CJ Trillo - In-depth talk about his music/career
Last week, we were able to sit down with upcoming rap artist CJ Trillo (also known as Sucka Free CJ). The conversation is written out below, check the actual audio at the bottom of this post.
(Bold = us, Italics = CJ/Jacob)
"So Jacob [CJ's manager/friend] here was telling me that this is your first all ages gig. As an upcoming musician, how difficult has it been for you guys to get where you are now?"
"Well I mean, as far as shows it's been quite a process. We were really concerned about the music at first, and other things of that nature you know, the product itself. We kind of got to a spot where we were like 'Okay, we gotta start spreading the music now.' So I wouldn't say it was hard, more like it took a long time for our focus to shift over to shows. As far as my first all ages show, it's something we didn't focus on for a while because we just didn't have the opportunity yet. Once we did get the opportunity, we were lucky because it was at a dope fucking spot. Flyway [the venue] has been open for like what, a month? But from what I've seen, it's really dope. The reason why I wanted to do an all ages show is because I know I have many younger fans out here in southern California."
"So you say that it took a while for you guys to shift your focus to shows, what was your focus before?"
"Really, fuck, like I said man, the music. I have a very one-track mind, you know, it's hard for me to focus on a lotta different things at once. So for me, it was just a lot of the music. Just to make sure that the product we were pushing was up to par, you know I didn't want to have a shitty product, why worry about booking shows when the music is not there. Once we all came to that general consensus, that we all believed in the product,then it was time to forward." -CJ
"Yeah I think some of it that really helped with all that too is that we have a solid team behind us. For a while, it was tough with me and CJ and not knowing what was the next step. The music is first, first things first. If no one is listening, then you're not playing shows. And that's one thing I always made sure he focused on, the music. As far as for me you know, I feel like a while ago, two years ago, it was a handful of things that were always on my mind that allowed us to progress. As a manager it was really on me to try and go out and book shows. Get that network going." -Jacob
"So you're the business, you're the music side, let's hear some history about how you came to be a rapper. What got you started or inspired?"
"Well I started off when I was like 13-14, started playing guitar. I have like two songs on my bandcamp that are like from fucking 2004 or some shit like that haha. I didn't really become passionate about music until I started playing guitar. So I was doing that for like 3 or 4 years, in and out of Indie bands, and then probably around the age of 19, I moved out to LA with my grandma. We were living out in central Hollywood. I didn't have no job, no nothing, so I was just chillin' all day on my fucking computer like-" "Bored?" "Yeah! haha just listening to hip-hop. And I don't know if it was because I'm in LA, you know? Surrounded by all those urban vibes. I don't know exactly what it was, but hip-hop was just calling my name. My homie Andrew, who I haven't seen in years, but uh, he stole me a computer mic! From one of those LAN centers, you know the headsets? And I was fucking stoked! He gave me that shit and was like 'Yo, this is for you to record on.' So I got that shit, downloaded mixcraft, it's like the PC version of garage band. I was just recording off a counter-strike headset for a good year. After that year, people here and there, close friends, particularly Jacob, telling me like 'Yo, you got somethin'.' Then slowly but surely, I started to take it seriously." -CJ
"Well basically, the homie was like, 'Yo, you wanna smoke? Let's write to a beat!' So we'd do that and CJ would write his verse in 15 minutes, and I'd be there for 30 and then be like 'Okay lemme hear what you got.' I would hear it then be totally discouraged haha." -Jacob
"You know, Jacob is the business side, but he likes to sit at the creative desk as well. He's into art just as much as I am, but he's also got a very business orientated mind. I think I started vibin' that once we started kicking it everyday and it would just kinda naturally happen like 'Yo, we're kicking it everyday, why don't you just be my manager?' And a lot of people say don't mix business and friendship, and we've had little things here and there. But that's all it was, just little things. Knock on wood, ya know, we already have a pretty good relationship as far as keeping the music and business separate in the friendship." -CJ
"And it's hard sometimes to contain those emotions because when you know someone on a personal level, and bring them into something that you're trying to make a business, I don't know, just me being business orientated, the way my mind is,I've had to learn and adjust. This is the homie right here, and when we're kicking it, we're homies, and when we're not kicking it I gotta learn to be the manager. But even those rough patches we've had have grown our relationship. Any relationship, business, girlfriend, friend, it's all about communication. We have that solid team behind us."-Jacob
"So you have four mix-tapes out right now, when is the next one, Undrafted, supposed to be out?"
"So I just got done with the music, now I'm handing it over to Jimmie to take a look at it. But even then, I got all this other stuff to do. Music videos, website, merch." -CJ
"And that's one thing that shows progress, the way we are approaching things now. The way we approach the shows, everything's progressed a lot in the last year. It's dope to see it right in front of your eyes. It's dope to see everything tonight, ya know, chill in the green room and do this interview." -Jacob
"Speaking of progress, how do you feel that the music has changed since your first mix-tape? What are the lyrics about now, as opposed to what they were before?"
"Man, I am glad you asked that because well, Nostalgia [his previous mix-tape], as far as the theme behind it, I thought was a very cohesive project we put together. Now Undrafted, is the best representation of me as a person. No theme behind it, just really like where I'm at right now. When I first started writing lyrics, I had never done that before so it was a lot of shit that just poured out of me, I didn't even have to think about it, I just wrote shit. That actually carried me for a while, I mean I could honestly say that I was writing about my past life in my first three mix-tapes. Right now, as far as lyrical content, I write about life as it's happening. I'm stating my opinions on a lot of different things in Undrafted. It's kinda like my stream of conscious on hip-hop and music overall. Just life, ya know? I think the growth has been exponential, and that's because of the experiences I have with dropping so much fucking content. I mean, I have four mix-tapes out, but I've probably recorded about 200 or 250 songs." -CJ
"If you counted how many publicly released tracks CJ has right now, it's like well-over 60." -Jacob
"So, Undrafted, why that title?"
"Man, it's funny, my uncle was wearing a hat one time. We were shooting video, and I asked him what the letters on his hat stood for. It was like 'UNDFTD' He said it was undefeated. So I was like 'Oh okay.', you know, everyone knows that brand. Then kind of in the back of my head I was like 'Dude, Undrafted would be a sick ass brand name too.' I was just thinking about clothes at the time. But then it just fell on my lap. Just like 'Holy shit dude, undrafted! Over-looked, paid no attention, we got skipped out, like we didn't even make the fucking cut.' So that was were I was sitting at after we released Nostalgia. I talked to Jimmie about it and we thought it was gonna be like a 3 to 5 track EP, but it just evolved in this sick ass album." -CJ
"Do you feel like your music has matured?"
"Oh absolutely man. As a matter of fact, I think the small amount of fans that I do have, I think that's why they are so loyal. I think they see the maturation as it's happened. For me, personally, I love it when I listen to an artist and I feel like I know them, like I've never met them before, but I fuckin' know them. I think that's why the core fans, that's why they stay with me. They feel like, 'Oh shit, that's the homie dude.'"
"So after Undrafted, any speculations on what you guys will be doing?"
"Definitely, we're gonna bust our asses on shows. I've been looking at the Observatory for some time already. Wanna get my foot in there already. We'll definitely be working on music, with Patrick, my other producer, work on a small EP. It's gonna be trippy shit. We'll focus on riding the wave on Undrafted for as long as we can." -CJ
