Tei Shi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tei Shi
Tei Shi on set for Blood Orange's music video "Hope" featuring Puff Daddy.
Background information
Birth name	Valerie Teicher Barbosa
Born	(1989-10-04) 4 October 1989 (age 35) Buenos Aires, Argentina
Origin	Bogotá, Colombia Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Genres	Indie pop alternative R&B art pop synth-pop
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter record producer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2013–present
Labels	Downtown Geffen
Associated acts	Blood Orange Glass Animals Shy Girls Puff Daddy

Valerie Teicher Barbosa (born October 4, 1989), known as Tei Shi, is a singer, songwriter, and record producer. She is from Colombia and Canada, and now lives in New York City.

Tei Shi started her music journey in 2013. She released her first songs and music videos that year. She also performed live for the first time at a music festival called CMJ. Her first collection of songs, an extended play (EP) called Saudade, came out in November 2013. Music critics described it as a "layered masterpiece of melodies."

In 2014, she released two more songs: "Adder(f)all" and a cover of Beyoncé's "No Angel". She also sang on a song called "Holiest" by the English band Glass Animals. Her second EP, Verde, was released in 2015.

Her first full album, Crawl Space, came out on March 31, 2017. Her second album, La Linda, followed on November 17, 2019. On July 17, 2020, Tei Shi released the EP "Die 4 Ur Love". A special deluxe version of this EP was released later that year. On June 16, 2022, Tei Shi released the song "GRIP". This was her first song released completely on her own, without a record label.

Early Life and Background

Valerie Teicher was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her parents were from Colombia. She spent her childhood in Bogotá, Colombia. Later, her family moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

She is the granddaughter of people who survived the Holocaust. She grew up following the Jewish faith. Tei Shi studied music at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. After college, she moved to New York City to pursue her music career.

Music Career Highlights

Early Songs and Saudade (2013–2014)

In the summer of 2013, Tei Shi released her first song, "M&Ms". This song was meant to be on her first EP. A magazine called Dummy Magazine said the song was "transportive and exceedingly gorgeous." A music video for "M&Ms" was also released. It was directed by Mac Boucher, who is the brother of singer Grimes.

Tei Shi performed her first live shows in the fall of 2013 at CMJ. During her performances, she uses a special technique. She records her voice live and plays it back in layers. This creates a rich, full sound.

On November 1, 2013, she released another song for her EP, called "Nevermind the End". The Fader magazine called this song "slinky." Another music writer praised her lyrics and harmonies. They said her "airy" vocals sounded great with the music.

A third song, "Nature Vs. Nurture", came out on November 5, 2013. Stereogum described it as a "cascading bedroom-R&B and future pop track." It starts with quiet layers of voices and builds up.

Tei Shi's first EP, Saudade, was released on November 12, 2013. It had six songs. She worked with her friend and producer Gianluca Buccellati on this EP. They met while studying at Berklee. The word "saudade" is Portuguese. It means a feeling of longing for someone or a happy time that is gone. The EP included her earlier songs and some new ones. Noisey magazine called it a "layered masterpiece." Saudade was later released physically in 2015.

In January 2014, Tei Shi released "Adder(f)all" from Saudade for free. She told Rolling Stone that the song was made from three different song ideas. She layered them together to create the final track.

In March 2014, she released a music video for "Nevermind the End". Also in March, she was a guest singer on the song "Holiest" by Glass Animals. She sang a duet with Dave Bayley from Glass Animals. Their voices represented different characters in the song.

In the summer of 2014, she worked with Gianluca Buccellati again. They created a cover of "No Angel" by Beyoncé. Stereogum said Tei Shi kept the song's "lovesick drift" but added "trickly little bloop-pop flourishes."

Verde EP and New Videos (2015)

Tei Shi's second EP, Verde, was released online on April 14, 2015. It was later released physically on May 5, 2015. The first song from the EP, "Bassically", came out on February 11, 2015. This song was very popular. It was streamed over seven million times on Spotify. Other artists also made remixes of it. The singer Grimes called "Bassically" "one of the best pop songs of 2050."

The music video for "Bassically" was directed by Nicolas Pesce. It was released on February 11, 2015. The video shows Tei Shi and a group of female rebels in New York City. Tei Shi said she wanted the video to look like the song sounds: "fun and empowering without taking itself too seriously."

