Q: “Your Way” showcases your smooth flow and your talent for crafting catchy hooks. How did this track come together and what was it like working with The Martianz?
TRP TRILLA: Well hooks and flow are everything to me so every time I make a song those are always my 2 most important priorities. How the song came about was pretty cool and easy.. I had been dropping and dropping then one day, I just checked my email and found The Martianz had emailed me and wanted to work. Actually, I have like 3-4 songs with them cause they had sent beats and just allowed me to express myself in which “Your Way” was part of that bunch.. Found the tone and the hook on “Your Way” already set so it was pretty easy for me to go at how I did.. I was actually also facing some problems and stuff in my relationship at the time so the verses just wrote themselves..
Q: Your musical interests and influences at the time inspired you to pursue a career in hip hop at 11 years old. Who influenced you?
TRP TRILLA: Well, growing up my older sister used to play a lot of loud music round the house and that’s I just started gettin’ into liking music until I started developing my own taste. My first favorite artist ever was T-Pain . I loved how different he was with his flows swag and just cadence. From T-Pain I started listening to more and more hip hop The Game, Bow Wow , Kirko Bangz until I heard Drake then I knew I wanted to rap. I started off just mimicking people’s verses and making sure I knew their every word until I just started writing my own lyrics and I remember my first ever cover or song I tried to mimic with my own lyrics was “A Milli” from Lil Wayne.
Q: Did you always have a talent for rapping or was it a skill you had to develop?
TRP TRILLA: Well mmm I think it’s a bit of both ey. I never really knew I had the talent like that like that; but when I started rapping, I did find it slightly easier and fun than people made it seem. I could rap fast, slow, could change flows and so I worked more and bettered my craft. So yeah, I guess I mixed the talent with the skill and kept on developing it as I still do till now.
Q: How is the music scene in Botswana and how has growing up there influenced your music?
TRP TRILLA: The music scene in Botswana is still developing. There’s really a lot of good different artists but it always comes down to lack of exposure and support so they always die out or the music goes under appreciated. The style of hip hop has also been changing over the past years as more and more are jumping on to the modern sound so the future looks bright. As for me, I’ve always had a foreign sound to my music and I guess that’s why I collaborate with quite a number of producers from the States and I’ve always felt that I’d be the one to bridge the gaps and bring serious attention to Botswana and Zimbabwe. I always get caught up in the 2 at times because I was born in Botswana and grew up here but both my parents and some of my life was spent in Zimbabwe.
Q: You’ve accomplished so much in your music career so far. Towards the end of 2017, you were voted “Top Two Artists to look out for in 2018” by a social media poll. You were also voted “Top Two artists with the best video in 2017” and your song “Skipping Classes” took the 18th spot on the Top 100 songs of 2017 in Botswana. How does it feel knowing that you are on so many people’s radar?
TRP TRILLA: Funny enough I never really think about it at all ey, ‘cause I’ll be working getting out as much music and content I can. These other things are all bonuses to be honest but it does indeed motivate me to keep on going and spreading my music out there. It makes me know and be certain that I’m on the right track and only going forward never back.
Q: Your highly anticipated project, “Wolf Of Trip Street II” is set to drop this year. What can we expect to hear on it and what was the creative process like?
TRP TRILLA: This is definitely my best project to date. Got like 6 or 7 projects under my belt but I feel like this is my best. Quality wise and just the cadence as well as correlation of every song. Well, I tried to reflect the type of music that inspires me and that I’ve grown to love. I love listening to new interesting things from Alternative Rock to Pop as well as Reggae, not forgetting RNB too. This project touches on all these elements and more, really showcasing the many sides I have. Took quite a long time making it, I think about 4 to 5 years now. I would’ve actually dropped the song last year but didn’t feel like the right time. Also, I worked with more different people on this as compared to the first one and that’s another reason it carries the energy it has.
When I make music, it’s usually 6 pm to 6 am nonstop and that’s how most of the songs came about. And obviously, a couple other tracks here and there from wild nights and sessions. What’s crazy is it’s treated and feels like an album yet it’s just a mixtape. That’s just how good it is and I can’t wait for everyone to experience it
Interviewed by Brynn Hinnant
