Hip Hop Lives Online: We Make the World Go Round

Detroit’s own Trick Trick is set to release The Villian on Tuesday, November 11^th. The Villian is Trick Trick’s sophomore studio album following the release of The People vs. in 2005. Features include Eminem who worked with Trick on his debut “Welcome to Detroit.” The first single off The Villian was “Let it Fly” featuring Ice Cube, and most recently the release of “Who Want It” featuring Eminem. Both singles making major internet noise on sites and blogs. Other features on the album include other Detroit music heavy weights, Royce Da 5′9 and Kid Rock.

HHLO’s Shango Gutta sat down with Trick Trick to discuss the new album, and got a personal in depth view into the artists childhood in 7 Mile, his life in prison, his personal choice to leave the life of a gangsta behind to become the artist he is today, his “issue” with Yung Berg, and his message to young gang members.

Editor’s note: This interview was very in depth, Trick Trick granted Shango an hour and a half of his time. The interview was too intimate to pinpoint what was most important of a message to focus on. So this full interview will be run in a three part series.

Hip Hop Lives Online: I am here with the mo’ fucking most patient man in the world. (Laughter) Trick Trick. I gotta give it up; this interview has been two days coming. I was going through some crazy technical shit, and this man right here was incredibly patient. It was well appreciated, but we gonna lean into this cause a lot of people want to know what’s going on with you. How you man?

Trick Trick: (Laughing) No problem man. I’ve just been working hard man, busy, busy, busy.

HHLO: Yeah I know you been grinding. You got a lot of shit coming out I’m gonna let you get into that in a second, but first let’s get into these questions.

Trick Trick: Ok.

HHLO: Everyone is familiar with 8 Mile and its hardships. Why don’t you clue us into 7 Mile and what it was like growing up on it.

Trick Trick: See 8 Mile is like the border between the suburbs and the hood. One side of 8 Mile is Oakland County the other side is Wayne County. And 1 mile from 8 Mile is of course 7 Mile. Up until I was 5 years old I grew up in East Detroit. The East Side is like the grimiest part of Detroit ever, you know what I’m saying.

HHLO: Yeah I know about the East Side of Detroit.

Trick Trick: To this day, I mean it’s getting better, you know. There doing a lot developing there but the East Side man, it is what it is man. Ah so we moved over to west 7 Mile when I was 5 years old you know. Childhood as far as I can remember was just like any childhood in an African American home. In my younger days I did have both parents. My father worked he didn’t want my mother to work, but eventually she had to work you know. Ronald Reagan got into office then all hell broke loose. So everybody had to…..

HHLO: Mo’fucking Ronald Reagan…hmm. Damn man

Trick Trick: (Laughing hard). Mo’fucking Reagan you said it perfectly Shang. And uh it wasn’t until my father left when I was like…12 or 13 you know when he bust up. You know for a teenage dude, a teenage boy who grew up under the direction of his father and his supervision. You see my father was like Gunnery Sergeant Mathis.

See we had somewhat of a military household because he had a military background, he was a marine. So, you know, you know when he left it was like we didn’t have the Sergeant on our heads anymore. Now we can do what we wanted to do. And me I was the oldest boy…so I was subject to acceptance of anything that intrigued me negatively. If it was exciting to me negatively it was easier for me to be driven towards it because now pops ain’t on my head, you feel me.

HHLO: True so you ain’t have the pressure of worrying about the discipline that was gonna come to you if you did something wrong. So you was like…whatever.

Trick Trick: Yeah exactly, and being at that age some things you just don’t know is wrong. I’m certain things you know it’s wrong, it’s wrong. But something you don’t know that’s it’s just wrong. In my neighborhood you know what I am saying it was all, I got a taste of that beginning of that gang shit, that gang life, in elementary school. I would see the OG’s in the neighborhood you know. I would just witness the way they did things, the cars they drove. Which was obvious the money they spent. You know it didn’t dawn on me how they made their money because I was still a child. But, moving from elementary to junior high all the OG’s little brothers was going to my school and I went to the school where all the 7 Mile ni**as went, Hampton Jr. high. But I had arthritis in my hand and the doctor said I had to go to a school closer to my house. So they moved me to a school that was closer to my house…but it wasn’t in my territory, you know what I am saying and….

HHLO: Damn dog you had arthritis in your hand at that age?

