ImROYALTEE - NICKI Challenge

Biography

Royal Tee also known as Tabyas is an actor, independent recording artist, and YouTuber. Tee hails from Brooklyn, New York where he was raised by his mother and still supported by his father from North Carolina. Growing up Jones’ musical influences grew from big names such as Nicki Minaj, Missy Elliott, Lil’ Mama, TLC and rising star Doja Cat. To keep his following engaged between music releases, Tee does “Get Ready with Me” videos on TikTok and Instagram Reels as his followers really gravitate to his fashion sense. Recently reaching over 100k views on this “GRWM” content you could admit the boy has style! If you could make a fashion smoothie for Tee it would be laced with dope aesthetics from the 80s, the colorful taste of the 90s and the alternative feel of the millennium. In addition to his social media activity, he keeps the audience engaged by dropping remixes on platforms such as SoundCloud and Audiomack with over 70,000 plays between the two platforms.

In 2007 Tee’s interest in music began when he was a part of the neighborhood after school program Groundwork Inc. where he had the task to write a rap over a Hip-Hop instrumental during a music class. Growing up in such a rough neighborhood it was difficult to find his voice without to falling victim to East New York’s violent surroundings. During his time in Groundwork, he found rapping as an outlet to find his voice. Continuing in 2009 Tee explored his musical capabilities by joining the Soul Tigers Marching Band based in Brooklyn, East New York. During his time in the neighborhood marching band, he played instruments such as the cymbals, tenor drum, and the trumpet. Tee has performed at a plethora of prestigious events under the marching band, some include, Nike’s Broadway Bowl in Times Square, an appearance on Action Bronson’s “F*ck, That’s Delicious”, Skipp Whitman’s “Famous” music video.

During Tee’s time in high school, he began to explore his interest in theatre. He participated in the technical aspects of putting on a show and later participated as an actor in the Brooklyn Theatre Arts High School’s productions. As for college, Jones spent a brief time at SUNY Oswego as a Drama student but transferred to CUNY College of Staten Island to finish his degree in Dramatic Arts.

In 2017, he released his first mixtape “.i know the timing.” under the name Royal Tee where he remixed songs of artist who influenced him such as, Nicki Minaj and her song “Freedom” as well as putting his own unofficial twist on the theme song of Disney Channel’s “That’s So Raven”. Sometime after the debut of the remixing the nostalgic theme song Tee gained the opportunity to perform on MTV’s Summer in the City in the likeness of Sky Katz (from Disney’s ‘Raven’s Home”) and comedian D.C. Young Fly. This milestone is where Tee began to take himself more seriously as a Hip-Hop artist. Two years later he released his debut single “absent” from his sophomore mixtape entitled “absent” where he explored the circumstances that made him feel depressed and absent from his reality at the time.

In 2020 as Tee overcame his depression, he released a playful single entitled “Donuts” as the world entered COVID-19 quarantine. On this track, he plays with the idea of Krispy Kreme doughnuts being a metaphor for money and craving it; matched with a quirky green-screen video shot in his bedroom. The song went on to have over 300 videos under its sound on TikTok. Since then, Royal Tee has released other feel-good tracks such as “Summer Vibe” and “Bend It Over” that make you want to show everyone what you can do on the dance floor no matter your shape or size. Currently, Tee is exploring alternative styles of Hip-Hop to incorporate them into his debut EP “Whateva, Brat” where we get to see the essence of Royal Tee come to life.