Fat Trel Speaks on Latest Project "Nightmare on E Street 2"
WORDS WITH WORD$ INTERVIEW #27
Artwork by Tony Caves
Yo, it’s the Pope, 1000WORD$.
Welcome to WORDS WITH WORD$. Today I am bringing you an exclusive interview with Washington DC rapper Fat Trel. A few months ago, I was invited to take a Polaroid of Fat Trel to help promote his long-awaited latest album, “Nightmare on E Street 2,” which dropped last night. After I took his picture, Fat Trel allowed me a few minutes of his time to sit down and have the conversation that you are about to read. The image I captured is above, with illustrations and embellishment done by Tony Caves.
Hailing from Northeast DC, Fat Trel embarked on his musical career in 2008 with the release of his debut project, "Noska Musik." Although released in the underground, "Noska Musik" served as the bedrock for Fat Trel's future success, earning him a dedicated fan base in the DC area His talent soon attracted the attention of major players in the industry, leading to his signing with Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group (MMG) in 2013. This pivotal moment propelled Fat Trel into the national spotlight, granting him the opportunity to collaborate with renowned artists and expand his reach far beyond his local scene.
Under the MMG banner, Fat Trel released a series of mixtapes that solidified his position as a formidable force in the rap game. Projects like "Gleesh" (2014) and "Georgetown" (2015) showcased his distinct ability to blend gritty street tales with infectious hooks and hard-hitting beats. His mixtapes and early singles like “Russian Roulette” with Chief Keef garnered critical acclaim and propelled Fat Trel to new heights, amassing fans from all corners of the globe.
Yet, alongside his successes, Fat Trel has faced his fair share of challenges. In 2017, he encountered legal troubles that resulted in a period of incarceration. He transformed his time behind bars into a catalyst for his creativity and unwavering determination to conquer adversity. During our conversation, the rapper opened up about the 2021 murder of his close friend and rapping partner, Boosa da Shoota. Fat Trel expressed the profound impact of losing Boosa, which happened while Trel was still serving time in prison.
Fat Trel shared that his latest album “Nightmare on E Street 2” is inspired by Boosa’s memory and legacy. The project is Fat Trel’s return to the spotlight and his first full length project in almost three years. Tap in.
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1000WORD$: What's going on, man? It's the Pope, 1000WORD$. I'm here with Fat Trel, the motherfucking legend, man.
Fat Trel: What it do, bro? How you?
1000WORD$: Chilling man you know. For the people that's about to read this, man, let them know where you from?
Fat Trel: I'm from Washington DC, the Northeast section, Bennet Road, 1600 Block, East Street, 15th Street, Pinnacles.
1000WORD$: Describe a summertime growing up in DC.
Fat Trel: The summertime? What, like in DC?
1000WORD$: Yeah, like growing up as a kid, like, what would you get into? Like, what would you do? Like in New York, we would open up the pumps and have water balloon fights.
Fat Trel: They open up the little pumps on the street, sometimes in DC. But for the most part like we… for our hoods, we have like days where the Go-go bands come around your way as well as finger painting people and all the ice cream trucks and shit like that. So in the summertime you might have certain quarter day, E street day, 37 day, whatever Bennett Park Day, whatever. And we just go to all these different days and have fun like that. Other than that, just the Go-gos at nighttime.
1000WORD$: How was the culture in your house like what were your parents listening to?
Fat Trel: My mom listened to a lot of Anita Baker, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Joe Lover. Classics. R Kelly. She listened to you know, those was the things that she would listen to while we're cleaning up around the house or whenever she was cooking or even at night when she was like having a bad night and she'll be drinking by herself. It was always like Anita Baker and like Al Green and stuff.
1000WORD$: What was your first interaction with hip-hop that like, you can remember you was like, “Oh shit,” what was like, what was the song that you remember listening to?