Trick Trick: Yeah. So it was like, “you from 7 Mile, what you doing going to an 8 Mile school.” You know ni**as was straight flippin’ like that. Eventually, me not being a back down type never bumped that bullshit. Eventually altercations would come and I would deal with them accordingly. It wasn’t until I fought the biggest baddest mo’fucka in 8 Mile, they believed. This nigga in my Spanish class, we went to town heads up. I was a skinny nigga he was a big cocky mo’fucka. I ain’t back down I went to war. And I earned my respect as a nigga that ain’t no hoe. My people in my neighborhood got wind of what had happened. And they came; they knew what could possibly happen from me and this kid getting in a fight. And they came up to my school, came to a school that they ain’t belong to and they rolled for me. You know. At that point you know it was 7 Mile you know 7 Mile BK. That’s what set I claim. These the ni**as I represent the ni**as I’m with. And you know what I am saying minor altercations, minor compared to the way ni**as doing shit now…I ain’t trying to branch off but just the other day a kid got killed at his high school in Detroit, some kids rolled up on him with a chopper. Jumped out and started….a 16 year old kid got killed! We wasn’t with that shit like that, we wasn’t wild like that. It was straight up we wasn’t going through that kind of shit.

HHLO: Let me just add something to what you’re saying. I understand what you saying. Like back in the day fist fights, brawls, knife fights you may have a cat with a 9 or a .38 or something. But now kids got choppers and all that crazy shit man.

Trick Trick: Yeah I mean by the time I was 14 I had a 357. But I knew I wasn’t busting this mo’fucka unless a ni**a really trying to get me. I am not pulling it out unless somebody coming after me. Nobody need to know I got it, cause that’s what the OG that gave it to me that’s what he told me. These young ni**as now a day they ain’t got no rules. They ain’t got no couth. They ain’t got no discipline. They don’t have no code, no direction. They just fucked up, you know. Back in my days it was different we listened to the OG’s because the OG’s was straight up

HHLO: So is it the wrong ni**as getting into the position of power. Is it the now a day OG’s what’s fucking up these young soldiers. Although you know its all part of a sub-culture, a underworld OG’s a lot of times gave you jewels that help you out as a man, right.

Trick Trick: There are very few real OG’s out there now. A lot of OG’s kind of backed away so far from the game because these young ni**as is uncontrollable; you know what I’m saying. Take LA for instance, the young G’s are turning against the OG’s and they all belong to the same set, you know what I’m saying. With all the different Crip organizations and all the different Blood organizations they beef amongst themselves against the OG’s from what I hear. Out here the young G’s will listen to the OG’s like me because they know my track record you know what I’m saying. But you got some OG’s that will back and won’t take the time to school these young cats and if they do take the time, these young ni**as ain’t trying to hear them. They feel like their grown. Anybody can get a set right now. You can go to a beauty supply store where a woman goes to buy shit for their hair and nails. Mo’fucka can go in there and by a blue or red doo-rag, green or yellow whatever and all of a sudden you a gangbanger as soon as you walk up out that store. You know it’s that easy for the ni**as now. And the OG’s ain’t really stepping up to say Yo. I approach a young nigga with a blue or red flag or whatever. In my hood or in any hood and be like “oh it’s like that nephew, that’s what you about right there. You better be sure then nigga, you better be sure then little homie. Because ni**as done died over that shit you got on your hip and you don’t know nothing about.” I asked one ni**a one day, “What does Blood stand for homie?” He couldn’t tell me so I said take your shit off dude. I said “I ain’t no fucking Blood and you don’t even know what it means. You got a red flag on your right side and in Detroit it’s reversed.” Blue is to the right in to the right in Detroit and red is to the left. He got a red flag hanging from his right side. I said, “You got that red flag on you like that cause Lil’ Wayne told you to. Man, take that shit off boy, before somebody for real for real do something to you.”

HHLO: Word is bond I hear you, I hear you.

