FSD: How important is it for you to write about your personal life and deliver those experiences to your fans?
Tree: It is relevant to my style of music. Some people can get over by getting a nice beat and rapping about Rozay, cooking, and all that other bullshit that comes with music these days. I don’t know how to write phony raps. I can’t sit and tell you about driving a 600 Benz, because I don’t have that. A lot of people find that easy to throw that in their lines because that’s what Jay-Z said.
No matter what genre the beat is, I’m speaking real shit. Like when I say “I’m in the county going off, where my Pelle at?” In Chicago, you got 250,000 felonies and you got a million misdemeanors. If you got a bid in County, and you go through the whole process, by the time you get out nine times out of 10 they don’t have your shit. That’s something the real motherfuckers know. You can get locked up with a nice Pelle, by the time it’s time to get out of jail they giving you a Fila Jacket. That one statement is more of a reality line. The majority of people that listen to my music look like me—they are me. They been through that, so therefore they relate to me, more than me talking about a Louis Vuitton or YSL belt.
Another indication, is there was a point in time when you were told to do something, you do it. If you didn’t, you get a violation and get took to the roof and they beat the shit out of you. That’s how I started the verse off. This isn’t necessarily me being the little nigga going to the roof, but in the life of gang organization that’s how the shit rolls.
So, I find it very important to be real with your listeners—speak what you know. I make my music for me, I make music that I like. I don’t make music for the radio. I’m the most acclaimed underground rapper other than Chief Keef. I don’t do Drill music, I do music that’s going to follow me for the rest of my career. When you think of Pac, he spoke with emotions also situations that most black males go through. That’s what made him an icon. I think that’s what I’m headed for. I think what I’m starting right now is the beginning of transformation in music especially in Chicago.
FSD: How critical is it for you to continue the lyrical traditions as some of your favorite MC’s from the past in today’s music climate?
Tree: It’s important for any rapper to embrace what built this genre and also to bless it. I’m at a point now where it’s shit I wouldn’t have done years ago and it’s shit I do now, that I wouldn’t have years ago. I just want to be real — I have a voice that I utilize. Some people say I got that from Pac, Mystikal and Fiend. I got my sound from church, which helped me develop my style — which is harmony mixed with gangster shit, reality and lyricism. I do feel it’s important to utilize the lyricism skills that was taught to us because without it, everybody would be making songs like Jim Jones “Na Na Nana Na Na” or that other bullshit that just so happened to make it big.