Days Of Joy Ent. Blog: October 2015

Taking Out the Trash

MC’ in Returns to Hip Hop

Sengbe Ben Yosef

Now days there is a lot trash in Hip Hop so it’s only fitting that we talk about the Trazsh Man. Your neighborhood has a trash man and now so does Hip Hop. Trazsh Man is without a doubt one of the hottest underground rap artist coming out of Camden New Jersey. The first time I heard Trazsh Man I was on a popular social site. A good friend of mine suggested that I give Trazsh Man a try. I was not sure if I wanted to listen because all too often people tell you to listen to someone and they turn out to be some trash. Well little did I know I was right but I was wrong at the same time. The MC was Trazsh but not the trash I was thinking.

After I hit the link for the music video by Trazsh Man; I must say I like what I heard. The track Title “Calm Down”. The music and the video are both dope, if you haven’t tried Trazsh Man I recommend you start with “Calm Down”. Over the next year I kept my eyes and ears on Trazsh Man and I decided to make him the topic of one of my blog post. I caught up with Trazsh on that same social site and asked if I could do a story on him for my blog and he said yes.

I started by asking Trazsh how he got started in music. He said: when he was around 10 he wrote poetry and love to draw pictures. He also said he played trumpet back then and was pretty good. I then asked about his musical influences. Trazsh Man indicated he loved all kinds of music growing up. He went so far as to say, he even like to hear music being played on forks and plates. This brother is so down.

I asked if he had any family members that had ever been into music. He told me his dad played bass for a group before he passed away back in 2004. I started to see Trazsh and I had somethings in common. My own dad passed away and he played in a band as well. Trash told me his dad was the truth on bass a real boss. It appears that Trazsh Man has always been around music.

Next I asked him when did he know he wanted to do Rap. He replied: I knew I wanted to Rap ever since the 8th grade. I asked, who taught you to make music. He replied, “no one really taught me.” He said he was there, and music was everywhere so he just did it. I asked Trazsh about any fond memories he had as a young man growing up listening to music. His response was something you don’t hear from a lot of rappers. He said the music Michael Jackson was making in the 80’s gave him a lot joy and inspiration. Trazsh said, he admired the way M.J. was an innovator who wasn’t afraid to think outside the box.

Next we moved on to what drew me to Trazsh Man in the first place. His dope sound and unique rap style is what made me listen to Trazsh Man and I wanted to share more of his work with others. I asked him about a track of his called “Calm Down”.. When I heard the track; it was refreshing to hear a rapper talking about something other than sex drugs and money. I asked him to tell me why he wrote “Calm Down”. He said, he had a lot things going on in his life at that time and he could hear a voice saying to him calm down.

He said the things he was facing could have landed him back in jail and he didn’t want that so he wrote the song to speak on those issues. He said, “He also wanted to write something that would resonate with people in his same predicament.” I followed up with this statement and asked him, what does it take write a song like that? He said: To make a song like that to me, it takes being honest with yourself. Not being afraid to show your flaws in life. Be truthful. It takes thinking about the next man who might be dealing with the same thing. It's about being selfless.

I Said to Trazsh Man: What’s your music all about? He came back with this: My music is all about life. My music is about lifestyle. My music is about waking up from the nightmare. My music is about having victories and defeats. I then I asked him, “What gets him going musically, and Trazsh said: What gets me going musically is the mood. What's going on around me and inside me.

I asked him why his music is so different. He replied: My music is different because I don't limit myself to one subject or style. It's different because it's the truth. The truth is what has been imprisoned in music. It's awaiting a death sentence over and over but in the end it will live. I said to him why do you express yourself in Rap the way you do and he says: I chose to Rap this way because it's who I am. It’s one side of me; one of my personalities and there is at least three other artists inside me. There's LOCK and there's Birdy Flaws just to name two.