Fat Trel: I think my first time fallen in love with music was when I was riding around with my father and he was listening to Scarface "Money and the Power." So like my first like, official song that I ever fell in love with had to be like "Money and The Power," just the way the lyrics and the way Scarface was like, narrating the record, and he was talking about his brother coming from New Jersey and how he was fucking the money up and he was chasing bitches and he wasn't a real hustler. And he wasn't fit for the area that Scarface grew up in Houston. I felt like I understood it so well at a young age. And it was like, I instantly fell in love with music. Right then and there.
1000WORD$: When did you find out you could put words together?
Fat Trel: I think I was like in third grade. And I was always... Okay, so from a child from like, a baby always went from banging on the pots and pans in the kitchen. And then my mom would let me play with the drummer dude at church. So I started out with drums at first, and I always walk around the house singing all the songs that my mother would play. I knew them by heart. And then I fell in love with rap. So by the time third grade came, it was a talent show at my school. And I told my mother that I wanted to participate, but I didn't know what I wanted to do. And she was like, “Why don't you write a rap?” And I wrote a rap it was called "My Ghetto Neighborhood." In the third grade and ever since that first rap it was always a challenge to write raps and then like so I guess you could say from third grade. In third grade I wrote my first song and then after that I just fell in love with like rapping like and trying to rap. Make lines, make words rhyme and you know build songs, count bars, make hooks and stuff like that.
1000WORD$: Where at in DC would you go to get mixtapes and CDs and things like that?
Fat Trel: Okay, so I'm from the Northeast section of DC. So I'm across the street from the pinnacles. We got this shopping center is called Hechinger Mall. And then Hechinger Mall, the bootleg man was standing in front of the old Blockbuster, Blockbuster got torn down you know... at least I don't think there's no more Blockbusters. But in front of the Blockbuster, the bootleg man was sitting in front of the Blockbuster. And I believe my first rap album I ever bought was Nelly's “Country Grammar.”
1000WORD$: Oh fire.
Fat Trel: That was a classic bro like I knew every word on that on that fucking album from beginning to end.
1000WORD$: That was the first time I think I heard like a nursery get flipped like that. So fast forward, what was your first project that you put out?
Fat Trel: My first project I ever put out was called “Noska Musik” and noska is like back in 2008 and 2009, we was calling… you know regular weed was still a thing. You know you were smoking Reggie and you would bag Dro to put a little bit of your Dro inside your blunt with your Reggie. So right then in '08 and '09 the best Dro in the city was called Noska. So I don't know why I never really fully understood the word Noska. But, so when I was like 18 my first project I ever made I called it “Noska Musik.” It's like real, real underground. And to be honest, it’s one of my favorite projects I have created. It's real dope. It's raw. It was my first project my first time ever creating whole songs where I wrote everything… the hooks, I helped with the production and with the beats. The Bass Hedz who produced it, some DC bass producers called the Bass Hedz, there used to be three of them. And I helped produce the whole tape. “Noska Musik” was my first project that was a dope experience.
1000WORD$: When you was able to put your palette together as far as like what you like to listen to, who was somebody you would find in your CD case? Like what was you bumping?
Fat Trel: I was bumping a lot of Rick Ross, [Gucci Mane] and [Lil Wayne] like when I first like jumped off the porch and hustling and robbing and stealing, I mean, you know, everything and above. I was just listening to Rick Ross, Gucci Mane and Wayne real heavy. I felt with Wayne for his lyricism. I fuck with Ross for his mannerisms and like, the way he always spoke like a boss. And so I felt like listening to his music that I was being put on, being put on to how to be a leader. And that's how I felt about Ross music and Gucci music was just like, straight trap cooking crack and you know, killing just so Gucci was like, my go to trap music and Ross is what I would listen to when I was around females to make myself feel like I was a boss and into boss music and had boss mannerisms. And Wayne is just what I would listen to like sitting around with my friends. And we'd be playing Madden and shit we'd be bumping Wayne.
1000WORD$: How much have you sacrificed?
