TECLA is a first-generation New York City (Hell’s kitchen) native-born of Italian and Haitian immigrants. She has gone from being a classically trained child pianist prodigy to versatile performer in hip-hop, reggae, punk-rock, electronic, & funk bands. She has toured throughout the U.S. Canada, Europe, and Asia with Chrisette Michele, Das Racist, Gordon Voidwell, Chairlift, and more.
Exploring her talents on a variety of synth keyboards she discovered and developed her own modern musical sound. TECLA is understood and known for her genre-mixing melodic compositions, danceable afro/funk/caribbean/tropical/pop production style, and boundary-breaking songwriting and rap lyricism. TECLA has been described as “the new freak Lauryn Hill”, “SWV on acid”, “the Rocktronica Black Cinderella”, “Ritchie Valens meets Pagliacci”.
It is hard to think of anything that TECLA cannot do as a pianist, composer, producer, DJ, singer, and rapper. As the most un-apologetically complicated gender-boundary-breaking female in the pop music circle today, TECLA will only continue to rise to a place where no one has gone before. Stay tuned.
NYC sonic renegade TECLA released her second full-length studio album, We Are The Lucky Ones, on March 19th via Mayimba Music. We Are The Lucky Ones is a kaleidoscopic album that evinces the spectrum of Tecla’s life and musical journey from a child piano prodigy to years singing, rapping, djing, and producing in New York’s underground. We Are The Lucky Ones’ was entirely written by Tecla. The album’s genre-defying sound infuses Tecla’s uncompromising songwriting and rap lyricism with tropical, Caribbean, pop and funk elements.
“We Are The Lucky Ones” explores the past, present, and future of music and culture. Reflecting on my past, I realize that I, in fact, am extremely lucky to have been born into a time where a biracial woman can explore her creativity and gain respect without having to sell herself short. Following in the footsteps of Josephine Baker – it is rare but it has happened in this album for me, a modern day Tragic Mulatto. I am attempting to abolish the notion of genre by exploring various sounds within this album. A woman should not be limited to simply one talent, I write, compose, produce, and sing on every song on the album.” -TECLA on her new album “We Are The Lucky Ones”
In the new single, “Money,” she tells chicks to hustle and get their money tight. The video which was shot in Jamaica, has a chill, easy-breeze Caribbean energy.
