Trinidad Jame$ is, by his own admission, broke. A year and a half after signing to Def Jam in December 2012 and working since then on his debut album and a couple mixtape projects, Jame$s tweeted to his 350K+ followers: "I got dropped by the Label. My Album is now free. If u hear ur beat or verse on it. I hope u want dap cuz i got no money." Jame$ attributes the split to creative differences, but from New York's perspective, Jame$' penniless fate reads rather like karma.
Arrogant as he may be, Trinidad Jame$ isn't quite ready to call it quits for his rap career, even after New York's radio hosts explicitly blackballed his music while fellow Atlanta artists distanced themselves from Jame$' disastrous claim that "we run [New York], musically." This week, Jame$ dropped a new song, "H.O.M.E.," with Drake's latest co-signee, iLoveMakonnen. Given Jame$ and Makonnen's Atlanta connection, and the fact that they've already recorded a handful of tracks together, Jame$ may well have an eventual hit on his hands. Time will tell.
For now, we decided to catch up with Jame$, who called us from Las Vegas to talk about his old record deal and his new direction. Coming off such a rough summer, Jame$ was surprisingly chill given the day (Monday), hour (10:30 a.m.), and his latest status (funemployed).
You were at Def Jam for about a year and a half, and then you tweeted a few weeks back that you were leaving Def Jam. What happened? Was your departure a mutual agreement?
It was mutual. And how I look at it personally was it was a difference in creativity. And just the type of artist that I am. I feel that I was still getting in contact with my people, my cult following of people who really want to rock with me, and that was getting kind of thrown off.
By the time you had your 10 PC Mild mixtape out, you were working with several other artists who were also hot throughout 2012, 2013. Did any of those guys reach out to you after you announced that you were leaving Def Jam?
I’ve been working with different people here and there. I haven’t really tried that much to reach out to reach out to many artists because for me personally, right now, I’m focusing on me and doing me the right way, and getting up with the right people for me.
The two tracks you put out in the past couple weeks—“Doin’ Me” and “H.O.M.E.” with iLoveMakonnen—they sound different than 10 PC Mild. Are you still experimenting with your sound and the direction you want to go in?
Definitely, man. As far as mainstream music goes, like this is what’s poppin' or this is what the radio plays, I respect it, but I’m not trying to be just a part of it. I always like to be an innovator. I feel like that’s me all the way back to the beginning, coming with a different sound and changing it up.
Those two recent tracks, they're both produced by Raak, no?
“Doin’ Me” is produced by my boy Raak; he’s kinda from Philly and California. The “Hatin’ on Me” track was produced Sonny Digital, another great Atlanta producer. He did “Birthday Song” and “Racks on Racks on Racks,” and he’s super talented.
It’s summer 2014, and Atlanta’s still popping, obviously. Given your current label situation, where do you see yourself in that whole landscape?
For me, personally, I’m interested in focusing on getting to the people who really rock with me. This whole time I’ve been doing music, and I’ve been teaching myself, and I go, “Oh, okay.” Me finding out whether something is wrong or right is just me going through the experience. I’m not living with ill feelings toward anybody. I just want me to achieve my maximum potential.
Have you done any performances in New York or New Jersey in the last six months?
I haven’t that I can remember.
I know for the "Def Jam" music video, you shot that on Jefferson Avenue in Brooklyn. I’d assumed that was a gesture toward making amends for some of the ill will that came from your comments about New York hip-hop, especially after some of the DJs and radio people up here reacted so negatively to you. Do you see yourself doing any New York shows and New Jersey shows in the next year or so?
Definitely, man. What will never change is that I don’t have a problem with anybody. It’s people have a perception and problems with me, and sometimes I suffer from the consequences of the level of power of who these people are that are having problems with me for their own personal reasons.
What I know, truly in my heart, is that New York is one of the first places that showed me so much love. I didn’t even expect to get so much love when I performed at Santos [Party House] back in the day—not even "back in the day"; that was just the other day. Santos was one of my top performances; it was crazy. New York really showed that love to me. The A$AP crew came out and showed love.
I don’t have a problem with New York, and I never will. I feel like there’s really nothing left for me to explain or even talk about. I’m coming from a standpoint of, “I’m trying to take care of my family. You are too. Let’s make it happen.”
Do you at least feel the love in Atlanta and in the south?
I feel like for me I get a lot of love in different places. Even after the deal, I always felt like I was learning and figuring out, "Who is my true fan base?" Not just people who were so captivated by the movement off “All Gold Everything.” So Atlanta, New York, wherever—I’m still putting together my fan base, of people who really rock with me. You really get to see the true colors of people when you’re at your lowest point.
You really get to see the true colors of people when you’re at your lowest point.
Are you still gonna have an album out in September?
I’m definitely going to have a project done on Sept. 23. That’s my birthday. And that’s the first step of just getting a new music project out. And then I’ll have an EP, and I’ll do my Soundcloud Mondays, which is sorta like the “H.O.M.E.” track today—I’ll try to do that as consistently as possible.
I feel like over this year and a half, with me focused and worried about so many aspects of entertainment and the music business that I was getting away from what matters most to people: the release of music. The people want music. At the end of the day, what defines you is your music and people having enough music to know you and defend you. I don’t have enough music out there yet. But I’m not just a one-trick pony.
Do you look at “All Gold Everything” in retrospect and regret how fast you blew up off that record? Given how much you seem to appreciate creative freedom at this stage.
I never went into this music business with the wrong intentions or malice in my heart; I just enjoy doing music, and I’m always looking for a way to take care of my family. When I really decided to do the first Don’t Be Safe project, the game wasn’t as interesting to me—it wasn't. In 2012 it was cool, and I respected everybody, but everything started sounding the same. A sound comes, everybody's fascinated, and then somebody else pops off with some new stuff. That's what it's all about.
We’ve recently been covering iLoveMakonnen. How was it working with him for the song you dropped today?
The Atlanta underground scene is full of so many dope artists. Makonnen is definitely one of them, and he’s a good person to work with. Honestly. He’s kind of on the same mindset as me: Just live your life, and take it one day at a time.
Is it the only track that you two have?
We have a few more. It’s nothing to work with him. Like, "Hey, what you got going on?" "What’s up, man?" Like a band. "You playing today?" "Yeah man, you wanna come play with me?" "Cool." He’s a real pleasure to work with, and I respect Makonnen a lot.
