Interview: Waka Flocka Flame [Sizzurp Magazine]

This interview originally ran for Sizzurp Magazine.

In an age of seemingly easy access to music fame; think the YouTube launched careers of Souljah Boi and the more recent suburban sensation, Justin Beiber; [If you haven’t heard of this kid I envy you.] it’s easy to write most new artists off as one hit wonders. However with a massive fan base, spawned in part by the club banger “O Let’s Do It,” it’s hard to write off New York born, Atlanta raised Waka Flocka Flame.

Having had no prior rap experience, while it may seem that he stumbled into his career; he has already found his niche, and respect, in the game. So it’s apparent that being under the tutelage of Gucci Mane taught him more than just the recipe for a hot mixtape.
           

While recent controversies including an arrest, as well as his survival during a robbery initiated shooting, have led to further comparisons to him and Gucci, if nothing else it has expanded his base and cemented the fact that in trying to escape the streets, many artists find struggles within the game as well.
 
Congratulations for having one of the biggest singles in the country right now, and remixes with the biggest artists in the game. Everything is just hot right now for you Waka, tell us what’s up with you?
 
WAKA:  Yea it’s turned up, a lot of shit is turned up right now.  To be honest I really don’t have a second single right now, but I’m about to throw some music out there and whatever the people grab, that’s what I’m running with.  I’m not about to drop an album yet because I don’t feel as if I deserve one yet.  I feel like I need about 50-60 more songs.   I want to flood the market and create a story. So are you telling us that as a single “O Lets Do It” is not going on an album?
 
WAKA: If I was to have an album then yea it would go on the album. So was that single was really some mixtape shit right?
 
It was music. I don’t like mixtapes because they sound like I’m directing negative statements towards my fans like “Let them eat that bullshit and see if I can get some money from it.”  You know what I mean, so that’s my street album and that was music off of it. I like to call it street albums. “Mixtape” is too pretty.” Ok ok, well let’s touch on your street albums then. Tell us what can we expect in the making?
 
WAKA:I got another street album called “Lebron Flocka James 2” with the Trap-A-Holics, “Wacka Flocka Valley” with DJ Holiday, and the street album “Americas Most Wanted” with DJ Love Dinero and DJ Holiday.  I’m just going ham but I can’t forget about that “Murder Man Flocka” about to drop.  And that Sizurp street album with DJ Statik, that’s that shit that make you woozy, you come out the club and pop that Sizurp in and maybe drink some Sizurp…but from the passenger seat because I do not promote drinking and driving you feel me.  (Holds up car keys) I’m dead serious because if you got these in your hands, don’t drive and drink real shit.  It’s a lot of things that I want to touch on because nigga out here think I be promoting gang violence or some hard core ghetto shit, raw, raw.  That aint even it bra, I’m just being myself you know.  Like I tell everybody I meet I don’t expect you to like me and you don’t know me cause that’s obvious for another man not to like another man that he don’t know.  Now If you know me and I see you don’t fuck with me, I don’t know why because I am an a original nigga.  I’m always 100. If I have $20 dollars and I see someone starving I’ll give him 15 and take five because I know that I can make some more money.  I like to help folks, so for a nigga to judge me and think I’m promoting that bullshit bra, don’t let that internet shit fuck you up, dead serious because you might get fuuucked up.  
 
Ok so I see you’re familiar with the Houston born syrup sippin; Has Texas music influenced you in any type of way?
 
WAKA: You damn right it did. I know about sizurp my nigga. Bun B, Pimp C, The Geto Boys, I fuck with Slim Thug the long way, (pauses for a minute to recall something before stating) “Whats shawty name that punched Mike Jones in the face?” Trae? Yea I fuck with him too, and I just got tuned into Z-Ro in Dallas because they was turning buddy up.  I mess with them all from the Party Boyz to Dorrough. Yeah I loved Inside Paint Job. I mess with a lot of them.   And that’s real.

Speaking of the internet, online you’ve stated that you get paid $15k a show while performing anywhere from three to four shows a week.  Tell us how that has changed you life….[laughs] other than the whip behind you?
 
