Spotlight Fresno: One hit-wonder, squirrel whisperer Timmy T
Plus, Fashawn teases a "mountain of music," Kevlar P.I. teases new rap collab.
The 1990s were a wild time in music, which I say after happily trailing down a rabbit hole of Timmy T videos and landing on this one from the Big Fresno Fair in 1991.
It’s a reminder of a time when pelvic thrusts were swoon-worthy and humping the ground (ala the 2:42 mark) was a legitimate dance move (though I guess it still is, huh?).
Anyway, the video shows Timmy T (Fresno’s own Timmy Torres) performing at the Paul Paul Theater to an enthusiastic, likely sold-out crowd (you can hear them singing along in the first second of the video).
He’s doing “Time After Time,” the first single on his self-produced debut album, which was released in 1990 and launched Torres into one-hit-wonder-ness.
That hit being his third single, “One More Try,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 in March of ’91, and depending on the Reddit commenter has or has not aged well.
I’ve written about the song before.
Following the timeline, Torres would have likely been riding that No. 1 high as the fair rolled around in October.
Side note: According to the video caption, Gerardo also played the Paul Paul that night, which would have made for a heck of a double-header. Gerardo has his own radio hit earlier that year with “Rico Suave.”
Now, I know all of this because Timmy T runs his social media like an archive, posting up all kinds of historical photos and videos; this photo with Donnie Wahlberg (or others with Tiffany or Chris Isaak), his interview with Regis and Kathy Lee, a side-by-side with Jim Carey’s generic ’90s singer parody, or this 1991 documentary.
Or, the time he was on Tosh.O.
Of course, these days, there’s a lot of squirrel content. Torres is self-described squirrel whisperer, which … Fresno ain’t a bad place if that’s your thing.
And yes, Timmy T still performs. He was back at the Fresno fairgrounds in May for the Yaya Music Fest and will be in Merced in July for the Freestyle Summer Bash.
Fashawn drops ‘Velour Thoughts,’ teases new album with Marc Spano
Over the weekend, we got new music from Fashawn and the promise of more to come in 2025.
“The countdown to ‘Capital,’ has officially begun family and friends,” Fashawn wrote in an Instagram post on Saturday. He teased album art for what appears to be a full-length album (dropping June 20 on Old Soul Music).
The post followed the release of the album’s second single, “Velour Thoughts,” which dropped on Friday (the first single “Ashtrays and Angels,” was released earlier this month).
“Capital,” was done in collaboration with producer Marc Spano and is a follow up to Fashawn FAX ep, which the pair released in 2023.
“I’ve been sitting on a mountain of music for a while now. I’m about to spoil my loyal fans for the rest of 2025. Me and my brother @marcspano got something heavy on the way for you all.”
New project alert: H3avy Is Th3 H3ad
Here’s one to put on the watch list.
H3avy is th3 H3ad (stylized with 3s via Sam Hansen’s logo work) is a new hip-hop trio from Kevlar P.I., BKR and Knodaledge.
I’ve written about Kevlar and BKR before. Both have done work with producer K Pizzle (who has long been one of my faves).
Knodaledge is an emcee that been around for at least a decade as one-half of the rap duo Alpha Force (along with Optimus Prime). In 2017, he released “R.E.S.P.E.C.T. is earned (Dear Chief Dyer),” as response to this video featuring the Fresno police department.
It’s an exciting prospect to see what the trio has in store.
You can hear more from Kevlar on the latest episode on the Blaze Talks podcast.
That’s it for this week. Remember you can now hear me on the Homegrown Show Sundays at 8 p.m. on New Rock 104.1 FM. Tonight I’m in studio with new music from Gazey Lacey and more. Follow my other writing at The Fresno Bee. If you have anything you think I need to be looking at or listening to, feel free to let me know: jtehee@gmail.com