 2. | "Out of Respect" |
|
| 2:35 |
| 3. | "Third Coast" |
| D-Lo the Doctor | 2:36 |
| Total length: | 47:52 | |||
Notes
- "Uuhh" is stylized in all caps.
Personnel edit
- Teezo Touchdown – vocals, vocal production
- Dale Becker – mastering
- Scott Desmarais – mixing
- Andrew Keller – engineering, vocal production (all tracks); drums (tracks 8)
- Katie Harvey – engineering assistance
- Nate Mingo – engineering assistance
- Brandon Hernandez – engineering assistance (2, 9)
References edit
- ^ Bernstein, Elaina (September 8, 2023). "Teezo Touchdown Delivers Highly Anticipated Debut Album, 'How Do You Sleep At Night?'". Hypebeast. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
- ^ https://hypebeast.com/2024/1/teezo-touchdown-how-do-you-sleep-at-night-with-you-album-announcement
- ^ White, Aaron (September 8, 2023). "Teezo Touchdown Releases Debut Album 'How Do You Sleep at Night?'". Complex. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
- ^ Aron A. (August 15, 2023). "Drake Praises Teezo Touchdown's Debut Album: "Some Of The Best Music Ever"". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
- ^ a b "How Do You Sleep at Night? by Teezo Touchdown Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
- ^ a b Mellen, James (September 11, 2023). "Teezo Touchdown – How Do You Sleep At Night?". Clash. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
- ^ a b c Pavlakos, Louis (September 7, 2023). "Teezo Touchdown Tries to Tell You He's Quirky Rather Than Show It on How Do You Sleep at Night?". HipHopDX.
- ^ a b Williams, Kyann-Sian (September 8, 2023). "Teezo Touchdown – How Do You Sleep At Night? review: avant-garde outlier strikes gold". NME. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Pierre, Alphonse (September 13, 2023). "Teezo Touchdown: How Do You Sleep at Night? Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
- ^ a b c Ihaza, Jeff (September 12, 2023). "Teezo Touchdown's Hollow Hype Machine". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
- ^ a b Attard, Paul (September 5, 2023). "Teezo Touchdown How Do You Sleep at Night? Review: All Hubris and Little Substance". Slant Magazine.