The second song from Verde, "See Me", got a music video on August 20, 2015. It was filmed in Bogotá, Colombia, where Tei Shi grew up. She said filming there was a mix of "the familiar and the new."

"Get It", the third and final song from Verde, had its music video released on December 8, 2015. The video uses footage of Saturn from NASA's Cassini mission as a background for Tei Shi.

Crawl Space Album (2017)

In 2015 and 2016, Tei Shi performed at big music festivals. These included Electric Forest and Coachella. She also opened shows for other musicians like Years & Years, Jungle, and Grimes. During this time, she started working on her first full album, Crawl Space. She also signed a new record deal with Downtown Records.

Tei Shi's first album, Crawl Space, was released on March 31, 2017. The album's title comes from a "crawl space" she used as a child. She went there to face her fear of the dark.

On January 27, 2017, the first song from Crawl Space, "Keep Running", was released. It came with a music video. The songs "How Far" and "Justify" were also released before the album. "Say You Do" was the fourth song released from the album. It had remixes and an official music video.

La Linda Album (2019)

On June 5, 2019, Tei Shi showed a new song, "A Kiss Goodbye", on Instagram. The next day, the full song was released online. It came with a lyric video. This was the first song from her second album. Pitchfork described the song as inspired by Bossa nova music. They noted that Tei Shi "seems to have fully stepped into her own." On July 16, Tei Shi announced the second song from the album, "Red Light". It was released on July 18.

On September 24, Tei Shi announced the third song, "Even If It Hurts". This song featured Blood Orange. This was their second time working together. Their first collaboration was on the song "Hope" from Blood Orange's album ... Swan. "Even If It Hurts" was released on September 27. On the same day, a music video for the song premiered on Tei Shi's YouTube channel. It was filmed at Untermyer Park in New York.

Also on September 27, Tei Shi officially announced her second album's title and songs. The album was called "La Linda". She said the album was inspired by her move from New York to Los Angeles.

The fourth song from the album, "Alone in the Universe", was released on October 25. It came with a homemade music video. The video showed Tei Shi dancing against a starry background.

Tei Shi's second album, La Linda, was released on November 15, 2019.

Die 4 Ur Love EP (2020)

In December 2019, Tei Shi was announced as the opening act for Blood Orange's 2020 North American tour. However, the tour was canceled after only two shows. This was due to the growing COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

On May 7, 2020, Tei Shi released the first song from her new EP, also called "Die 4 Ur Love". This was her first release after leaving her previous record label, Downtown Records. Paper magazine described the song as synthpop-inspired. Tei Shi said the song has a darker and more direct sound, similar to her first album, Crawl Space.

The second song from the EP, "Goodbye", was released on June 26, 2020. It also included details about the EP's title and release date. "Goodbye" was partly written about Tei Shi leaving her old record label.

The full EP, Die 4 Ur Love, was released on July 17, 2020. Tei Shi wrote the EP in just six days. She was on a writing trip in El Paso, Texas in January 2020.

On August 28, 2020, a Spanish language version of "Johnny" was released. This was the first song on the EP. A music video for the Spanish version came out in December 2020. This was the first music video for any of Tei Shi's Spanish songs. On December 11, 2020, a deluxe version of the EP was released. It included the Spanish "Johnny" and remixes of other songs from the EP.

Recent Releases (2025)

In the fall of 2024, Tei Shi recorded her fourth album, Make Believe I Make Believe. She spent one week on Vancouver Island with her collaborators Noah Beresin and Tommy English.

She released the album's first song, "Best Be Leaving", on March 5, 2025. The album's second song, "Drop Dead", came out on April 30, 2025. On June 26, 2025, she released the third song, "222", which features Loyal Lobos.

Musical Style

The Fader magazine said Tei Shi is "known for making whisper-y, slow and sensual bedroom pop." Tei Shi herself jokingly calls her music its own genre: "mermaid music."

In an interview with NY Mag, she explained that it's hard for her to put her music into one genre. She said, "it shifts and I try to make music that isn't one thing or the other."

Discography

Studio Albums

EPs

Singles

Guest Appearances

Images for kids

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  Tei Shi on set for Blood Orange's music video "Hope" featuring Puff Daddy.

See Also

• List of singer-songwriters