June 09, 2006 @ 10:56 am

Trae - Restless

by: Mark Lelinwalla

Rhyming may have saved Screwed Up Click and ABN Gang member Trae’s life.

Before releasing the critically acclaimed Rise album, as part of the Guerilla Maab group in 1999, the Houston MC caught an aggravated robbery case that could have sent him to prison for a very long time. “They tried to give me close to 40 years,” a serious Trae told Vibe.com. “But it was a blessing man, the DA knew my lawyer and they felt they could give me another chance for me to not mess my life up.”

With a second wind at hand, Trae vowed to stay focused on his music. Following the release of Rise in ‘99, Trae didn’t waste any time in cranking out his solo material. Spitting with an incredible amount of angst, he kept bombarding his beloved H-Town streets with his albums: Losing Composure, Same Thing Different Day, Drama, Return of the Streets, Say Hello to the Asshole and Later Dayz. Now, the Houston MC is prepping the release of his new album Restless, which is slated to hit stores on July 25.

left While fellow H-Town MCs like Mike Jones, Paul Wall and Slim Thug often choose to stunt hard over material items in their rhymes and videos, Trae opts to paint vivid pictures of his city’s streets. “There’s nothing wrong with rhyming about material things you have. I just choose to talk about the streets,” says the tatted-up, Rap-A-Lot recording artist.

And, it’s that constant connection to the streets that his fellow MCs respect about him.

“Trae is just a real ni**a,” says Jamaica, Queens MC Grafh, who has collaborated with Trae in the past. “I’ve been down to Houston and seen how ni**as operate and he’s real. He is who he says he is. He does what he says he’s going to do. I think hip hop fans from all over will want to hear him.”

And Trae agrees. In fact, he’s comfortable wherever he goes. “I’m good in New York because they know I’m real and I’m street, I’m good in Cali because they know I’m real and of course I’m good in Houston and in the South,” says Trae. “You’re gonna see a lot of real sh*t coming from me.”

Perhaps it doesn’t get any realer than Trae’s single, “Swang,” off his Restless album. Trae recorded “Swang” with fellow Screwed Up Click member Big Hawk, while using the vocals of the late Fat Pat on the song, as well. While the song was made to keep the legends of the late DJ Screw and Fat Pat alive, Trae found himself in an eerie situation following the recording: in early May, Hawk was shot and killed in Houston.

“I went to the crime scene. It was like losing a brother,” says Trae. “I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure no one forgets about him and what he did for Houston. ’Swang’ is already a classic.”

With tragedy after tragedy and even now more angst knocking on his door, Trae is doing his best to make sure that his forthcoming album, Restless, is his most complete material to date. Restless features the likes of Pimp-C and Bun B of Houston’s legendary UGK, Paul Wall, Three 6 Mafia, Mya, Yung Joc, Jim Jones and Trae’s cousin Z-Ro.

However, despite making an honest attempt to keep his mind on the music, the no-nonsense rhyme spitter remains cognizant of the streets looming peril, which always seems to find him and his inner circle. “Last year I ended up catching a bullshit case being in a shootout that wasn’t even our fault. We go through shit on a day to day basis,” says Trae. “Shit, my brother Dinky doing three life sentences, I can’t be there. I don’t even want him there. I gotta do this for him and for me and my whole family.

“I’m gonna be consistent till they put me in my grave and hopefully when they put me in my grave, it’s still gonna be consistent.”

Restless, indeed.