Tall Tee’s New Track Is Prime for Your Summer Barbecue Playlist

If you like to two-step shuffle with a red cup in your hand, then Tall Tee might be the next addition to your spring barbecue playlist. Two Filipino American DJs-turned-vocalists, Jon “Joog” Macapinlac and Alexander “Flex” Lim, lead the funky band, which has been igniting Bay Area dance floors since emerging from their DJ collective, Cheat Day. (The duo also has a panoply of individual creative efforts, including a distribution of natural wines and chopped cheese sandwiches.)

For the past few years, the emergent group has been gaining underground traction with their playful, up-tempo rhythms that twirl with a mixture of retro boogie and smooth, player vocals. Even though they have yet to release an album — one is scheduled for later this year — Tall Tee’s niche following has patiently anticipated their full-length debut since the two homies first recorded a track together at San Francisco State University in 2018.

On April 10, they’re delivering the musical goods. The pair will host a watch party for “So Fly” — their first official single off Tall Tee’s upcoming album, which is also the first song they ever recorded together at SFSU.

“Instead of just releasing the video online, we wanted to make it more communal,” says Flex. “This is really a thank you to those who have pushed us over the years. We wanted to extend that sentiment in person to everyone who has been involved with us.”

The premiere will take place at Baba’s House — a quirky, neon-lit Asian snack shop ensconced on the second story of a historic building in downtown Oakland. In a time of digitized streaming and online clout chasing, it’s always refreshing to see any genuine efforts to build community and have fun IRL.

The track is — as the name suggests — about being fly. More importantly, it’s an ode to the sweat and grind that goes into remaining fly in the Bay Area, a place that is notoriously vibrant but expensive as hell for artists to thrive in. Flex, a lifelong San Franciscan, and Joog, a Vallejo kid, are simply trying to sustain the good vibes that they were able to simmer in during the hyphy movement, when tall tees could be copped at any Bay Area liquor store worth its malt.  

“There’s effort and hustle to look fly,” Flex says. “We wanted to be the antithesis of a tuxedo, and what’s more opposite than a tall tee?”

Tall Tee premiere their debut music video in person at Baba’s House (410 15th St, Oakland) on April 10 at 8:30 p.m. The event includes a photo booth by Good Mother Gallery and DJ set by Jon Reyes. Tall Tee’s ‘So Fly’ video will be available to watch online on April 15.