t-low will appear in Texas for the first time in 2026. Here is all the background information.
t-low is heading out into the wide world: The German rapper will perform at the American festival South by Southwest (SXSW) in 2026.
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It’s official
He announced on Instagram on November 12th that he was listed as an “official artist” for SXSW from March 12th to 18th, 2026 in Austin, Texas. This is his first appearance outside of German-speaking countries. Previously, t-low had played mainly in Germany, occasionally also in Austria and Switzerland.
In keeping with the festival’s 40th birthday
2026 also marks a special year for SXSW: the music festival is celebrating its 40th anniversary. According to American Rolling Stone, the festival recently announced the first wave of artists who will be performing in Texas. The 100 acts already confirmed include experimental producer DJ_Dave, Indonesian trio Grrrl Gang, Brighton’s Milo Korbenski, Mexico City’s La Texana, Brooklyn’s Hudson Freeman, Austin’s Bayonne and Indian-American rapper KOAD.
But not the end of a career
On January 1, 2025, t-low announced a longer break, possibly even the end of his career, on Instagram. The musician, whose real name is Thilo Panje, announced this decision in a live stream. “For probably a year or a year and a half now, I just haven’t enjoyed music anymore,” t-low said at the time. “It feels like a job to me and, above all, a job with a lot of pressure.”
In addition, he no longer needs making music financially: “I started making music to earn money, to live, to have money for food,” said t-low. “That was a long time ago. Now I have – no flex – enough money that I don’t have to do that anymore.”
Withdrawal just a “huge misunderstanding”
At the turn of the year, his words “I’m out” in an Instagram post caused horrified speculation that the now 24-year-old could actually leave music behind for good. But t-low was back on stage again in September 2025 – at the Unreleased Festival in Berlin. He recently described his supposed withdrawal to “Diffus” as a “huge misunderstanding”.
New album REAL MUSIC will be released on November 28th
Now the quasi-comeback is official: t-low has announced a new album for November 28, 2025. It is titled REAL MUSIC. The subsequent “Real Music Tour” will take him in January 2026 to Cologne, Munich, Hamburg and Berlin – Tickets are still available for at least the first three cities.
The singles “Don’t let me go”, “Sorry Mama” and “Geh Solo2” have already been released from the new record.
Listen to the single “Geh Solo2” here:
According to Spotify, REAL MUSIC is the ninth album by the musician, who grew up in Lägerdorf, Schleswig-Holstein. However, t-low does not consider all of the eight previous album formats to be studio albums.
Other platforms list other album productions under his name, in addition to several EPs. He made his chronological debut in 2020 with LITTY WAY. Much of his previous music was self-produced and self-published.