Artist Profile: Vicious Teknique
On October 25, 2025, something happened that hasn’t been seen since February 1990. After NBA YoungBoy’s “Shot Callin’” fell to #44 in the Billboard charts, no Hip-Hop songs or artists were recorded in the Top 40.
To give our readers a mental image of how long ago February of 1990 was, Biz Markie’s “Just A Friend” was the song that started Hip Hop’s 35-year chart run. “Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice, the first Rap song to top the Billboard 100, would not be released until August that year.
Perhaps it is time for some new Rap talent to emerge and revitalize the genre. While it is not easy to top the charts, we want to introduce a talent who is a veteran in the Hip Hop culture, but not old enough to have lost his edge; introducing Vicious Teknique.
Vicious Teknique’s Hip Hop journey began at the age of twelve, when he made a rap about his middle-school baseball team that became popular with his teammates. He continued to refine his skills and by age 16, was a known name in the battle-rapping scene of his native Miami, Florida. Just as he was vicious on the mic, he was vicious with books too; he graduated from the University of Florida in 2016 with Bachelor’s of Science in BioEngineering and 2018 from Florida Atlantic University with a Master’s in Ocean Engineering.
Nonetheless, his passion for Hip Hop culture continued to flourish while at school. He became a part of UF’s Hip Hop collective, which gave him important connections and an outlet to pursue his music and visual arts.
“Designer Murder,” a hard-hitting, society questioning single, became Vicious Teknique’s first viral hit with nearly 300k streams on Spotify as of the present. The following year would bring even more success: while the general public was locked away in their homes during 2020, Vicious cooked up a number of successful singles that defined his career: Timeless, Ascension, Try Again, Hidden Mirror, Next Level, No Place to Meet, and every entry in the “American Paradox” Series (Poison Candy, Rather Die, Gold Lining, and King to a God) all became smash successes that gave vitality and excitement to a dreary time.
A mixture of old-school and new-school influences inspired his sound. His crisp vocal delivery, hard-hitting lyrical content, and even the “Vicious Teknique” moniker” should be relatable to fans of Immortal Technique and 2Pac, two hard-hitting greats who never shied from fighting for what they believed in. Vicious’ sound, low on traditional sampling and heavy on lower-end drum machine frequencies–is very reminiscent of Kendrick Lamar’s minimalistic but hard-hitting back beats and fellow Southern Rapper, Curren$y. Vicious’ wide range of musical influences and respect for both classics, as well as more modern efforts has allowed him to cultivate a sound that is all his own.
In 2025, Vicious released two new singles: “Play” in January, and “Paywall” in July. He also recently dropped a remastered version of his 2021 effort “Never Enough,” and has a new release “Have U Heard U” slated for November 28. You can find him on Spotify, Instagram, or Soundcloud profile. To support artists like him, be sure to check out our Conundrum Nation Radio playlist on Spotify.