MEMPHIS RAPPER DON TRIP LANDED A RECORD DEAL WITH INTERSCOPE AFTER VENTING HIS BABY MAMA DRAMA ON “LETTER TO MY SON.” When I first heard your name, I thought it was a play on words, like, “Don’t trip.” That’s not what it means though, right? Of course not. Actually, I didn’t pick the name Don. Back when I was fifteen, I used to battle rap. In one of the battle raps I referred to myself as a “Don” and the [fans] started calling me Don. It was something that just fit. I felt like I couldn’t just be The Don, so I added Trip. It was like the scene in 8 Mile where they’re at the factory at the lunch truck, like a little cipher. When you talk about battle rapping, that’s perceived as a New York thing. You don’t see too many Southern battle rappers. I think anybody who considers themselves a lyricist at one point or another came from battle rapping. I don’t think battle rapping is a successful craft in music because you can’t make money from that. You can only do SMACK DVDs for so long. People want to hear records, and nine times out of ten, battle rappers can’t make records. I loved battle rapping more when I was sixteen. Do you think lyricism is a lost art form in Southern rap? I wouldn’t go so far as to say that. I’d just say that individuality is a lost art in music, period. So is that why you decided to come out with a more meaningful record and speak on some real topics? Actually, I just got lucky with “Letter To My Son.” I was just pouring out my heart. That’s what I do. That’s not the only one I recorded with my heart in it, it just so happened to be the one that the world caught onto. And since they caught on, I wasn’t going to say, “Hey, let me play these twelve other records for you, we don’t want to do this one.” It made me quite a bit of money, so I have no problem with it. It caught [Interscope’s] attention once it gained twelve million views without a record deal. It seems like they’re putting a push behind your project. It’s not easy to become a priority at a label like Interscope. What else do you think impressed them about you? The fact that I have more music where I’m
pouring my heart out. I think the first thing they wanted to see was reassurance that that wasn’t my only record. I’ve got seventy songs set aside for the album right now and Interscope has only heard five. Even they don’t know what they’ve got right now. What’s the process when you narrow down seventy songs to twelve? What are you looking for in those records? I’m just trying to make a movie in my head. It’s difficult because there’s seventy records, and of course I’m in love with all seventy record. That’s why I have to trust people around me as well as trust my own judgment. I have to pick twelve to sixteen records that can work, and it’s a little difficult to pick sixteen songs out of seventy. It’s like picking out your kids. It’s like picking sixteen of your kids if you’ve got seventy. Hopefully nobody has seventy kids. (laughs) Have things improved with the mother of your child since “Letter To My Son”? Has she commented on the record? Yeah, she comments a lot. It’s improved, but it’s still shaky. I have to take it one day at a time. It’s a lot better than it was at first but sometimes it gets a little difficult. She must have had some redeeming qualities for you to procreate with her. I mean, I don’t hate her. I’m not mad at her, I’m mad at how she’s taking the situation. I don’t think that’s the proper way to handle it. I mean, we could’ve done anything [else]. I don’t think holding my child against me is the proper way to punish me for whatever we’ve been through. Have you been able to find any legal remedies to make the situation better? No, none whatsoever. But Interscope gave me a nice Christmas gift so I think I might be able to take care of that now. I’ve got enough money to afford real attorneys. We’re not Lamborghini rich right now but we can afford attorneys... To continue reading, log on to ozonemag. com or youtube.com/ozonemag Twitter: @MrDonTrip
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