“TZ da Coronel is an artist, a singer, you know!? Born in Nova Iguaçu and raised in Cabo Frio, there in Coronel, Morro do Limão community. I started trap in 2017, at the age of 16, and managed to achieve what I always wanted, which was to live off my dream, to live off music. It’s willingness and persistence.”
The definition of who the Coronel’s TZ is is made by him. With an easy smile, but always with a serious and attentive face, Matheus de Araújo Santos, almost 23 years old, is objective in his words. That doesn’t mean he’s on the defensive all the time. As our Zoom conversation flows, TZ opens up more. Perhaps one of the places he feels most comfortable is the stage. This could be seen at the opening of the album’s tour DacoromodIt is at the iconic Circo Voador, in Rio de Janeiro, and in the explosive performance he gave at Lollapalooza Brasil’24 alongside trapper Oruam.
That one tour arrives in Europe on March 28th for 4 performances until the 30th, three in Portugal (Lisbon, Porto and Freamunde) and one in London, England. However, anyone who expects him to repeat what he already did in Brazil may be in for surprises. “I’m going to do it another way, but it won’t change much,” he says. “I’m really excited, because it’s going to be the second time I’m playing outside the country, okay!? And I really like where rap is taking me and the things I’m achieving.”
Created by rhyme battles, who became interested in participating after watching videos on YouTube, TZ had a short career in rhyme battles. freestyle for simply losing interest. However, she took advantage of her ability to rhyme improvised to create her songs in the studio. For the MC, both experiences complement each other as they produce different adrenaline. “In battle, it hits more quickly,” he observes. “But I like recording music more because I can listen to myself later, see how it’s going, I can tweak it, I can improve it further, I can polish it.” Having the ability to go back if it doesn’t go as expected helped TZ da Coronel develop a personal way of making his sounds.
When he started to have access to the recordings he had no idea of composition. Then, she asked some friends for help, but she didn’t understand. The way was to create your own technique. “There’s no way you can learn, you have to find yourself there and do it. Then I managed to find myself and put a value on it.” This exercise helped him observe everyday movements. Thus, he arrives ready with the ideas so that as soon as the beats echo through the headphones and the REC button is pressed, the lyrics appear naturally over time.
“Now I have to show who I am. So, I’m going to the studio with nothing. I hear one beat there on time and I do everything on time freestyle“, reveals. “Like, I look at things day to day, and I see something that’s cool so I can put it in music, I already record in my mind more or less what I want. People say that when you speak, your mind records better than when you think. So, I already tell myself to keep that. Then, when we’re recording, these ideas always come up.”
The artist’s authenticity, whether through his striking voice or his lyrics, which range from his experience on the dangerous streets of Rio to romance and (so-called) bitching (with more explicit lyrics), quickly led him to be recognized as one of the greats hitmakers of Brazilian trap. One example is the single “What is Your Desire?”, one of his most recent ones made in partnership with Ryu The Runner, and produced by Nagalli, which quickly reached tens of millions of plays on streaming platforms — there are almost 20 million on YouTube, and it reached the top of Top Songs Brazil and #9 position on Top Songs Portugal, both on Spotify. The most interesting thing is that this song was already a hit on TikTok before it even officially came out. Something done unpretentiously by the MCs.
“The music is expanding well, it’s expanding nicely on TikTok. Like, it’s kind of specific, these songs that pop there,” he says. “’What is Your Desire?’ I sent it to Ryu to record, he recorded it and posted a story with the end on my part and his part started saying: ‘Hey TZ, I recorded this.’ From this video on Instagram, someone took it and put it on TikTok, and it started to boom.”
Strategically, the trapper thinks that this promotion model may often not be successful because the public also likes to be surprised. But he believes that if the music is good, it will blow up anyway. “The preview strategy is cool, but I prefer the surprise mode.” He also highlights that his choice to do trap was intentional because it encompasses two genres that he likes: rap and funk. “Trap kind of has a little bit of both. So, I think it appeals to me more than traditional rap.”
Unlike the trap in Atlanta, the trap made in Brazil has its particularities (besides the language) and is often fused (and confused) with Rio funk, from the dances. Admitted fan of 21 Savage, Travis Scott, Central Cee, Russ Millions and Don Toliver, having already rhymed in beats from Fumez The Engineer, TZ believes that Brazilian trap is slowly gaining ground in the world. “Following the listeners here, the places that are listening, we are experiencing growth,” he says. “I think we’ll be getting there little by little, until the time has already expanded nicely. In terms of numbers, how is Brazil? Flying.”
Portuguese and Londoners who go to the shows will be able to get to know this Brazilian version up close with the tag “É o TZ da Coro”. It’s just not known whether all 23 tracks Dacomodode will be in setlistbecause the idea was to produce a concept album that was part of his history as an artist, performing some of his songs, accompanied by other hits.
“Bro, on this album my intention was to play a concept. I wanted this to be part of my career. A big album already built since now to get to the front and look back and say that I released an album with 23 cool tracks”.
For the sold out of tickets the first time he went to the European continent, expectations for TZ are very high, especially considering that the Portuguese public is one of those who consume his music the most abroad. “The public always responds well. I think the energy is very positive, very upward. I’m already looking forward to going up.” After the tour more surprises are planned. Unfortunately, they had to stay in Off — between artist and journalist —, however, he says he will activate jungle mode. “It’s the way of survival that we live in everyday Brazilian life, you know!? For people who don’t have a lot of conditions, a lot of opportunities, where I came from, from Coronel… things are difficult. So, when things are very difficult, we tend to call it a jungle.”