Trick Trick: Like I say when I was young we had the OG’s you know what I saying that taught us and show us ways to do it. Like how I got into the game is like pops was gone momma was struggling I saw…the club was literally across the street from me you know what I’m saying. My man, my ni**as was doing what they was doing and the OG’s was and I wanted to be a part of that. So when either had something to do they know they can trust little Tricky over on Indiana to give the bag and the beeper to. It’s like anytime there was a concert or anytime they wanted to go out they would come give they shit to me. The set used to give they shit to me. And that was $400 fucking dollars that was mine, every time. There was not a dollar off. That loyalty was instilled in me, early. The loyalty and the truthfulness. I mean if I was getting 400 they was making ten times that easily. So they know they was good with me. They money was good. And they told others to do the same. “Give that shit to Tricky he’s good. He do it.” All I had to do was answer a beep go meet a nigga on this corner or this corner, man it was the easiest job in the world. At the same time, momma pretty much knew what was going on. But she still kinda didn’t cause I was a hustler. I cut grass, which is something ni**as wouldn’t think of doing now. Winter time I used to shovel snow, I used to shovel everyone on my street until my feet felt like they were gonna fucking fall off, and make that 5,6,7 dollars a house. I would go in the house keep like 20, 30 for myself and give the rest to my momma. But when that money money started coming in I had to…I used to tell my mother she used to ask me where you get all that money from I used to say “rolling dice.”

HHLO: (Laughs).

Trick Trick: Rolling dice yeah right. One day my momma sat me down OG’s. She sat me down and was like “let me tell you something boy no matter what you do in your life, no matter what you do there is a right and a wrong way. Whatever you decide to do, do it the right way and do it to the fullest.” That’s what she told me…I took that as like a clearance, like I’m fitting to get this money for real.

HHLO: Go hard or go home for real.

Trick Trick: Yeah, like I ain’t gotta hide this anymore I’m going all the way. Still beefing with ni**as just off the was. I mean we was literally beefing with ni**as 4 minutes walking distance away from us. What kind of dumb shit is that? You know what I mean. That’s the environment I grew up in. If you didn’t belong to where you live if you wasn’t a part of ni**as that was in your neighborhood, you had to stay in your house. It wasn’t like they was going around beating up kids or nothing. “Get in the houses little nigga.” If you was around our age group and you wasn’t talking about 7 Mile you better stay n your backyard. And I wasn’t staying in my backyard. These ni**as rolled for me. I was brought into that shit not by force but because I was a stand up guy. And these ni**as riding for me all those things took to play. Niggas liked me. Like that skinny nigga crazy. That skinny nigga down for his. That skinny nigga ain’t no joke. That skinny nigga loyal.

HHLO: Like not by force but more like necessity because of the environment you was in.

Trick Trick: Right.

HHLO: You had to go to the top of the food chain.

Trick Trick: I could have made the choice of staying in the house, you know. But where’s the fun in that. I ain’t no bitch. Feel me I was raised by Sergeant Mathis, Marine Core. Although he wasn’t there anymore. If my father was there I would not be in this rap shit right now. I’d be flying planes over Baghdad. I had every intentions of going into the air force. But when he left I got caught up in that life style. You got to deal with the consequences of that lifestyle. There is only two ways out whether ni**as like it or not. That’s dead or in jail. This day I can say thank god for the prison sentence. Cause I could be in the ground like a whole lot of my homies. A whole lot of my little young homies, in the ground. Over this shit, over that money shit, over that gang shit, that dope shit. That’s just what it was homie.

HHLO: You spoke about your parent before. Your moms did some theater as well as sang for Alberta Adams. Looking from the point you are at now how do you think that affected you. Where you at now, you know your pops being a DJ, how did that influence you?

