Subject: Trae (Rapper)

• All Up in the Ozone

  July 19, 2007

• The Screwston Soundtrack

  August 3, 2007

• This Just In: Rap Summit at U of H Tonight

  November 14, 2007

• Drenched in Blog: Happy 25th, Thriller

  November 30, 2007

• Congratulations to Trae da Truth...

  July 22, 2008

• Turning the Screw: Trae Day, Luke, DMX, Nas, Rick Ross and More

  July 30, 2008

• Ozone Awards Update: Rap-a-Lot Not Talking; Trae and Mike Jones Are

  August 12, 2008

• Five Spot: Five Reasons Not to Mess With Trae

  August 15, 2008

• Turning the Screw: TxHustla, Beanie Sigel, Lil' Wayne, Ciara, Kanye, Tupac, Akon, Usher and More

  September 8, 2008

• Rap-A-Lot's J Prince Wins SEA Image Award

  September 9, 2008

• Turning The Screw: Jay'Ton, Bushwick, Nas, Akon, Dre, Diddy, DJ Hero, Grandmaster Flash, The Kanye, T.I., Three 6 Mafia, Bubba Sparxxx, and more

  Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: "We Here," Jay'Ton feat. Trae and Yung Quis Wire To Wire: Nas is not a fan of Canada. Akon, who has been quite the spokesman as of late, speaks out about Anti-Gun Violence. I wonder why he never spoke out about throwing kids off stages. Oh, yeah, that's right, probably because of this.

  June 1, 2009

• Turning the Screw: H.I.S.D., Trae, Lupe Fiasco, Prodigy, Soulja Boy, Roy Jones Jr., Ice Cube and More

  November 3, 2008

• Los Magnificos: Like a Live H-Town Mixtape

  Los Magnificos 2008 bounces into Reliant Center Sunday. Bun B Whip, ride, slab, some bit of street slang Rocks Off won't even hear for another eight months - cars are as essential to hip-hop as crossfaders and lyrics that rhyme. But no city's rappers place their wheels on a higher pedestal than Houston, so it's no surprise that Sunday's Los Magnificos auto show, sponsored by 97.9 the Boxx, features as many local rap luminaries as gleaming Cadillacs hopping all over the place. Get a load of

  November 21, 2008

• Trae's Cartoon Is a Big Hit on the Web

    Go ahead and add "Cartoon rappers smacking the shit out of each other" to the ever-growing list of popular Internet entertainments, then file that under "Things that come as absolutely no surprise at all." Since premiering on worldstarhiphop.com a few days ago, the first installment of Houston MC Trae tha Truth and animator Jay Sugarman's The Adventures of Trae tha Truth series has already been viewed more than 2.2 million times. The episode is a perhaps slightly exaggerat

  November 25, 2008

• Artist of the Week: Coline

  Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? Email their particulars to introducingliston@gmail.com. How else to say this than with bold, forthright honesty: we thoroughly enjoy campy R&B. It's shameful, we know. But while Z-Ro, Trae and The Last Dragon dominates our references, sweet R&B calls forth our sincer

  January 21, 2009

• Mike Jones Wants to Get "Next to You"

  Asylum RecordsWho is Mike Jones? Well, not long ago, he was Trae's punching bag at the Ozone Awards, which at least reminded people he was still alive. Well, Jones has a new single, "Next to You," from his forthcoming album The Voice (due April 14), and it's probably not going to enhance his 'hood reputation a whole lot either. Or the line "I love to cuddle up" won't, anyway. Obviously geared toward the ladies, "Next to You" finds Mr. Jones extolling the virtues of a 

  February 17, 2009

• Five Spot: Lil Jared Is Doper Than Most Kid Rappers

  Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and list five reasons why it's either brilliant or dumb-assed. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. As set forth in the official "Give Any Song From the Offspring of a Local Icon at Least Three Weeks of Listening Before Rendering Judgment" Doctrine that we did not just make up, we've given "Ballin', Smashin'," the debut single from Trae's son Lil Jared, the prerequisite amount of listening time. We fully i

  March 6, 2009

• Turning the Screw: G.R.I.T Boys, Coolio, Nas, Eminem, Tupac, Lil' Kim, Chris Brown, R. Kelly, Snoop Dogg, Scarface and More

  Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week "I'm Fresh," G.R.I.T. Boys ft. Trae and Tum Tum Wire to Wire Brooklyn's Uncle Murda was convicted of ID fraud. Said the airport employee who figured out the ID Murda presented was not his own, "I don't know why he did that. I mean, I've never even heard of the guy.His own ID would've been a good en

  March 9, 2009

• Five Spot: Flipperace Is Magically Delicious

  Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It's five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Last year (around September or October, we think), The Game and Lil' Bow Wow held a video-game football battle with $100,000 on the line. (Recession? Don't be absurd.) It was cool for a second, until you realized that you were just watching two guys play video games. At

  March 27, 2009

• 3rd Annual MLK Youth Parade

  Web exclusive!

