10ille

Chuck Inglish of the Cool Kids has long maintained a side hustle selling beats, but with this EP by Bronx-to-Chicago transplant 10ille—hard on the heels of the long-awaited and well-received debut Cool Kids long-player—he steps into an executive-producer role and takes aim at crossover appeal. His collaborator here is a pop R&B chick with a taste for hip-hop and dancehall and a lilting, round-the-way-girl coo that bears the influence of both genres—all in all, 10ille sounds something like an Americanized Lily Allen. The tight backbeat and hooky retro soul guitars on the opening track, "Love Shot," seem intended to set up Amy Winehouse comparisons as well, which she doesn't quite have the vocal chops to live up to. A better match is "Heart Eraser"—she slinks around its 80s-inflected electro-funk beat with the assurance of an Aqua Netted freestyle princess. - The Chicago Reader

Currently based in Chicago but repping her native Bronx something heavy, Tennille (also known as 10ille and not to be confused with this Tennille) is definitely an artist to watch. It’s only occasionally explicit in her music, but she’s definitely got that island girl style. Candy Jams, a new five-song EP, sounds kind of like what you might imagine something called Candy Jams to be. Chuck Inglish of the Cool Kids handles most of the production, giving tracks like “Heart Eraser” and “Snake Eyes” an atmospheric, mid-’80s synth feel (Loose Ends comes to mind, if you’re looking for a reference point) that follows the direction of “Party Heart,” his contribution to Rick Ross’ recent Rich Forever mixtape. Sample those two below, download the whole EP here, and definitely look out for more from 10ille over here. - largeup.okayplayer.com

Tennille is dope. The BX-bred songstress, affiliated with the Cool Kids camp, has recently blossomed with a fly, distinct style that I can honestly say I haven’t peeped anywhere else in my searches for dope music. Her voice is smooth and her subject matter is current and real as shit. Case and point with ‘Yellow Haze‘ – featuring Sir Michael Rocks and a bunch of greenery. Shouts to Ken Koller and Mike Waxx for the camerawork. Sometimes you just gotta light it up to take the pain away! Partake!

DROPPED BY $ - BlindIforthekids

The lovely 10iller is dropping a project in conjunction with FSD entitled, I Moved To Chicago For A Lil While, where she’ll be doing her thing over all original Chicago production. She’ll be doing joints with some of the best in the Chi, so stay tuned for that. This is the first leak, and she takes it out west with Fatboi and Luter. Enjoy and keep your eyes peeled from more from Tennille. - Fakeshoredrive.com

Man, so much good music today. First leak off 10ille and Chuck Inglish’s new mixtape Candy Jams which is on the way in probably a couple hours. This song is too sick to get overlooked though, so check it out now. 10ille is one of the artists we’re most looking forward to working with this year. - illroots.com