WAKA: I like that shit bra because it helps me get my buddies of the street and that was one of my biggest goals; to get them out of the street.  It’s so many niggas at my shows that’s street niggas and come to me stating, “Hey bra, man I can rap man and I want to get out of these streets.”  I will do whatever I can do to help a nigga but at the same time it is only a certain amount that I can do because my bills got bigger.  The bigger I got the bigger my bills got.  It’s great though and it’s nothing I can complain about because this shit feels good bra. Coming from where I came this is far because man I was broke as fuck.    If you have anything you may want to say to the streets tell them now.
 
WAKA: I got to talk on these niggas that snitching because yall need to stop letting these niggas ride.  If  you grew up with a nigga and he snitched on you or somebody else…. don’t let that nigga come back to the hood and do the same shit he was doing cause…that shit makes you and your hood look lame as hell.  I’m gone drop a jewel on yall and I’m not promoting street drugs or none of that shit…but if you out there twerking bra don’t snitch on another nigga cause you got fucked up. Accept your punishment like a man and let the next man do him.

Editorial: Can’t Ban [Trae] the Truth…[written for ClutchCityMag.com]

This piece was originally written for ClutchCityMagazine.com in June 2010

 Within the realm of hip hop we often see its artists pigeonholed into roles that mainstream has America envisioned, most typically, the thug, the gangbanger, etc. Though a portion of this can also be attributed to rappers who glorify lives that they themselves have never lived…<insert perp here>…we also often overlook perhaps the most important of all; those who are not only a product of the hood, but are bent on improving the conditions of others still there. Not just through their music, but through their actions as well. Houston’s own Trae the Truth is an artist who falls into the latter category, yet in many ways stands alone; both in his dedication and loyalty to the city of Houston.

In July of 2008, Trae was officially recognized for his community service initiatives throughout the city by then Mayor Bill White and the Houston city council. His reward: “Trae Day.” A day of recognition set aside for him alone; to date he is the only rapper in Houston who holds that distinction. However, in true Trae fashion, he decided to instead turn the day into a celebration.

On July 22, 2008 the first Trae Day kicked off with over 10,000 Houstonians in attendance. There were a multitude of events and activities; including live music, kid friendly giveaways, face painting, school supplies given out, and even HIV screenings. In short, it was a community success. Bolstered by the success of its predecessor, Trae Day 2009 was set to be a similar success, and this time over 15,000 Houstonians came out to show support. …and then the shots rang out.
  While the incident in question was perpetuated by a few youth with no connection to Trae in any manner, the damage to his reputation had been done. Though he could not be directly blamed for the actions of a misguided youth, there were some who were eager to draw a comparison between the contents of his music, and the stereotype of a typical rapper, i.e. “thug music incites violence within its listeners.”

After participating in a round of interviews to address the situation, he ultimately ended up in front of a detractor of this type. During an interview on the “Mad Hatta Morning Show,” a popular program on 97.9 KBXX, Houston’s only hip hop station, it took a turn for the worse after on-air personality Nnete Inyangumia posed the question of whether the shooting, [which yielded no casualties], could perhaps be expected as inevitable due to the nature of Trae’s music, which tends to voice experiences and events from within the underbelly of the city. However the flaw with this opinion lies in the fact that it fails to take into account that Trae Daywas awarded because of the exorbitant amount of community service that Trae commits to throughout the city, both in and out of the limelight.

From speaking engagements within a multitude of neighborhood schools, to his time with “No More Victims,” a non-profit organization that caters to youth whose parents are currently incarcerated, and even visiting hospitals; [most notably when he befriended Devin Hebert, a youth on a path to football stardom before being left paralyzed after a freak accident on field]
Thus to hold him accountable for the actions of another, are to discount the contributions that he has given to the city of Houston, and calls into question the judgment of the officials who awarded him with Trae Day in the first place.