  January 15, 2009

• A New Class of Rappers Finally Bucked Houston's Syrupy Stereotype This Year

  It Is What It Is

  December 25, 2008

• Los Magnificos Car Show

  Web exclusive!

  November 20, 2008

• Boheme Cafe and Wine Bar Has an Open-Mike Night That Doesn't Suck?

  July 31, 2008

• Grand Theft Auto X: The Screwston Chronicles

  May 15, 2008

• Trae

  January 3, 2008

• Trae

  Life Goes On

  November 29, 2007

• Willie D's Birthday Party

  November 1, 2007

• DJ Screwfest

  September 27, 2007

• Real Recognize Real?

  Promotional Cacophony at Miami's Ozone Awards

  August 23, 2007

• Hot Sounds, Summer in the City

  A few local discs to sizzle with

  June 21, 2007

• Mr. Renfrow Risin'

  A fresh coffeehouse and some familiar radio voices shine new light on the Houston scene

  July 27, 2006

• Trae Cool

  An underground legend teams up with Rap-A-Lot in a bid to break nationwide

  June 22, 2006

• Artist of the Week: Cindy Pruitt

  Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? Email their particulars to introducingliston@gmail.com.In our week-by-week attempt to highlight every single non-crappy musician in Houston, we've come across all manner of acts freaks, geeks, sexpots, whatever. You name it, we've featured them. We're proud to say that, with guitar

  April 29, 2009

• Turning the Screw: Bun B, Trae & Lil Keke, Rihanna, Snoop, Eminem vs. Nick Cannon, Jay-Z, T.I., E-40, South Park Mexican and More

  Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: "Grey Cassette," Trae feat Bun B and Lil Keke Wire To Wire Ummm, we're not going to link to them, but should you be curious to see some pictures of Rihanna sans clothes, you presumably know how Google works. (And, wow.) All is not well in the house that Run built: Jo-Jo arrested. Snoop Dogg does not ha

  May 11, 2009

• Five Spot: Big M.O.E. of the S.U.C.

  Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and list five reasons why it's either brilliant or dumb-assed. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com.We were flipping through the Trae playlist in our iPod yesterday, and "Swang" came on. "Swang," if you'll remember, was the Big Hawk and Fat Pat-assisted second-best song from Trae's irreplaceable Restless album. It was swirling, ethereal wonder of a track, but the thing that made it a staple of any best-of Trae

  May 15, 2009

• Turning the Screw: Flatline & Trae, Eminem, T.I., Jay-Z, Nas & Kelis, The Kanye, Danger Mouse, Devin the Dude and More

  Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: Flatline feat. Trae, "Fuckin' With Texas" Wire To Wire Eminem says he's the reason for the Chinese Democracy-ness of Dr. Dre's long-awaited Detox. Slaughterhouse, an MC group made up of Crooked I, Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz and Royce Da' 5'9", will release its album soon. One possible title: Three Guys Wh

  May 26, 2009

• Turning the Screw: Slim Thug Associates, Willie D, Jay-Z vs. Auto-Tune, 50 Cent, Paul Wall, Big Hawk, Jazzy Jeff, Trae & Z-Ro and More

  Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: "Associates" Wire To Wire Poor, poor Willie D. We were excited the other day when we read this thing about how vinyl sales had ballooned up to nearly 3 million(!) in 2009 - ever since Chris Gray's vinyl feature ran in 2007, we've been stoked about the increasing possibility of being able to build up a

  June 15, 2009

• Straight from the Sole: Houston's Best Metal Bands

  You know Soledad. He's the vocalist from controversial Houston rap-metal act Daylight Coma. He's got a lot to say. Sometimes it's insightful, sometimes less so, but it's almost always said with conviction. This week, in honor of the fast-approaching HPMA, we asked him who he thinks are Houston's five best metal bands. Rocks Off: The Houston Press Music Awards are right around the corner. You being you, how about if you give us the five best metal bands in town? Surely no one will have a proble