Trick Trick: Big time man. My pops used to bang that music. All that old school Parliament Funkadelic, you know George Clinton, Morris Day and The Time, Prince, P Funk Allstars, Roger Troutman Zapp, The Gap Band, Lake Side. He used to bang that shit. They used to throw parties to make some money, we would be upstairs but that rhythm, that rhythm stuck to me. Then…see our family was raised in the church. My grandmother she made everybody go to church. So we would go to church and that same rhythm would apply in church. A lot of real live funk comes from gospel roots. The way the chords transition and things like that. Then when my father left that’s when my mother was able to pursue her own career as a jazz singer and she would do back up for Alberta Adams. So she would rehearse and take me to rehearsals with her. I would just soak all that shit up. It was just everyday was just music, music, music and there was nothing else. It became like eating. It was every day. It was something you needed to survive. If you ain’t hear no music your day was fucked up, you know. My father used to walk around just humming to this day just humming shit. (Laughs) I remember I was in the joint, I’ll never forget. Brother Angelo X he was my bunky he was like “Trick man you walk around this mo’fucka all day humming and shit. What the fuck’s wrong with you.” (We both laugh). He said “man you gotta be in the music business man ‘cause ain’t no cats gonna just walk around humming beats and making mental notes and shit” That shit had a big affect on me started playing the drums in the church. Just sitting in the front row I used to watch the drummer. I was drawn to that, the rhythm and the loudness. I used to sit in the front row and just watch the drummer for months on top of months. He didn’t show up for two weeks on the 3^rd week I figured I’d give it a try. I was never taught how to play them I just watched that man. His name was Johnny Murray. He play for Mary J Blige now, huh…The Clark Sisters he played for a lot of bands. So when he left I decided to give it a shot. Getting into that rhythm and playing in pocket made it easy for me to get on the beat machine. You see if I know the snare is here, the kick drum is here, the high hat is here I know where to go to find the sound and the rhythm I’m looking for. Just like following the choir director and the organ. But now I got my own rhythm in my head.

HHLO: A friend of mine, we just started a band he said something similar to what you said he said you gotta memorize what sound comes from where on the drums. You gotta know it like the back of your hand type hit you know.

Trick Trick: Yep, you only got a milli-second to figure where the next note is going. You can wait for the baseline to go boom for the tap tap, feel me. You got 1 milli-second to ride through and hit everything on time. You gotta know what the next one is gonna be…but you can get too deep into shit like that you can fuck yourself up. (Laughs).

HHLO: It’s understandable you know that fine line between genius and insanity. I could see how it could make you a little…You know. You spoke of when things got deeper when you was bout 13, why don’t you lean some more into that.

Trick Trick: Well like I say I was raised into it. I was a choice that I made, but I didn’t wake up and say I am gonna be 7 Mile BK today, you know. It was like you live over here, these ni**as fucking with you because they see you get down, on your own against the opposition. And you in our neighborhood…you gotta be a part of this. But it just don’t happen like that, you want to be a part of this homie you gotta get jumped in and you gotta put in that work…

And I had to put that work in you know and it’s like…..I had already put in work before I was officially a part of 7 Mile BK. I was riding around with my burner, waiting for a ni**a; you know what I’m saying. And a couple of times that bitch had to come out and do what she did you know what I’m saying. The past is the past and what happened…thank god for survival you know what I mean. But I had to put in work you know and I had to listen to the OG’s. There were people over me that had been in the game longer than I have. There was ni**as my age or like a year older that could give me orders, and I had to take ‘em up. I had to do what I was told. Until I earned my stripes and ended up….God bless I ended up like being one of the last men standing. Until I finally ended up in the system but I got blessed. A lot of my homies was in for murder, attempted murder, 10, 15 years for dope you know what I’m saying, assaulting officers, 75 counts this armed major counts, B and E, receiving/concealing stolen property, driving stolen cars, there was all kinds of stuff. I went in for dope possession with attempt to deliver 2 counts I got convicted on both of them so; I had to go sit down. But I was on the run for 2 years so they didn’t…well 2 or 3 years so they didn’t catch me until later on. When they did finally catch up with me I had to realize like “nigga you need to calm it down. I had a job and shit like that (chirp goes off) hold on a second homie. What’s up (brief convo)….that was my little brother.

HHLO: All good, all good. That was a good segway into the next question. It seems in the beginning you lived kinda two lives, what led to the decision to live one of those lives to the fullest and to stray away from the other one?

Trick Trick: Prison, prison was a big turning point in my life. It was the beginning of the beginning. Also I was taught before I want to prison my father sat me down, I had, father go to court with me. I pretty much knew I was fitting to go down. Picked him up, and rolled down to the courthouse. They was like don’t let him go nowhere, I gave him the keys. He told me he leaned up and said “this ain’t shit. And everything from this point on is the beginning of the rest of your life. So make it better. Make everyday better and don’t worry about this shit it’s gonna go away.” I said yes sir. I got in there and was fucking amazed. I had been in the county countless times before 45 days in this county jail, 35 in this county jail, 10 days here 2 days here. I was arrested time and time again and it was just that time…I look at it like it was time for God to sit me down and be like “look boy, you going down a path that you just really ain’t supposed to go…I don’t have that path set for you.”

HHLO: Yeah like you had another calling.

