Feature
Trixta: People get ready
Find yourself in the situation so many music lovers do, can’t get enough of the heavy loops and infectious rhyming but not so keen on the lyrical content? If you can’t relate to life in ‘the hood’, don’t want to hear about how wealthy a rapper is or are bored of the clichés… Then Croydon’s new boy on the block Trixta may be exactly what you are looking for, and he’s stopping at nothing to get his message out.
Inspired by some of the greats of the Hip-Hop such as Dre and Eminem, and even some of his contemporaries like N-Dubz and of course Tinie Tempah. However where Trixta comes into his own is that he favours positive inspirational lyrics over tales of greed, sex and fame. His love for music isn’t an uncommon one as he recalls. “Music has always been a part of my life whether it was dancing in the middle of the room at family functions as a youngster, DJ'ing or learning how to MC. But it wasn't until I saw the likes of Dizziee Rascal and The So Solid Crew winning awards and performing on TOTP that I took an immediate interest in the music industry wanting to pursue a career in music. Both acts were a huge inspiration for me as an up & coming MC and proved it could be done.”
His love for music came early at the tender age of 7, having grown up in a musical family, it wasn’t long before he began putting pen to paper and creating tunes that rejected the usual lyrics and promoted a positive message of love and striving to achieve. He recall’s why he felt the need to write music with an uplifting message. “My past experiences have taught me that issues and problems are all temporary, and my remedy for getting through any issue or problem is to focus on the positive aspects of life, which is what I do. All my music is based upon my personal experiences I find it helps when connecting with my audience.”
This quest to promote positive lyrics lead to the release of one of Trixta’s most critically acclaimed tracks to date in 'The Message' a track that saw him receive 1xtra airplay and praise from production master extraordinaire C J Beatz. The socially conscious track is a perfect summation of gang and gun crime that is increasingly oppressing areas of the U.K, Trixta himself explains it better, “The Message for me was about using my own experiences to uplift people, especially at a time when we are seeing the levels of knife and gun crime at its highest. Anything I can do or say to help sway any attention from something so negative I think can only be a good thing.”
However, for all the positive messages and good intentions, this boy’s aspiration doesn’t merely stay underground and like all great artists he believes he has something for everyone as he explains. “My main focus is getting my music out to everyone possible. I have tracks like 'Wait For Me' and 'Changes' that are aimed for a more commercial crowd whereas 'Have Mercy On Me' and 'Trik Dee Zie' cater for the underground. You have to have something for everyone these days.”
Like so much UK Hip-Hop around at the moment Trixta’s music is fresh and almost criminally exciting, the production is innovative and original and the lyrics, well you already know how great they are. The question is what inspires and motivates this young upstart to put pen to paper? In short, his style is far from conventional but is an interesting insight into the mind of Trixta. “My song writing style is a bit different then you might expect, most of the time I start by listening to an instrumental track over and over until I still to really understand what the tune is saying to me, I find it helps the lyrics flow a lot easier,”
And when the lyrics do flower, Trixta manages to do something that so many fail to do and actually sound like he has conviction and credibility in his words, you never feel like he’s ticking any boxes or just same things to be contentious. So, what role does he thing music has in inspiring change and action in youth culture, his answer as you would expect is very sight full. He muses, “ I think music is an incredibly strong way of connecting with younger people, the example I always use is the Beatles, on their arrival in the 60's they were able to capture the ears of millions of teens worldwide. I think as artists our duties are to talk about our own experiences good or bad which in turn could inspire someone else's life who at the time might not feel they have anyone to talk to, but can relate to a particular artist or group because they've been through a similar experience.”
So, with so much talent, determination and inspiration what’s next for Croydon’s own new star? “Well it’s a great time to be part of part of the U.K music scene, so all my attention is going into just spreading the message and getting myself promoted and out there. I love performing live and recording because that’s like recording a magical little piece of art.”
And my last note on the man himself... Don't make the mistake of thinking Trixta is a message bashing rapper who you would expect to be playing the next benefit gig, no-FA-way! What makes him more palatable than his contemporaries is that behind the rhyme he still has a determined business streak, so we’ll leave the closing words to him. “We’re seeing more and more Hip-Hop artists reaping the benefits of having a business and I think that’s great and would like that for me. One of my big ambitions is to record a track with Jay-Z, he’s always been a massive inspiration for me and I’m sure I could learn a lot from him ...and it would help my career!”
Words KEVIN ANGEL
