Today we’d like to introduce you to Trees, The Rapper.
Hello Trees, The Rapper, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
I’ve been making music all my life, since before I can even remember. My love and passion for making music come from my dad, he plays guitar and sings. He often tells me the story of him singing songs to my mom’s belly when she was pregnant with me, he’d tell me music is ingrained in my DNA.
I learned to play guitar, drums, bass & piano and was performing on stage with bands by the time I was in middle school. I played snare drum in my high school’s marching band and played drums in a band with a friend of mine. Those friends introduced me to Flying Lotus and I became bonafide hip-hop from that point forward.
I started writing verses, experimenting with Fruity Loops, and digging deeper into hip-hop itself. After I graduated, my band split up and I committed fully to being a rapper.
At 19, I released my first full-length rap project as Trees, The Rapper entitled ‘Flock To The Trees’. Now at age 25, I’ve got three full-length projects under my belt, directed a few short films, toured the country performing my songs, made so many friends, and collaborated with amazing artists, it’s been an incredible journey to where I am as an artist today.
I feel more creative than ever, more inspired than ever, this is only the beginning.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have definitely been struggles, and there are times when everything fell into place. It’s been a little of both, but I think that’s a valuable part of the process as an artist or in any other field.
Learning that sometimes shit will just fall apart or go completely left field from what you planned, then you learn how to adapt at the moment and evolve and figure it out. You learn to not hold your head down and hold on to the things that went wrong, you gotta create a positive from the negative you feel me?
I had two albums in a row, Cakey & Treezus get completely erased via a hard drive crash. Cakey was in 2018 and I was heartbroken but my longtime engineer, Spekulate The Philosopher, took great care of me, we re-recorded the whole album and ended up with two new songs and the project ended up being better for it.
Then, two years later, the hard drive containing Treezus crashed the day before I was supposed to release it! For that to happen on back-to-back projects, I was completely distraught. But I look back and smile because ultimately it was a necessary part of my growth as a person and as an artist.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Trees, The Rapper, it’s in my name! I’m a man of many facets but I pride myself on my lyricism & songwriting, I would say most people know me for my conceptual approach to music and my flow.
All 3 of my full-length projects could be classified as “concept albums”. They all tell a story and create a unique atmosphere where every minute detail was handcrafted with intention. That’s also what sets me apart, my attention to detail. I’m a bit of a perfectionist sometimes, but that’s because I’m so damn passionate about my vision and the execution.
My fans appreciate it and my collaborators respect it. The work I’m most proud of is my upcoming EP ‘prime•cutz’, it’s the sleekest music I’ve made yet and feels completely original and fresh. Really excited to release it next month!
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Rhymezone & Wordhippo. These two websites have helped me tremendously. From expanding and improving my vocabulary to figuring out that word I couldn’t think of while writing a verse.
Rhymezone provides exact rhymes, near rhymes, and phrase rhymes for any word or phrase you type in their search bar. Simple and straightforward, it helps to keep my brain from getting stuck when writing a verse.
Wordhippo is essentially the same thing but instead of rhymes, it provides antonyms and synonyms of words you search. Check it out, and keep that grammar sharp.
Contact Info:
- Email: TreesTheRapper@gmail.com
- Website: https://linktr.ee/Treestherapper
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/treestherapper
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/treestherapper/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/treestherapper
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCyogHsSpzmllODo_Gl1ft5A
- SoundCloud: https://SoundCloud.com/treestherapper
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0qmbePruErTA1oPAmu6uGL?si=NCXyHAzCTTWjFi7UyqUJfw
