Spotlight: YASSiN & Terrio on Chemistry, Creativity, and What Comes Next

When two artists find a rhythm that feels effortless, you can hear it long before you see it. In Spotlight: YASSiN & Terrio, we sit down with the duo to talk about how their creative partnership came together, what inspires their sound, and how they balance individuality with collaboration. The conversation moves through their writing process, the moments that shaped their journey so far, and the direction they see their music heading next. It is an honest look at two artists building something meaningful side by side.

“Right Here Right Now” feels like a pause-and-breathe moment in motion. How does this song reflect the space you’re in mentally as artists right now?

Sean: Yes, that’s definitely part of the soul of this track. I think it serves as a reminder to anyone who has found themselves caught in the future or stuck in the past, when we know we are likely going to be our best selves if we are here in this moment, now. Whatever your vocation or purpose is, taking a moment to see where you are, where you’ve come from and hopefully where you’re heading, can be the thing that helps ground you and get your motivational engine going again.

This release marks your first collaboration together and your first step into country. Why did this song feel like the right bridge into that genre?

Sean: We haven’t been too far from the town of “country-sounds”, often just a couple miles up the musical freeway, and we’ve known Charissa for a number of years (and how incredible she is). Accordingly, we knew we could jump in with both feet and land confidently in the realm of country and that Charissa was the artist to do it with.

There’s a strong sense of stillness and momentum coexisting in the track — the moment before a leap of faith. How do you personally navigate those moments in your real lives?

Yassin: This is a deep one! Haha. I feel like I deal with the intensity of momentum by finding stillness and I feel like I use stillness to process all the momentum. Sean and I have been at it for more than a few years now, and it is very easy to lose track of moments with blinders on. We aren’t perfect at taking it all in, but honestly its writing songs like these that remind us to enjoy every second.

Collaborating with Charissa introduced a new emotional and sonic texture. What did her presence unlock in the writing and performance of this song that wouldn’t have existed otherwise?

Sean: First of all, it has been a real treat working with Charissa on this tune. She has a real mastery of her voice and knows her own vibe extremely well. When you’re working with someone like her, you feel a real sense of, “Oh, we gotta bring our A-game to match her”. In terms of creating the song, it felt pretty darn seamless. Charissa’s voice and mine are very different in some ways but do contrast each other quite nicely, so finding the key and tone was easy. The words came to us as we just talked about the song and the things we wanted to say, maybe some issue in our own lives or how we’ve been navigating certain milestones. I think it’s good to, in some way, open your world to others, because you never know what insight you’ve been missing or what perspective you had not yet considered.

You’ve always been genre-fluid, but this feels more intentional than experimental. How has your relationship with genre changed over time?

Sean: Totally. I think our genre-crossing tendencies were more a product of “just doin the thing” the way we like it and less of a concerted effort to blend sounds. But fast forward to working with someone like Charissa, who has deep roots in the country world, we were pretty stoked to allow that country sound to come through as easily as it did. For the YST gang, I think we’re pretty psyched to do more of these types of songs and continue making music the way we have, however people want to classify it. It doesn’t bother us much if folks say we’re one sound/genre or another, or we have a lack of definition; we’re just happy to be here.

The phrase “Right Here Right Now” feels like a philosophy, not just a lyric. How important is presence as a concept in your creative process?

Yassin: Great question, presence is everything. It’s something Sean and I take a lot of time/effort/space to get in. Every single song we’ve written that has ever felt like pure magic, has come from us being perfectly in the moment. I also strongly feel to really connect to any emotion you need to write a song, being in the moment is crucial.

With a full album coming in Summer 2026, how are you thinking about cohesion — emotionally, sonically, and thematically — across the project?

Yassin: It is wild to think our second record is ALMOST at the finish line! Sonically, I think it’s perfectly YST. Which means it has a little bit of this, and a little bit of that when it comes to genre and vibe. The theme of this album is learning & applying what we’ve learned to every aspect of our lives. Although, I think every song we have, has a little bit of hope in it, this album feels like hope and our joint dreams are at the forefront of what we’ve written about here.

You’ve built massive digital momentum, but also strong real-world community impact through charity shows and live events. How do you balance digital growth with grounded, human connection?

Yassin: Honestly, I don’t know! At the end of the day it’s all human connection to us. Yeah the online following has grown like crazy, but our hope is that it allows us to create a deeper connection to our fans. I think all we can do is be ourselves and continue to do what we love. Everyone who has connected with us because of those things have brought us so much joy, and we’ll try to do the same for them.

At this stage in your journey, what feels more important: growth or alignment?

Yassin: I don’t think you can really have much growth if your vision isn’t aligned. But I would say our focus more than ever is growth this year. The more we grow, the longer we’re able to make music, and create! That’s what it’s all about.

What kind of emotional space do you want listeners to enter when they press play on this next era of music?

Yassin: This next era is for any who feel like they’re at a crossroads in life, anyone who has been hit with insecurity and unsureness while trying to achieve something. That’s where we’ve been while making this thing, and with each song written we have felt a bit lighter.

As artists who’ve built something organically, how do you protect authenticity while still scaling your reach and platform?

Yassin: We’ve been lucky because the moment we decided to be authentic and to do something we find funny/good online, is when things started really scaling for us. Now that we have that following, it’s been a challenge to step out into new things that maybe our fanbase hasn’t seen of us yet. The algorithm just pushes what it knows works, which can stunt creativity pretty easily…It definitely has with us once or twice. But it’s our intention this year, to keep social media fun, and to do that, we’re just going to keep trying new things we like no matter if it has a million views or a couple hundred.

If this upcoming album represents a new chapter, what do you hope is different about how people experience your music compared to previous releases?

Yassin: This album feels very different from the first to us. “Just Try” was written in my parents basement with no expectations at all for us. It was also written as I was falling in love with my now wife! Album 2 is deeply personal about how difficult life can be, and how unsure you can feel even when things are going well. It’s a little more serious, a little more honest, and yeah there are some bangers on there, but we hope the songs like this latest single really connect and help people going through some stuff!

Spotlight: YASSiN & Terrio is about the bond they share and the art that comes from that bond

Check out Right Here Right Now….right now!

Stay updated here

Hidden Beats