Fat Trel: I sacrificed a lot, bro. You know, my hood is like one of the most well known hoods in DC. And I left it behind. Well not left behind. But I strayed away in order to strive for my music career. And you know, shit. I think I locked myself into a studio for like three years straight, and did nothing but just rap. And I sacrificed a lot. You know, I got three kids. I got a son on the West Coast. I see him the least because where he live. But, I can't even think to imagine how to go down the list of things that I sacrifice. But it was worth it though. Like I don't have no regrets.
1000WORD$: Growing up, did you go to any concerts growing up in DC?
Fat Trel: Well, you know, because I'm from DC, and like, Go-go was the number one music genre in DC, we would always have big rappers coming to town, and they would do a concert and then they will always do an after party with a Go-go band. So it was always like Gucci Mane and backyard or Scarface, or Gucci and TCB, Scarface and backyard shit like that. So I believe like my first full rap concert that I went to was Gucci Mane at what was it called DC started, it was called DC started. And I went to see Gucci perform and he pulled up on his big red tour bus. And he had all these chains and diamonds on. And that's when I was like it just I want to do that. I want to do that. I want to sit on stage, iced out and just tell my story to the world.
1000WORD$: What was your first time performing?
Fat Trel: My first time performing I mean, well shit. If you want to be technical. It will probably have to be that talent show when I was in third grade. You know, I went to Mine Elementary, which is like a pretty big, well known Elementary School in DC like, you know, it's like a trapped out elementary school and to perform for that crowd. And the parents in there and the teachers and stuff like that was a real big thing. But, man, I've been performing a long time because I started out in the open mic circuit. I when I first started taking rap serious I started out in the open mic circuit we had about like, two in Virginia, five in DC and maybe three in Maryland. And every night, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday night, we go to all those different open mics and just perform for the city and for the area. And that's where I met all the different other artists, DJs photographers, strippers, video models, makeup artists, everything just floating around in the open mic circuit is where I got my start.
1000WORD$: What are you currently working on now?
Fat Trel: I'm working on a tape now. It's powered by Asylum. And my big homie Dallas man. Can I speak on the name of the project?
1000WORD$: I could release it when you post the project, when it comes out. We could do that.
Fat Trel: Yeah. It's called “Nightmare on E Street 2.” It's basically like, I'm back in that mode. Attacking the streets, my bread and butter, basically, you know, speaking on what I speak on mostly and that's just the streets. My heart, my pain, my homies out the feds. I lost my little brother Boosa da Shoota, everybody know me knows like, they used to compare me and Boosa to like, Gucci and Waka… that was my best friend, my little brother, my number one truest best friend and I lost him while I was in the prison system. So I'm speaking on that a lot. And what comes with that, carrying on his legacy, making sure his kids straight, and making sure we fulfill making sure that I fulfill all the dreams and promises that we made amongst each other. So, you know, so real detrimental time in my life right now. Fresh out from prison. You know, we got a weird prosecution and we got a real weird judicial system in DC right now who don't want me home, who really wanted to give me life. So I'm just really speaking on that and just trying to stay blessed and prove to the world that I'm not a monster and that I'm gonna good father, and a hustler, and a great artist.
1000WORD$: Shout your babies out.
Fat Trel: My babies, my three babies is Charity, Bricks, and Sayor. They my heart and I got two step kids. Two boys that's Pat Pat and Ding. My youngest man so you know, I count five. I claim five you know, and that's why I do it for my wife and my kids and my brothers and my team like my whole team got a great system around me. Friends that I've known for 10 years plus and we just try and strive for greatness bro and be great and really put the city on where I feel as though DC belong because I feel as though DC should have a way more biggest stake in the industry than we have right now. And that's just my one of my main missions right now.
1000WORD$: Well it was an honor sitting here chopping it up with you my bro.
Fat Trel: Yea bro, I appreciate you dog.
1000WORD$: Thank you for coming through I really appreciate it.
Fat Trel: I appreciate you brother.