To no surprise, Trae took offense to the implications made by Nnete, and responded in the manner in which many artists do, via venting through their music. The result: His verse on the “Uptown” remix, which brazenly stated “Look at you with your bad built ass, you’re trash/ I’m so far gone you ain’t even in the past.” “I guess it’s understood while I’m rolling on glass/and the world hating on me like Nnete fat ass.”

While a jab at someone’s physical appearance can justly be labeled as immature to some, in the context of hip hop history it can be seen as tame when held in comparison to the giants of hip hop diss records like “Ether” or the infamous “Hit Em Up.” This is where the line where business and personal first blurred. Following this, 97.9 effectively banned Trae from its airwaves. However as the Houston Press noted, “It was like Trae was Lord Voldemort, an archenemy never to be mentioned by name again.” An apt assessment, for in addition to his own music being banned from the station, any songs featuring him were banned as well.

Flash forward to the summer of 2010. Nearly a year has passed since the initial incident which sparked the controversial interview, yet the consequences of it remain the same. The ban remains intact.

Undoubtedly Trae has suffered the most from this injunction. With a virtual blanket placed upon him, not only is he unable to get his music aired in Houston, but the ban potentially extends to all other Radio One affiliates. Radio One incredibly owns the only hip hop station in the nation’s fourth largest city, it also owns and operates approximately 53 other stations in 16 different markets. While it is only the seventh largest in relation to radio broadcasters, it is known for almost exclusively targeting the “urban audience.” Thus the ban holds bigger implications for an artist poised to break into mainstream consciousness and potentially return the spotlight to the city of Houston.

Moreover, it has extended far beyond music. During the aftermath of the Haiti calamity Houston artists, under the leadership of hip hop legend Bun B, came together to raise funds and supplies for the victims of the earthquake. Unfortunately, due to the imposed ban, 97.9 not only refused any form of promotion but participation from themselves if Trae was to be involved in any fashion.

In relation to the severity of the ban and the Haiti event Trae has stated, “They [promoters] can’t promote with me. They can’t call me to do shows. They can’t advertise with me. When all those people died in Haiti and Bun asked me to do that show, The Box wouldn’t advertise it because I was on there. How is that good for anyone? How is that the right thing to do?”

Though he formally bowed out so as not to disrupt the event, he still appeared; with supplies, including a multitude of cases of water, in tow. Unfortunately, the ban has extracted other casualties. After playing a Chamillionaire track featuring a verse from Trae, longtime DJ duo The Kracker Nutz were effectively fired from The Box. Their departure from a preapproved song list, i.e. the playing of a song that dared have a feature from Trae was cited as the reason for their departure.

DJ Michael “5000” Watts, a Houston legend in his own right who headlines a weekly show, now sees less airtime every Sunday evening. This seems to be the aftermath of an appearance from rapper Killa Kyleon, during which time Trae was mentioned on air.

The latest victim of the dispute was the popular DJ Brandi Garcia, another longtime fixture at 97.9. She was abruptly let go after playing a song that contained a verse from Trae while working a 50 Cent concert. Ludicrous considering the concert in question was done with no affiliation, promotion, or sponsorship from The Box. She has currently set forth litigation against the station.

Ultimately, the biggest loser in this situation has been the city of Houston itself. The result of a one station monopoly has become evident from its airwaves. Stagnant rotation, and limited to no support of local artists. The product is a city held captive by the same daily rotation, and a situation in which it has become far easier for a Dallas artist to gain airplay than it is for an actual Houstonian.

So the question remains: Does, or rather, should a station harbor this much power? Moreover, does a petty personal quandary outweigh business?
In any case it seems as if many have had enough of The Box’s antics, and with the proliferation of online music consumption, perhaps Hot99 Jamz, a new online radio station based in Houston, can bring back a semblance of the purpose of radio.

Ideally, radio walks a tightrope between enlightening the masses on what is new musically, while also playing what the people want to hear. By these criteria, 97.9 has failed on both accounts.

If this controversy can be likened to the battle between David and Goliath, it must always be noted…that David won. Indeed, the truth really cannot be banned.