SWITCHING ON THE SKYPE CAM AND HAVING THREE FACES LAUGHING AT YOU ALL HIGH IN A HOTEL ROOM IN AUSTIN, TEXAS DURING SXSW, IS ONE PROMISING BEGINNING FOR A GREAT INTERVIEW. NICE LITTLE SURPRISE INCLUDED WAS THAT ONE OF THOSE FACES IS A GOOD OLD FRIEND OF MINE FROM NEW YORK. SIGH. YES, WHEN YOUR WORLD GETS SMALLER, YOU KNOW YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT. LIKE THIS INTERVIEW WITH THIS JAMAICAN/INDIAN BRONX-NATIVE COOL CHICK NAMED 10ILLE A.K.A. 10ILLER „ILLER THAN MALARIA“ IN WHICH WE DISCUSS THE PROCESS OF BECOMING A SOMEBODY IN THIS DIGITAL WORLD FULL OF „SOMEBODIES“ – PERSONALLY I BELIEVE, IF YOU ARE A BLUNT SMOKING, 40OZ DRINKING, DOWN-TO-RIDE CHICK THAT STUDIED MUSIC AND ART AND PLAYS THE BASS CLARINET, THERE CAN NOT BE TOO MANY BURDENS FOR YOU IN THIS INDUSTRY.
TURF: HIGHBRIDGE, SOUTH-BRONX
STYLE: SOULFUL
OCCUPATION: SINGER/RAPPER
WORLDWIDEWEB: http://10iller.bandcamp.com
*TRANSITION*
10ille: I have been studying music since I was 11 years old. Meaning I actually studied it with a teacher and all, so making music is nothing new to me. Making my own music is something totally new.
I have been singing backup for The Cool Kids, I went on tour with them and the transition there was more like me observing how they changed, how their music changed. Now, I am touring alone and this transition is exhausting, it is a lot of work but it is a lot of fun, it is interesting to see people being interested in my thoughts.
*WAYS TO SUCCEED*
10ille: Oh man… being consistent. Somebody once told me, take your brand, write down like this is who I want to be, this is who I am and how I want to deliver my message. I knew it was going to be a stormy ride so I know it is key to stay afloat. There are a lot of people out there that I have to compete with and they will switch their shit up for a tiny bit of success or fame so I will stay true to what I do and stay inspired, stay hungry. I approach shit like it is the first time I do it. Each time.
*DICKRIDERS*
10ille: (a sassy, raucous giggle follows) I think dickriders feel great! A lot of times I see things that I thought or wrote about a long time ago and I go damn… that’s kind of my shit but then again I ain’t done shit that someone didn’t do before already. There ain’t shit new out there. No thoughts in my head haven’t been thought before so fuck it. Every time I see somebody dickriding me I stay chill. I cannot get mad because others get inspired by my shit.
Dickriders are straight flattery and the way I outsmart them is through getting better musically, looking better, and improving on the visuals, stay working hard. People who get mad at dickriders are not clever enough to fucking understand that they are getting dickrided. When I get dickrided, I take the compliment but in my head I’m like, I’m on to the next shit, you ain’t know that though.
*INDEPENDANT VS. LABEL*
10ille: Independent all the fucking way! I never had a stylist or a vocal coach, I write my own music, Chuck Inglish produced a lot of my beats. I am in a do-it-yourself-atmosphere, I have friends who shoot videos for me, who manage me, who help me promote – a label seems completely purposeless to me. I don’t need to be set up by a label and be put into someone else’s idea. I do not need you motherfuckers. I mean, you can give me some money for my own ideas but that’s about it.
Creative control is mine, though. My brand is too important to me; I refuse to sit down with a label team who is going to push me into some commercial concept.
*EXPIRATION DATE – ARE YOU A TREND SENSATION OR DO YOU HAVE LONGEVITY*
10ille: I don’t follow too many audio trends. I studied music and art. I do not fuck with what is “hot“ right now or whatever. I have my own ideas about sound. So, as far as being new and being a trend, I can say that I don’t fuck with that. I put a lot of work and time into my music, even if it doesn’t always sound like that all the time. I put a lot of sincere emotions in my shit and that calls for a lot.
The quality may not be like, let’s say, „The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill“ which is a timeless piece of art; but to me, my feelings are what I wrote down just like she did. I do not have a thought process like, let me put so and so on the hook and I am going to sing about this, that and the third. Nah, man. Longevity over trend all day. If people think my music is some trend type shit, then that is too bad for them. It just means you didn’t get it.
*FRIENDS TURNED BUSINESS PARTNERS*
10ille: Always. Everyone I work with are people I been hanging out with. It is the only way to go. We recognize the potential in each other, we make shit happen together. We grew up together, have a similar upbringing. We see things eye to eye so it is a lot easier to make progress.
*FEMALE IN THE GAME*
10ille: I never looked at myself as a new female in the game, I don’t try to look fancy and if I ever had to put myself in a category it would be “RESPECTED“. You feel me? When I meet girls and guys in the business, I introduce myself as an artist. I don’t want people to be like oh, she is good for a female – I want them to go, damn she is tight and just so happens to be female.
A lot of girls use their vagina’s as excuses to not make shit as tight as they could, like they get away with too much because they look cute or some shit. I want to make sure I’m neck to neck with these dudes so everybody can respect me. I want to be viewed as a being in music. I am not going to respect any other woman in this business just because she is a woman. If you produce and I hear your beats but you are not as tight as my dude then I don’t fuck with it. Simple as that. People are always going to give me the girl treatment anyways but when they hear my shit it should shut them up.
*GROWING PUBLICLY*
10ille: It’s tough. Besides making music, all the other shit that comes with it, I hate dealing with it. Candy Jams is my third project and I just realized that I was naive to the fact that people will not just fuck with my music but that I will have to grow publicly also. This is something I am working on day by day. Especially growing from being the chick that’s around The Cool Kids, into my own person 10ille. I have to release a lot more videos and photos. So far I only released „Native“ and „Yellow Haze“ visually. In „Yellow Haze“ I was high as fuck though.
*INFLUENCE / HOMAGE*
10ille: Influence is the people around me. My mother is Indian Jamaican so she listened to a lot of old Ska music, Reggae, my grandfather who is a huge Frank Sinatra fan, my older brother bumped the Westcoast music, my dad put me on to Jazz and Funk. New York and everybody around me growing up. My peers, the Bronx, Uptown, a mix of what people listened to in the 90’s, what I listened to in middle school – all that together is my influence. TLC, SWV, Aaliyah and the city of New York, man.
As far as homage – I pay homage to where I am from which is the Bronx, I pay homage to Nas for the Illmatic cover that I have used for one of my covers. I mean all my projects are homage projects. I will release a project with Chicago producers only because I had moved out here for a while and got mad inspiration from it.
*ULTIMATE GOAL*
10ille: Make some money off this music shit, get a crib, and teach music. I want to provide what I learned from the fundamentals of music to other kids. I play the bass clarinet, I play piano a bit and I think it is important to also have a classic approach towards music. I want to have a garden, grow my food, and grow my weed. When I am older I hope I can travel and offer music programs for kids.
Kids need a quality understanding for music because imagine the crazy shit you could make if you get the mathematics behind music, if you can describe the length of a note and how well you could put a song together when you understand the process of the song-making. So yeah, live nice and teach kids is the ultimate goal.
(Interview by Dreea The Explorer aka Sekhmet The Black Cat) - Eve without Adam

http://www.complex.com/music/2012/02/10-new-chicago-rappers-to-watch-out-for/sir-michael-rocks-the-toothpick-clique - Complex Magazine

I was just at the studio the other day with 10ille, the Kid Daytona, and Mano. I had no idea a new mixtape was just around the corner. The Bronx Zoo is 13 new songs with production from Chuck Inglish, Michael Uzowuru, Hannibal King, Tye Hill, Like of Pac Div, Brandun Deshay, and more. This is definitely a nice pick up. - Rubyhornet.com

While 10ille isn’t crafting dope features for some of your favorite artists, she’s also creating jams of her own. Candy jams, actually. Here’s the fresh new album from Toothpick Clique mate 10ille and Cool Kid Chuck Inglish. It’s dope seeing her talent and work ethic evolve. The quick and crispy project mainly features dope production from my dude Sir Charles, but also draws assistance from Jeewiz, Polyestor, and Chuck Bein. Be on the lookout for more grooves. In the meantime, download and turn up your speakers. Enjoy your ear cavities. Tennille told me to tell y’all that. - Gowherehiphop.com