Trife in the Valley
By, MadBrooke
Trife In the Valley: San Fernando Valley’s finest suits up for the battle between truth and materialism in hip-hop.
Thirty-minutes north of South Los Angeles lies one of Cali’s grittiest suburbs. Panorama City’s golden child Triflon (yep like your lazy brother who doesn’t want to get off of moms couch), is a devout lyricist who is turning a high-school pastime into major bread. But don’t let the name fool you; it’s an acronym for, [Truth Reveals Itself Fully Leaving Others Non Existent.] Inspired by truth and an obligation to represent realness, the 26-year-old hustler-turned-rapper is putting his town on the map with plans to leave a legacy behind that will make way for a new breed of rapper from someplace other than LA.
California’s San Fernando Valley is viewed from afar as an “upper class” suburb of Los Angeles. Tourist attractions like Magic Mountain and plush homes mask the slums with crime rates that rank higher than some of toughest streets on the West Coast. “The 818, its still LA,” Triflon explains. “But we don’t get that same respect. Everybody don’t know that its really hoods out that way. They think that it’s the suburbs; niggas out there ballin’ and livin’ rich.” Unfortunately that is not the case. With a rash of shootings and murders, what was once a highly desired location developed into a hotbed for crime. Yet out of the rubble Trife has emerged with a team strong enough to make a significant influence on lyricists worldwide. The rapper admits he’s never been shot or stabbed, but the streets he grew up in were Just Like Compton. “I used to gang bang. At the time I was young, I was thinking its all about the hood, its all about the homies. Riding on people I don’t even know. Getting rode on by people I don’t even know, over colors, the gang, or the streets that we don’t even own [I realized] we brainwashed.”
Taking a positive turn in his life by jumping on what people have been pushing him to pursue since the lyrical cyphers he rocked back in high school Tife is keeping it grass roots. His mixed tape, West Coast Movement Volume 1, is circulating the streets; and get this; he’s giving them away. His independent deal with One on One Distribution (also responsible for Game’s Stop Snitching DVD) plan to light the torch that is predicted to set the west coast rap scene ablaze. The album will feature tracks produced by Drone and Rob Ray.
Redefining street life is what inspires the 26-year old black-on-black lyricist to go against the traditional hip-hop agenda. “[I] Put the real feel back into music and take away from materialistic things,” Trife says. “Rappers now, just talk about rims and jewelry. They talk about all these things more than what’s really goin’ on. Everybody in the world aint rich, so everybody in the world can’t relate to that fairy tale stuff you see on TV.”
Now, a seven-year rap veteran, Trife has parted ways from his original group The Street Chief’s, to work on a solo career. His forthcoming album, In Position for Victory is scheduled to drop in February 2007. “I’m getting in position to take over the game,” he says explaining the title of the album. “Not just 818, not just California, I’m talking about the world, I’m getting in a position for victory.”
Trife credits Pac as one of his biggest influences. “I feel like Tupac was real. He speaks for us, the streets. Like Hurricane Katrina for instance, after all that happened I didn’t see not one rapper from New Orleans speak on it. They went back to talking about jewelry and cars.” Sparking the mind that will change the world was one thing Pac believed he was capable of and in an effort to accentuate the positive, Trife wants his love for the streets to seep through his West Coast inspired bars and lyrically douse fans with a taste of his truth. Tracks like “Black Pain” display his ability to convey a more political style that stands to evoke controversy and at the same time educate.
Rappers like DMX and Mase expressed their belief that they possess an inner gift which would offer lyrics in the form of a god-given message, but Trife, who attends church every Sunday to maintain focus, is trying his hand in the rap game first. “If I wasn’t a rapper I’d be a teacher. I think that’s what I was put here to do, teach in some kind of way. If it aint rappin’, it would be teachin’. If it aint teachin’ it would be preachin’.”
Even though he is candid about his thug mentality, Triflon shies away from dissing other rappers on tracks. He is looking to change the direction of artists to come after him. After feeling the pain from the violent deaths of his two uncles, he wants his raps to unify instead of creating beef. “I aint into them hip hop games,” he says with a confident smirk. “That’s for clowns. Beefin—if you want to beef, come to the streets with that beef.”
