KingTrey had to be wise beyond his years.
Planning ahead is a prerequisite in The Chi
I’ve made peace with the fact that I’m an old head at this point. As old heads, it’s almost academic for us to view the next generation with a more than healthy dose of skepticism. Sometimes, it’s warranted. Other times, we’re looking for faults to a fault of our own. In KingTrey, I see a 20 year old who simply “gets it.” And if he keeps this head on his shoulders, it won’t be long before you “get it” when it comes to KingTrey. Recently, I had a chance to chop it up with some young Chicago royalty, peep the outcome:
Every hero has an origin story. Tell me yours.
I grew up on the border of Chicago and a suburb called Evanston. My address technically falls on the Evanston side, but it was the same as growing up in Chicago. I’m sure everyone knows it’s literally the most dangerous city in the U.S., if not the world, so I saw things that people don’t usually see as a kid. I saw people threaten to shoot at people. I saw people threaten to shoot at me.
But the city is also beautiful and electric. I’ve seen the midday rush of downtown Chicago from a 100th floor, with everyone below looking like busy ants. I’ve seen the sunset behind the most beautiful skyline in the world. Chicago is a lot of things, good and bad. But I think it’s the best city in the world and wouldn’t ever wanna live anywhere else.
I’m a lifelong Bulls fan but have never spent more than I day in Chicago. We passed through on Warped Tour, played a show, ate some pizza, and had to be somewhere else immediately. I wanna hear more about Chicago from someone who grew up there. And as an extension of that, how did the city of Chicago shape you as an artist?
Chicago shaped me as an artist because here you grow up a little bit faster. I had (heavy) life experiences to talk about at a very young age.
Also, Chicago has SO many artists, and our hometown hero (Chance) was the first to do a lot of things independently; I watched it all happen. I started listening to him in 2012 when I was 13, and he was like 19 or 20. I saw every move he made and watched and studied those moves as a kid. Something about knowing he grew up no more than 45 mins from where I did always made me feel like I could do it.
I love that mindset! It’s all about manifestation and is something I’m very familiar with. Something I’m not as familiar with, but that I associate with Chicago, is Drill. I only know of the Drill scene from Akademiks. I’m honestly not a fan of that guy at all and think his content often feels exploitative. Do you share that sentiment? How do you feel about Drill in general?
Yeah I feel like Akademiks makes comments and does exploitive things while not knowing what it feels like to live here. People here are paranoid and feel like they’re in danger every time they step outside, and they are. I feel like for you to take that and just suck whatever clout or clicks or follows you can out of that just isn’t right at all. Personally, I’m not a drill fan. I went through a phase in middle school when Chief Keef was hot, but it didn’t last more than a month or two.
Strengths and weaknesses of the Chicago scene:
I’m assuming you mean the music scene (he assumed correctly) so…
Strengths: We’re versatile. We’re unified. Chicago artists always support each other. We’re the base point for independence.
I might be biased but I can’t think of any weaknesses haha.
Favorite artists in the Chicago scene:
Chance The Rapper
Saba
Mick Jenkins
Joey Purp
Femdot
He’s not a favorite, but I have mad respect for Chief Keef and I’ve started to gain respect for Lil Durk and Polo G
Mick Jenkins is NIIIICE!!!! I’m a Baltimore transplant by way of NY, but it’s become home. Do you have any desire to rest your head anywhere else? Or is it Chicago forever?
CHICAGO FOREVER
Jay-Z is in the same elevator as you. Sell him on KingTrey in one sentence:
I would tell him I’m the hardest and smartest worker he’d come across.
I don’t wanna sound cliche, but I just love love.
Name something that best symbolizes you. And why.
Either The Bible or a heart. Haha I don’t wanna sound cliche but I just love love. I feel like you should just spread love and show love to everyone. People tell me I’m the happiest, most positive person they know. That’s because I love my life, and I show love to everyone. I also love Jesus, and Jesus is love.
What is KingTrey most passionate about outside of music? Explain.
I wanna help others. I want to start with my family. We’ve struggled forever, generations and generations. I wanna break that cycle for good and then I wanna help as many people as possible.
Your desire to make a real difference makes me ecstatic as a former educator. As far as the music itself goes, do you have a process you utilize to shape a project conceptually and sonically? How does your most recent work fit into the bigger equation?
I usually come up with a theme and make songs that fit. My latest project felt like the end of the beginning. It was my first full-length Mixtape and I called it “Vision.” It was basically me coming out saying that I’ve done enough to validate myself and at this point, you can’t deny the Vision I’ve always had because it’s coming to fruition. My next project will be a celebration. I don’t wanna give the name out, but make sure you come ready to celebrate with me.
Live is where I can let it all out.
Tell me about your stage show. How does it differ from the recorded product?
For a live show, I try to take the crowd on a complete rollercoaster. I wanna make the lit songs even more lit and my heartfelt songs hit home even more. I feel like it’s hard to show all of your passion while recording because you‘re still trying to make everything good sonically. Live is where I can let it all out. We’ll go from jumping for two songs straight to everyone putting their cellphone lights up while I’m pouring my heart out.
Where are you in a year? In five years? What’s your ultimate goal in this shit?
In a year, I’ll be straight. I’ll be doing festivals and touring and millions of streams a month. In five years, I’ll be the equivalent to Drake right now. I want to be one of the best to do it. I want to put my name in music’s history books.
What do we have coming up in terms of more content?
I’m gonna finish out the year with three or four more singles and at least two with some bigger features. But I already have the idea for my next EP, and I’m gonna start working on it in the next couple weeks.
The most commonplace music interview question ever, but I still have to know…Biggest influences:
Chance is a huge influence in every aspect.
Musically: Drake and Jack Harlow and a little Saba.
I think I neeed to listen to more Saba…You’re a Gem, homie. Please tell the people where to find you and whatever else you want them to know:
You can find me on Instagram @TheKingTrey and all streaming services @ “KingTrey.” I want to give some advice to artists: If you study the game and put your time in and work hard everyday, you can do anything. You can be as big and as successful as you want.
Check out the latest and greatest from KingTrey on Spotify.
I’m your friendly neighborhood MC Bravado; many thanks for reading. You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and/or your favorite place to grab music. Please remember to be kind to one another and that “Michael Jordan is the GOAT” is a fact and not an opinion.
