The Dallas Observer Music Awards winner has been on a well-orchestrated fast break since the start of the pandemic. Coach Tev’s uniquely soulful cadence and superb lyricism put him in box of his own, but don’t box him in. Talk To Him Nicely is a bottle of fine wine to be brought out of the cellar on nights when the lights are dim. It's a gift to be savored.
“I was definitely going for a speakeasy smooth vibe,” Coach Tev says. “I felt like I haven’t put out a project that was in that pocket as a whole before, something to ride around to on a nice day or throw on in the back of a chill billiards game in a smoky jazz club. I wanted to put the listening in that world through the production, skits and lyrically.”
There are two key components that inspired the title of album. Part of the inspiration stems from Coach Tev’s production company Nicely Done Visuals. He picked up a lot of traction for his high-quality music videos, which he and his team self-produced and shot with their own equipment.
"I’m just getting more and more confident in my craft and making sure it shows — essentially telling people they have to talk to me nice because this kid from Irving, Texas is not a kid anymore and has a decade worth of work put in.” –Coach Tev
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“Top quality, top aesthetic, top lyrics, top visuals,” Coach Tev says of the album. “ Everything we do is at a very high quality and with a sense of elegance to it.”
The other part of the title is about the rapper's awareness of self and growth.
“Talk To Him Nicely [also] stems from the idea of knowing your worth and making sure people treat you as such,” he says. “From [my previous albums] I Fell in Love With My Mistress to COTY to Black Ice and everything in between, I’m just getting more and more confident in my craft and making sure it shows — essentially telling people they have to talk to me nice because this kid from Irving, Texas is not a kid anymore and has a decade worth of work put in.”
The album was exclusively released on Coach Tev’s Bandcamp and iTunes music, and includes one bonus track while a limited number of hard copy CDs that include two bonus tracks will be available for purchase from the night of the release party at Centre.
The album boasts complimentary features and production from Electric Tongues, Blake Cris, Donny Domino, Jay Luse and Devy Stonez. The track "Egyptian Rugs" featuring Blake Cris stands out as the record that'll get people out of their seats and onto the jazz hall's tight dance floor. It's the most uptempo track on the album, just perfect for when the Dussé shots kick in.