Trife In the Valley: San Fernando Valley’s finest suits up for the battle between truth and materialism in hip-hop.
Thirty-minutes north of South Los Angeles lies one of Cali’s grittiest suburbs. Panorama City’s golden child Triflon (yep like your lazy brother who doesn’t want to get off of moms couch), is a devout lyricist who is turning a high-school pastime into major bread. But don’t let the name fool you; it’s an acronym for, [Truth Reveals Itself Fully Leaving Others Non Existent.] Inspired by truth and an obligation to represent realness, the 26-year-old hustler-turned-rapper is putting his town on the map with plans to leave a legacy behind that will make way for a new breed of rapper from someplace other than LA.
California’s San Fernando Valley is viewed from afar as an “upper class” suburb of Los Angeles. Tourist attractions like Magic Mountain and plush homes mask the slums with crime rates that rank higher than some of toughest streets on the West Coast. “The 818, its still LA,” Triflon explains. “But we don’t get that same respect. Everybody don’t know that its really hoods out that way. They think that it’s the suburbs; niggas out there ballin’ and livin’ rich.” Unfortunately that is not the case. With a rash of shootings and murders, what was once a highly desired location developed into a hotbed for crime. Yet out of the rubble Trife has emerged with a team strong enough to make a significant influence on lyricists worldwide. The rapper admits he’s never been shot or stabbed, but the streets he grew up in were Just Like Compton. “I used to gang bang. At the time I was young, I was thinking its all about the hood, its all about the homies. Riding on people I don’t even know. Getting rode on by people I don’t even know, over colors, the gang, or the streets that we don’t even own [I realized] we brainwashed.”
Taking a positive turn in his life by jumping on what people have been pushing him to pursue since the lyrical cyphers he rocked back in high school Tife is keeping it grass roots. His mixed tape, West Coast Movement Volume 1, is circulating the streets; and get this; he’s giving them away. His independent deal with One on One Distribution (also responsible for Game’s Stop Snitching DVD) plan to light the torch that is predicted to set the west coast rap scene ablaze. The album will feature tracks produced by Drone and Rob Ray.
Redefining street life is what inspires the 26-year old black-on-black lyricist to go against the traditional hip-hop agenda. “[I] Put the real feel back into music and take away from materialistic things,” Trife says. “Rappers now, just talk about rims and jewelry. They talk about all these things more than what’s really goin’ on. Everybody in the world aint rich, so everybody in the world can’t relate to that fairy tale stuff you see on TV.”
Now, a seven-year rap veteran, Trife has parted ways from his original group The Street Chief’s, to work on a solo career. His forthcoming album, In Position for Victory is scheduled to drop in February 2007. “I’m getting in position to take over the game,” he says explaining the title of the album. “Not just 818, not just California, I’m talking about the world, I’m getting in a position for victory.”
Trife credits Pac as one of his biggest influences. “I feel like Tupac was real. He speaks for us, the streets. Like Hurricane Katrina for instance, after all that happened I didn’t see not one rapper from New Orleans speak on it. They went back to talking about jewelry and cars.” Sparking the mind that will change the world was one thing Pac believed he was capable of and in an effort to accentuate the positive, Trife wants his love for the streets to seep through his West Coast inspired bars and lyrically douse fans with a taste of his truth. Tracks like “Black Pain” display his ability to convey a more political style that stands to evoke controversy and at the same time educate.
Rappers like DMX and Mase expressed their belief that they possess an inner gift which would offer lyrics in the form of a god-given message, but Trife, who attends church every Sunday to maintain focus, is trying his hand in the rap game first. “If I wasn’t a rapper I’d be a teacher. I think that’s what I was put here to do, teach in some kind of way. If it aint rappin’, it would be teachin’. If it aint teachin’ it would be preachin’.”
Even though he is candid about his thug mentality, Triflon shies away from dissing other rappers on tracks. He is looking to change the direction of artists to come after him. After feeling the pain from the violent deaths of his two uncles, he wants his raps to unify instead of creating beef. “I aint into them hip hop games,” he says with a confident smirk. “That’s for clowns. Beefin—if you want to beef, come to the streets with that beef.”
posted by Sista Girl at 9:15 AM
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