Trick Trick: He said “you gotta get your stuff together mentally” and you God done put me through that twice in my life. I’ve only been to prison once. Once I was in jail 7 months fighting a murder charge that didn’t belong to me. But you know, my code led me to do what I believe is right and not bow down to this fa**ot ass system that wanna lock anybody up anyway no matter the circumstance, but anyway I sat down I was in the joint and I made up my mind. I went to Jackson, let me tell you something, I went to Jackson I walked in this fucking birdcage, full of humans. Twenty-three hour lockdown in a maximum security facility in Jackson, Mississippi. And it was more like a quarantine where they hold you for 45, 50, 60 days until they get another spot for you in one of the other prisons. So you ride out the quarantine and go to the next joint, so I was like “What the fuck is this?” All these cages, homie I’m talking about as far as you can see. Had to be like 2000 cells in the big fucking room with individual cells and all kind of mo’fuckas. And birds were flying around man you got 10 minutes to eat each meal. You gotta run down the stairs, get in line get to the table hover over it eat it and get back upstairs in a certain time or they’ll call an escape on you. You know what I am saying, like a no tolerance no bullshit type shit. And I was like what the fuck did I do, what the fuck have I gotten myself into? I made up my mind right there…I’m not coming back in this mo’fucker. So in order not to come back to this mo’fucker I had to stray away from anything that would get me back in this mo’fucker. And music was my other alternative. I had just started fucking with the music, you know from ‘90, and you know playing with rap. I used to make beats for different ni**as in the hood who rapped. You know World Famous RC, the Hit Squad used to do shit for them. You know for ni**as in the hood who rapped. I used to do something for this nigga with a KRS-1 style or MC Ren or (laughs) it was either KRS-1 or MC Ren you know what I am saying. Everybody had those styles but anyway I would do beats for ni**as. I had touched on or had a close brush with a record deal (or what we thought was a record deal). I had gotten incarcerated and was like look I gotta do this 100%. I got to get into music 100% because as long as I half way play with it I am gonna get a half way result from it. As a young nigga I mapped that out in my own fucking head. I had just had a baby, my little girl was born. They eventually moved me to another prison I got in a more comfortable environment, it was gladiator camp but at the same time it was more like apartments for dudes. Instead of gates we had doors with keys to them. Kitchen down stairs a TV room, rec room weights. You got out on the yard one, two times a day. It wasn’t as fucked up as Jackson so I was able to relax and concentrate. When I got there everybody knew me, that’s 7 Mile Trick. That’s Click’s soldier right there. So show that man some love whatever he needs, you know what I’m saying. My OG’s had sent the word down “my boy coming in look out for him get him back out on these streets quick as hell, know what I’m saying.” It was a learning experienced I got a chance to see…well not a chance but mylantics and mowhites. I saw the Nation, Fruit of Islam, Nation of Islam, Crips, Bloods, GD’s, uh Folks, Vice Lords, Arian brother…at war. I saw some shit and I was like, what the fuck. This ain’t where I’m fitting to be for the rest of my life. So when I finally got paroled without interview, that’s from tending to my own, writing my raps and shit. Paroled without interview I went to the half way house that was the first record I recorded. They let me out the half way house to get a job, 4 hours. The first 2 hours I went grabbed u some applications the next hour I went straight to the studio. In 45 minutes…..

HHLO: That’s straight hip hop right there, WORD IS BOND.

Trick Trick: My man…45 minutes. If you can go on this website MoMAster Productions. You can Google him he’ll tell you himself. 45 minutes outta the half way house I recorded a song called “Booty Bounce” at that time it was Luke and The Poison Clan, 2 Live Crew all that shit was popping. It didn’t make no sense to come out on that gangsta shit because no one was recognizing it. That was an idea I kept from the time I was in Ionia all the way to the time I got to that studio. It stuck with me and I got in there recorded it. 45 minutes. I sampled more bounce to the ounce put a 808 on it and did the vocal I had memorized a million times. Never touched that record again but one more time to mix it. I released it that was my first hit record homie. That mo’fucker sold 30 something thousand the first single, it sold…..

HHLO: Don’t even drop that to them, cause I’m gon hit them with the numbers on that record. Word because I was definitely blown away when I read that shit, wild impressive word. So save the numbers for a second dog and we gon get into that in a little.

Trick Trick: Aight.