AWAY
MAESTRO
Tangled with the symphony of rap music, rising artist TOWKIO tightens his grips as he hikes his way into reaching the top.
DRIFTING
By Therese Baluyot Photographed by Jake Osmun
W
ith well-known artists sweeping the music industry like tidal waves, starting musicians might find it hard to swim to the island of their dreams, although not for Towkio, as we might see him sailing the oceans of the industry from East to West with his diversity in producing music. Passion and love for his works are what keep Towkio going, but the hip-hop-obsessed rapper admitted that he grew up hearing soul and R&B tunes due to paternal influence. As he was getting older, he eventually got hooked into the direction he’s going right now. “My dad used to play a lot of Stevie Wonder, but I think the first hip-hop- album I listened to in full was Kanye West’s The College Dropout. Then I got obsessed. I was downloading every album and mixtape that I could find from anyone that was hot. I used to walk around with my CD player, selling mixtapes I just burned to disk,” recalls Towkio. Being a part of the Chicago hip-hop collective Savemoney, which artists such as Chance the Rapper and Vic
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