Fighter: Trinidad James
Trainer (Gym): None (Gold Gang Records)
Cut Men: Buddha Beatz, Cocaine Deezy, MDMA and others
Weight Class: New Jack, Club Rapper
Notable Fire: All Gold Everything, Team Vacation (Feat. Spook, Coop & Snake), $outh$ide (Feat. Forte Bowie)
Notable Trash: Madden on Gamecube (Feat. Juke), Tonk For The Money
Tale of the Tape: One could make the argument that we have never seen more of a meteoric rise in the rap game than the one authored by Nicholas Williams aka Trinidad James over the course of the last 10 weeks. The 25-year-old rapper from Trinidad and Tobago, by way of Atlanta, claims to have only been rapping (as a serious means to make a living) for about 11 months! Yet he’s managed to use the success of his first mixtape, Don’t Be S.A.F.E. (Sensitive As Fuck Everyday), and his smash lead single “All Gold Everything”, to become one of the most intriguing rap acts entering 2013.
Sidebar: Trinidad even performed on BET’s 106 & Party New Year’s Eve Special (albeit an uninspired performance after about the :45 mark, but we can give him a pass as this was probably his first live performance on national television), with much more established acts such as T.I., Meek Mill & Machine Gun Kelly.
Upon his release from a February 2012 arrest, James decided to make music his full-time hustle. In April, he went into the studio and, with the help of his cousins and friends, completed Don’t Be S.A.F.E. about two months later. The mixtape was officially released in mid-October, the video for his lead single dropped in November and by early December, record labels were fighting over the eccentric emcee. Ultimately, Trinidad would ink a deal with Def Jam Records less than three weeks ago worth (reportedly) $2M.
Perhaps the oddest part of this story was the creative process behind Don’t Be S.A.F.E. As a Johnny-Come-Lately to the game, Trinidad didn’t have the connections or resources to have a star-studded cast of producers. So, in a true hustler’s fashion, he discovered several “free” instrumentals online, while receiving a few others via his people’s, and created the mixtape before you. The result: an eclectic collection of beats that carry the tape.
Sidebar: Seriously, finding out the names of the actual producers responsible for this project (in preparation for this review) has been an exercise in futility, with the exception of a few names he revealed with The Breakfast Club.
The lighthearted “Females Welcomed“, featuring Reija Lee, leaves you in good spirits and is a relatable song for so many men that prefer playing the field over settling down. “Team Vacation” features a surprisingly intricate beat and sounds like an album quality record that contains a very dope guitar riff in the middle of it. The drum kicks and cymbal crashes on “One More Molly” are creative and hot enough to make an otherwise forgettable track palatable, if not decent.
Conversely, the lyrics of Trinidad James and his comrades are terrible to say the least. Look no further than the lead single to hear the brutal wordplay firsthand. “All Gold Everything” is barely even a song. Rather, it’s one long verse sandwiched between two hooks. In it, James demonstrates no discernible rhyme pattern and leaves in his wake enough butchered couplets and broken bars to make even the biggest rap novice cringe (let alone a purist).
Sidebar: Rhyming the word “summer” with “public” and “niggas” with “money” is enough to make you want to stick your head in the oven.
Still, “All Gold Everything” is undeniably captivating. So much so, that it contains the 2013 clubhouse leader for best catch phrase. This was James’ attempt at making a record strictly for the streets— mission accomplished. While often perplexing, the video is definitely entertaining and memorable, as James has made it known that visuals are extremely important to him. His look and style is all a part of the Trinidad package, one that has drawn many comparisons to a classic TV character.
Sidebar: James may actually be facing a law suit filed by the co-creator of Martin. Although it’s hard to imagine how this would hold up in court, because if Rick Ross didn’t lose his case…never mind.
Fight Night: Winner By Split Decision
This mixtape is the exact reason why we’ve included different categories (or weight classes) for rappers. It’s impossible to judge Trinidad James on the same scale in which one would judge Lupe Fiasco. It isn’t fair to anyone. Overall though, Don’t Be S.A.F.E. is a fun, unique and entertaining mixtape if you’ve kept your expectations in check.
The flaws are still glaring: A horrific lyrical performance, a short mixtape that has only 10, extremely shallow, tracks which took two months to create (including multiple skits, which makes you wonder if he’ll be up to the demands of a major label) and a nasty habit of repeating the same lines over and over again, which he did for 60 seconds on “Tonk For The Money”.
Nevertheless, you can see the potential in him to be a mainstream success. James will sprinkle in the occasional comical line, such as, “My side effects is ‘asshole'” on the song “One More Molly” (it also seems as though he is one of the bigger Molly supporters in hip-hop today). And the creativity with which he selected his beats is a tremendous quality to have considering the audience to which he appears to be catering himself.
He even briefly takes a stab at social commentary on “Givin’ No F*cks” when he says, “I don’t understand these people just like I don’t understand this government/All I see is these new buildings, but single mothers still struggling/I still see these homeless children, they ain’t even got no role models.” And none of this has stopped him from collab’ing with artists like Gucci Mane, Wale and possibly T.I. and Curren$y.
At first glance, Trinidad James appears to be nothing more than the evil spawn of 2 Chainz. But James defiantly maintains he is both an individual and artist who is to be taken seriously. He is also part of a growing number of rappers who consider themselves to be high-fashion connoisseurs (James used to run his own men’s boutique in Atlanta). Hip-hop has always had its share of unique takes on fashion (see Goodie Mob, Andre 3000 & Ghostface Killah) and fashion trend-setters (see Run DMC, N.W.A., Biggie, Jay-Z & Cam’Ron), but this new group (Chainz, Kanye, Diddy, A$AP Rocky and Trinidad etc.) are really pushing the limits of what the culture considers to be “proper attire”, for better or for worse.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who you ask), James is doing the same with the music. His lack of a regard for rhyme structure indicates he is bordering on some other genre that really isn’t hip-hop at all.
Intentional? Maybe. He’s said that his goal is to “bring culture out of Atlanta”. But now that he’s waving the Def Jam flag, it’s fair to wonder whether or not he’ll be able to stay true to what has gotten him to this point in just a few short months. Others are still struggling to find a happy medium.
Def Jam President, Joie Manda was quoted as saying:
“Trinidad James represents the cutting-edge of what’s happening in the culture today. We are thrilled to have him at the label, and look forward to growing his already massive buzz.”
Sounds well-intentioned enough. But if there’s one thing we all know to be true, it’s industry rule #4,080.
Update: Check out the “All Gold Everything Remix” featuring T.I., Jeezy & 2 Chainz.