Okaaaaaaaay, we’re reloaded.

This week the whole crew lined up to look back at the past, set sights on the future, and take aim at the current potential threats. Read the rest of this entry »

On an unseasonably warm Lexington, Kentucky, afternoon Motown’s resident bad guy, Trick Trick, and about ten of his boys rolled up to the front door of UK’s campus radio station. Trick Trick was on a promotional tour for his new album The Villain and was hitting all major college radio outlets in the mid-west, which is what brought the caravan of murdered-out Escalades into the University of Kentucky student center parking lot and what eventually led to one of the most interesting interviews I’ve done to date. Read the rest of this entry »

When Trick invited me back to Studio 1 for a follow up to our Smoking Session, I heard this track and thought, “As dope as this track is, there is no way this will ever touch the radio.” Read the rest of this entry »

Photography by TJ Mack, Graphics by P

Being part of the TSS Crew definitely has its perks.

Apparently though, so does living back in Metro Detroit.

A few weeks ago, as I wrapped up a phone interview with the D’s boisterous bad guy, Trick Trick, I was cordially invited to his studio for a super-sneak preview of his sophomore spring release, The Villain.

“If you ever in Livonia, you can stop by the studio. I’ll show you the album,” he said about as nonchalant as Bill Gates giving a bum a couple of Benjamins. Read the rest of this entry »

To the outsider, Detroit is a city with a perpetual gloomy cloud hanging over it.

Years of economic depression & violence have left the city a shell of its former self. Jobs are lost by the second & foreclosure rates are amongst the highest in the country. Even one of the city’s brightest glimmers of hope – young Mayor Kwame Kirkpatrick – was recently embroiled in a fight for his political life. Then there’s always the bungling Matt Millen & the woeful Lions.

With such a shadow cast, some would say the Motor City is in the midst of a crisis.

However, Detroit is as blue-collar as they come, it’s natives mentally & spiritually wizened, able to withstand & maintain hope. And over the years, they’ve managed to maintain a burgeoning hip-hop scene that, while it may not be not be known to outsiders, keeps the youth & spirit of the city alive.

Trick Trick is one of those people.

Undeterred by the suffocating economic state of Wayne County and its surroundings, the self-made rapper/producer pushes on regardless. As you read this exclusive interview with Trick Trick & TSS Crew member Beware, take a cue from the “Godfather” himself and forget the discernible stats. Through assertiveness and an overall optimistic outlook on life, the Seven Mile product shakes off the sorrows and spins his city’s woes into personal inspiration like a motivational alchemist.

Look past all the discerning baggage revolving around the city and you’ll see exactly what Trick sees…a way.

TSS: What up, Trick?

Trick: What’s goin’ on cuz?

TSS: Shit, man. What you getting’ into? You check out the Auto Show yet? You get that VIP this week?

Trick: Actually, I went to the GM Style Party. They introduced some helleva rides, man. That was last week, Saturday. So, I’m straight on all the rest of that. I heard they got a million dollar Maybach down there. I did wanna see that.

TSS: Damn.

Trick: It ain’t even time for me to be lookin’ at that right now. (Laughs)

TSS: (Laughs) I totally feel you on that one. More than you know.

Alright, well, let’s get past that. Your motivational street anthem, “Let’s Work,” has been getting’ lots of love here in Detroit. For everybody outside the city, who might not know what’s up on that one yet, why don’t you tell us a little something about that one?

Trick: Well, I recorded it because I kinda got tired of everybody sayin’…you know, everyone been like, ‘It’s fucked up out here,’ or, ‘the music industry is bad now,’ ‘CD sales are down,’ ‘The economy is fucked up.’ You know, when you breathe that negative energy outta you and you set that shit into your mind, you have a negative mindstate set to believing that it’s hard out here. But, if you set your mindstate to ‘I’m going to get off my ass, there’s money out there. I’m going to get it, wherever the fuck it’s at, by any means necessary,’ well, staying the fuck out of jail.

It’s just like, you gotta get it. You just can’t continue to whine about what the fuck is goin’ wrong in the world, why everything is fucked up, or that’s all your mind is going to be set on. You might as well focus on some shit that’s going to get you some bread. There’s money out there so go get it. Get yo ass up and go to work, you know what I’m sayin? I say that to the music industry, all the hustlers who complaining, let’s work. Extend our hours. Let’s work. Let’s do what the fuck we gotta do to get it. Let’s work.

TSS: Get up, get out and get it. I can appreciate that right there. You mentioned the music industry. Is that going for rappers in general or everybody?

Trick: Everybody. You know, I wrote the verse somewhat pertaining to rap, but that’s to the cats in the streets. That’s to people who gotta get up in the morning and go to work…that got bills to pay, earning just enough to pay the bills, trying to fill up they tank and pay off they mortgage. That’s to everybody right there. Let’s work. Stop whining and let’s work. Ya’ll keep saying that negative shit, people start believing it and then they fucked up. Then everyone got this whole negative mind state about George Bush, gas prices…Yeah, it’s fucked up, but there’s still bread out there. Let’s get it.

TSS: Stayin’ positive. I dig that. That’s something everyone can relate to, especially around here.

Trick: Right.

TSS: Is that the first single off the album, The Villain, which will be your second solo album?

Trick: Yessir. Yessir. That’s the first single, “Let’s Work.” We still trying to debate which record is gonna’ be the second single, ‘cause I got a bad ass album, man. We trying to figure that out. (Laughs).

TSS: That’s my next question, what you got going for a release date? Features? Why don’t you tell us a little something about that.

Trick: Well, my album, the release date I’m looking at is May, early May, late April. Shit, man, the album is bad ass. I’ve been working on this album for awhile now, and I went through like 40-50 songs, just bumpin’ songs out, for sample reasons or whatever, and came up with what I believe is a perfect album that everybody can feel. Trust me, every song on there ain’t for everybody. But every song on there is for somebody, you know what I’m saying? You gonna like, at least, two or three tracks on there per person. Everyone’s gonna like that super hardcore shit and I understand that. I’m not a metaphorical artist. I don’t use metaphors to that extent. I say it real, to the point, this is what the fuck I’m talking about…and you feel me. Everybody don’t like the West Coast sounding funk. Everybody don’t like that southern-sounding funk. So I put it together so that everybody could get something out of it, and it’s all real. It’s all true.

As far as features is concerned, I cannot do an album without Eminem. So, of course, me and Em collabed like crazy on this album. He produced like three tracks. We produced two of ‘em together. That would be the song we’re on together, it’s called, “Who Want It?” Em is going hard on that bitch, too. Read the rest of this entry »