Friday. 9.8.06 1:22 pm
It's not even a question; Trae is Houston's No.1 hip-hop draft pick at the moment. One spin of his madly enjoyable Rap-A-Lot debut, Restless, and you're convinced that this guy is in another realm. So, why have mass media outlets like BET and MTV constantly turned their backs on one of H-Town's finest? SOHH Houston caught up with the Screwed Up Click afficionado to discuss the shocking reasons behind BET's refusal to air his videos, why the original version of "Swang" never was taken off the album, and the long term implication of his stunted record sales. Swing in.
SOHH Rizoh: You're the No.1 draft out of Texas right now. Are you feeling any pressure?
Trae: Nah. I know I'll represent the city right. So, there's not any pressure.
SOHH Rizoh: "Swang" has been a huge hit for you. What really happened with the sample clearance situation?
Trae: It wasn't really so much as Michael Jackson to clear it. It was a dude named Rod Temperton or something. He just don't clear samples. He only cleared it twice -- for LL and Boyz II Men. What I did was I came back and remixed it once, my vibe wasn't there. We remixed it a second time and that was it.
SOHH Rizoh: What was the vibe in the studio when yall recorded that song?
Trae: I had it done for awhile. I was on the road a lot so I didn't have a chance to sit down and go over my songs. When I got back to town and I really started working on my album heavy; I went and got with Hawk. We were at Mike D's house. I let Hawk hear it and me being the youngest one out of the camp, he was like, "That's gonna be a good look, bro." We ended up just doing the shit. We ended up adding another verse, so there's really four verses. There's a verse that people have never heard with me that was took out. Hawk did the spot of that verse. We're just giving back to our whole culture and our whole community and city because we're heavy believers of what we rhyme for, which is screwed up click movement. We did that with giving respect to Screw and Pat. But now the song is meant for Screw, Pat, and Hawk. The song means a lot more to me now. I take the song more serious. I love Hawk like we were out of the same womb, that's my bro. There's alot of crazy stuff that happened, but you know it made me stronger.
SOHH Rizoh: A lot of people mistake you for a newcomer but you've defintely been doing your thing for a long time. Why do you think it took so long for the buzz to finally catch on?
Trae: I never used a branch, a certain way to get advanced. I made my own way. I wasn't featured on a lot of people's shit and I wasn't seen with a lot of people. I was just always doing my own thing. I ended up bringing myself to how it needed to be.
SOHH Rizoh: Let's talk about your commercial expectations for this album. What did you...
Trae: I mean, right now... With me they know I'm like a longevity artist. I don't have to sell alot of units upfront because I'm going to sell over a long period of time. if you realize all people have to do is see or hear me. Once they see or hear me, it's on. So that's the situation with me right now.
SOHH Rizoh: Speaking of that, any plans of getting a video on BET?
Trae: Man, "Swang" was the most perfect video they could have had for BET and they didn't--
.
SOHH Rizoh: They didn't like that?
Trae: They just didn't buy it. Maybe it's because I didn't [gestures with his hands as if handling money]
SOHH Rizoh: Payola?
Trae: I don't want to put there business out there like that but I'm just saying ... I don't know.
SOHH Rizoh: Any plans for a follow up video? Maybe for the...
Trae: I don't know, because I do videos out of my own pocket. So it's like I don't want to waste no more money, man. Because that "Swang" video was it. Looking at all the shit they play, it's no way in hell that that shouldn't have made it.
SOHH Rizoh: That's not the one you were talking about that you spent $25,000 on?
Trae: Nah. I was actually talking about the other video I had before that.
SOHH Rizoh: Before "Swang"?
Trae:Yeah. And the funny thing is like how they got all them ... with the ... I had .. It was like I was already ahead of them. Before they even had them Hype Williams videos with the screens, I already had double screens, live as hell.
SOHH Rizoh: What did they say was the problem?
Trae: I didn't have girls.
SOHH Rizoh: That's crazy.
Trae: Enough eye candy. That's what it was.
SOHH Rizoh: Oh really. Was this from BET or MTV?
Trae: I don't think MTV even paid us no attention. That was straight BET.
SOHH Rizoh: Now it's alot easier to rhyme about the culture or rhyme about the lifestyle. You do alittle bit of that but you don't indulge in it.
Trae: Reality is always gonna be around and never go nowhere. That's the shit I live by.
SOHH Rizoh: Changing the topic a little bit. I spoke to 'Ro [Z-Ro] before he went in. He said that after his next album he's not gonna rap anymore. I'm sure he's probably mentioned it to you. What advice did you give him?
Trae: What it is man, me and 'Ro came up together. He's my cousin. When we're not in the same enviroment, we do our own thing. Sometimes, the vibe don't always be what it we use to. So, he might feel like that.... I think when he comes home I'm gonna have him around and we gonna have him on track like it's suppose to be.
SOHH Rizoh: You're both on Rap-A-Lot, though.
Trae: I just came on Rap-A-Lot. I've been on Rap-A-Lot on street level but I just came to Rap-A-Lot on as far as rap. We're gonna be alright. Right now my main focus isn't even music, my main focus first is making sure he's alright while he gone. My little brother gone too and my brother Dinkie gone. Well, hell that's what you see on the shirt [straightens his white tee to reveal the faces of the three incarcerated family members emblazoned on it].
SOHH Rizoh: That's a lot of pressure.
Trae: Yeah. This is what I do.
SOHH Rizoh:Someone sent me this [paper] and from what I can tell, Z-Ro is supposed to be out in 2008.
Trae: Two thousand-what!!!??? He's eligible for parole in December, right?
SOHH Rizoh: That's what the paper says.
Trae: Right now...he'll be home soon. F**k what the paper says. God first. Real talk, he'll be home soon. Just remember that. It ain't gon' be in 2008.
SOHH Rizoh: Hopefully not. What exactly did he go in for anyway?
Trae: Some of that stuff is really personal, man. But, the point is they were stopped and the search didn't go right, man. My little brother is in there with him right now, too.
SOHH Rizoh: You think the cops might have been profiling him?
Trae: The cops knew what they were doing. The bad part is that it was the Black cop. The other cops weren't really trippin' but the Black part was the one that was really trippin' about it.
SOHH Rizoh: That's really messed up. Finally I want to ask you your opinion on this. It's been kinda quiet this year, I got to be honest you, as far as Houston. Other than your album and maybe Pimp's album I don't recall anybody else making a lot of noise right now. Why do you think it's been quiet compare to last year?
Trae: Everybody's regrouping, trying to come back again. You got Slim [Thug] fixin' to come again, Paul [Wall] fixin' to come again, you got Poky fixin' to drop, you got -
SOHH Rizoh: Lil' Keke
Trae: Lil' Keke gonna drop. You got the Screwed Up Click fixin' to take over. We've been sitting on that album for a while that might get ready to drop. We've got a lot of stuff still coming.
SOHH Rizoh: Is that gonna get any major distrubution? The S.U.C. album, that is.
Trae: I couldn't tell you that right now. Ain't really decided. I could tell you one thing: it's jamming. And I can tell you another thing my solo album will probably be out this year again.
SOHH Rizoh: Are you working on that already?
Trae: Yeah.
SOHH Rizoh: What is it called?
Trae: I don't know. I haven't really thought of it. Depends on my mood.
SOHH Rizoh: Got'cha. Well, thanks for doing the interview.
Trae: Thanks, man.
Related Posts
-Interview with Z-Ro Pt. 1
-CD Review: Trae's Restless
Posted by SOHH Rizoh at September 8, 2006 06:42 A
Categories: spotlight [t]
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