#Interview: T.R.U.T.H - 'Millenial Protest Music'
We caught up with T.R.U.T.H (The.Real.Under.The.Hate) ahead of the release of her upcoming project titled 'Millenial Protest Music'. Which we are excited to announce will be exclusively debuted with LGBT Underground on Monday 29th Feb.
The Chicago emcee started out writing poetry and raps at the tender age of seven and has been diligently honing her craft ever since, looking to re-position the status quo of reality.
In addition to being an artist in her own right T.R.U.T.H is also a member of Paradigm Shift (P.S) a group consisting of poets, emcees, singers, comedians and other artists focused on shifting the status quo. As well as Mother Nature, a high-energy Black Girl Genius Hip-Hop duo comprised of herself and KLEVAH.
Q1 - Can you tell us about what initially drew you towards rap music and how your name came about?
T.R.U.T.H - I've always used writing to express my inner thoughts and emotions before I really knew what rap and Hip-Hop was. I was a part of the culture for as long as I can remember, so it only makes sense I'd develop my craft into more than chicken scratch in my notebooks. My name came about at a young age after realizing what I wanted to represent. I appreciate honesty, so T.R.U.T.H was an obvious choice and I've always had a love of acronyms. A few of the meanings are "The.Reason.Unity.Trumps.Hate" and Triflin.Reality.Unrecognized.To.Humans" but I mostly tell folks "The.Real.Under.The.Hate."
Q2 - Does being part of Paradigm Shift and Mother Nature bring out different sides of you artistically?
T.R.U.T.H - The current situation with P.S has everyone working on our individual projects, so with this new duo with Klevah, Mother Nature allows me to continue my own style but also grow immensely with each track by continuously pushing each other's pen. What started out as a few collaborations grew into Mother Nature simply based off our ease of creating together. P.S is my foundation while Mother Nature shows me my potential in what I never thought I could do.
Q3 - It's been a year since the release of your previous project, 'Eve EP' what are the main differences/points of growth between that EP and the forthcoming one?
T.R.U.T.H - I think the main difference is my confidence & relaxation on a track. My last joint, Eve EP, I definitely think of as my "arrival" project. I knew I had a solid piece of art with that one, so with each new project I try to stay in that same realm of artistic confidence while continuing to push myself.
Q4 - The tracks you've released off of 'Millenial Protest Music' so far are potent narratives on racism, systemic oppression and empowerment (amongst other topics), combined with some fire beats. Was there a concious effort on your part to pull unfamiliar listeners in with the sound in order to have them be more receptive to the message?
T.R.U.T.H - Yes, mos def. I never want to sound as if I'm preaching. I just want to make my listeners think, look at things differently and question the norm. I'm still contemplating if I'll turn MPM (Millennial Protest Music) into a series, but I was very focused on using uptempo sounds, all of which are industry beats. I wanted to create a mixtape that would speak on the times we're currently facing as Black/POC (person of color) /broke/queer etc. individuals. Getting listeners to rock with the music itself first then take a deeper meaning into the lyrics was my game plan, the response so far seems like it's working.
Q5 - How long has this project been in the making?
T.R.U.T.H - I worked on this project for about 5 or 6 months. I was writing a lot of politically-charged pieces at the time & it made sense to create a project around it, so here we are.
Q6 - After hearing 'Millenial Protest Music' in full, what do you hope that your listeners will take from it?
T.R.U.T.H - I hope folks will realize the magnitude of the problems around us & know they're not insurmountable. We can shift the paradigm we currently exist in, we just need to believe it and work together.
Q7 - Do you have plans for any potential music videos to go along with this project?
T.R.U.T.H - I recently shot my first visual with my sista, Klevah for our joint, "Afro" off the Mother Nature EP so I'm still getting my feet wet on the visual side, so who knows. Just stay tuned.
Listen to three tracks T.R.U.T.H has released off of the 'Millenial Protest Music' project so far..
Follow and support T.R.U.T.H online -
Facebook - www.facebook.com/truthisPS
Souncloud - www.soundcloud.com/truthisps
Bandcamp - www.truthisps.bandcamp.com
Twitter - @TRUTHisPS