He is out there for sure but in a good way. I want to know more but I pushed a head. I asked if he listened to any artist in his genre. We had already talked about other music he listened too. He said: I listen to oldies like Marvin Gaye, Earth Wind and Fires some Gospel Music and sometimes he said I listen to nature soundtracks. But I wanted to know who he listened to his genre. He said: in my genre I would have to say, I listen to Ock Milly, Dell P. out of Philly, Jay Royal out of B-more, Rabu with a U and another rapper from Camden and some guy named TRAZSH MAN.

Trazsh Man went on talking more about the artist in his genre he likes and here’s some of what he had to say. I like Ock because he has soul and integrity, I like Dell P because he has integrity that Philly sound and dope lyrics, and I like Jay Royal because he is just dope; Trazsh Man was shaking him head as he said his words. Then he said: I dig Rabu with a U because he believes he is the greatest emcee that ever lived. Rabu has character and he is one of the very few that can really freestyle off top. I like TRAZSH MAN because he doesn't know how to surf nor does he want to learn how. There are a couple other artists I dig but maybe in the future we can talk about that.

I have heard that not only is Trazsh Man a dope MC, but he has one hell of a stage presence as well. So I asked him and he had this to say about the first time he took the stage as Trazsh Man. He told me: The first time I took the stage was at a Lyrically Fit show 2 years ago by given Jay Grady. I asked if he liked performing. He said: I enjoy performing, but I need to get fit.because I have a lot of expression in my songs that requires me to be active on stage, so I need my health and strength. I asked if he had any shows that were memorable. Trazsh said: He did a show for the SCHOOL OF ROCK and it was epic. It was a mixed crowd and everyone was into it. Little kids were singing the songs. It was crazy!

Next I asked if he had ever had any troubles on stage and how did he handle it. He said what every pro should say. “I handle mistakes in a show by just keeping it going”. I’m so excited on stage I forget lines. Shaking his head he says: I just keep rapping, it is what it is I guess? I'm just glad people appreciate my efforts. I said: Is it your nerves that get in the way. Trazsh says: I always get nervous before performing. I don't know why maybe it’s because I never know what to expect. I just try to buckle down and zone out before I go on stage. Once I'm doing a song, I just give up what I have in me and do the best I can. Then he says: If you’re nervous before your show, you'll get over it after the performance lol.”

Trazsh told me that he practice his set for at least a week before a show. He says “It's hard for me because I'm always making new music”. Sometimes I just can't stop making songs. I can't count how many songs I have that aren’t online yet. I have to discipline myself more I guess. I asked him to explain more about his music making and he said: I'm always making music. I have no balance. It's always going on inside my head. If it's not music it's some kind creative visions.

Trazsh Man is an independent artist and he says it’s hard for artist because everybody is a so called artist these days lol. The standards of this art form has been diminished so much over the years and I'm just happy when I meet people who don't Rap. It's like I might just be able to make a new fan, even then I don't like to say I Rap because I can just imagine how many people have told that person the same thing.

I asked him what he thought about the state of music today and he replied, “ I think the state of music is going through a transforming phase. It's not a bad or good thing. I think when it gets back to the principles of the genre it will be great again. I'm not saying go back to the 90's or 80's, I'm saying if it gets back to having a better meaning, substance, and becomes fun again, we will all be better off. For that to happen we need to reduce the need to glorify drugs and porn in the music. Then community can began to go in the right direction again.

Lastly, I asked Trazsh Man what was the message behind his music. He said, if you want to know the answer to what my message is in my music, go and find my music. The answer to this question is in the music. Then I asked, if he had any words for his fans and he replied, “ I want my fans to know that whatever they hear from me it's from me. It's my soul.

In a world crowded with MC’s and artist it is refreshing to have an artist and MC like Trazsh Man around. Trazsh Man and his music renewed my faith in Hip-Hop. I use to wonder if Hip Hop would be safe because of all the trash in the industry. But now, I don’t worry because MC’in has returned to Hip Hop and the Trazsh Man is here to take out the trash. If you haven’t heard of this wonderful artist please follow the links in this story and support artist like this because we need them like plants need water. At one point I wished I could go back to the glory years of Hip Hop to recapture the feelings I had way back when but, thanks to Trazsh Man I look forward to what coming up next.