  July 16, 2009

• It's Trae Day... and Everybody's Celebratin'

  To commemorate the one-year anniversary of the City of Houston's proclamation of "Trae Day," the chairman and CEO of Houston's Assholes by Nature is throwing a giant block party from 3-9 p.m. in the parking lot of TSU Stadium at Cleburne and Tierwester in the Third Ward (or, appropriately enough, the Trey). Scheduled to appear are U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee - try to contain your surprise - City Councilmembers Peter Brown and Ron Green, and a Lil Wayne album's worth of rappers including Bun B,

  July 22, 2009

• The TSU Shootings in Twitterese: "Stay Classy, Houston"

  Video by nosvideocrew Looks like things in the Trae Day shootings are about where they were last night. The Houston Police Department's homicide unit is involved - although no one was killed - but letting TSU detectives handle the investigation. Rocks Off's Shea Serrano spoke with an official at TSU PD's Office of Communication, who confirmed that six people were shot, one of whom is believed to be a TSU student, but very little else. The department would not say if they believe the shootings w

  July 23, 2009

• The TSU Shootings in Twitterese: "Stay Classy, Houston"

  Video by nosvideocrew Looks like things in the Trae Day shootings are about where they were last night. The Houston Police Department's homicide unit is involved -- although no one was killed -- but letting TSU detectives handle the investigation. Hair Ball's Shea Serrano spoke with an official at TSU PD's Office of Communication, who confirmed that six people were shot, one of whom is believed to be a TSU student, but very little else. The department would not say if they believe the shooting

  July 23, 2009

• Aftermath: Trae Day (Pre-Shooting) at TSU Stadium

  [Note: These are the notes from Trae Day prior to that whole pesky "six people getting shot" thing. For more info on that, check out our reports here and here.]Photos by Henry Rizoh/ Click here for a slideshow  Aftermath and hip-hop blogger Rizoh from The Rap Up arrived nearly two hours after Trae Day was supposed to start, and we're still too early. There are maybe 200 people here. On the bright side, at least it's really hot. There are two ambulances parked near the entrance of the parkin

  July 23, 2009

• Inquiring Minds: Trae tha Truth on the Trae Day Shootings and More

  Photos by Henry Rizoh  As you no doubt have heard, this past Wednesday's Trae Day, a celebratory day established last year by the city of Houston recognizing rapper Trae tha Truth's work with at-risk youth, was sullied by post-festivities gunshots. Rocks Off was able to steal a few minutes out of Trae's day Friday to briefly discuss how it affected him as a father, whether or not he's planning on doing it again next year and our own fandom. Rocks Off: Guess we'll talk about the unfortunate

  July 25, 2009

• Five Spot: J-Dawg, Z-Ro's Lyrical Match (Seriously)

  Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It's five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com.​You know, prior to the three seconds of gunshots that unwound all the good will, Trae Day was actually a solid event. As expected, there were the usual concert-day shenanigans that kept us entertained before Trae, Bun, Ross, and Shawty Lo (finally) took the stage - seriously

  July 31, 2009

• Turning the Screw: New Trae and G.R.I.T. Boys, R.I.P. DJ AM, Kings of Leon Remixed, Jay Z vs. Rush Limbaugh, Uncut Pimp C, etc.

  Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: Trae, "Letter to tha King" Wire To Wire The G.R.I.T. Boys finally put out some new music. Make sure you download it. It's free. You know, when we first heard "Forever," the Drake/Eminem/Weezy/Kanye collaboration, we were pretty underwhelmed. But the more we listen to it, the more we like it. Sorry, you

  August 31, 2009

• Turning the Screw: Slim Thug & Lil Ray, Trae, Diddy, Necro, Master P, The Game, Beyonce/Lady GaGa, Drake, BET Music Awards, etc.

  Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: Slim Thug feat. Lil Ray, "Salute Me" Note(s): Yes, this is a remake of the same-named song from Fabolous' Loso's Way. Yes, it lists Lil Ray as the featured artist but is actually Lil' Wayne rapping/singing. And yes, the unintentional juxtaposition of the video's "Look How Much Money I Have" premise wit

  October 19, 2009

• The H-Town Countdown, No. 14: Trae's Restless

  Roughly 84,000 rap albums have been released in Houston since 1989. We're counting down the 25 best of all time every Thursday. Got a problem with the list? Shove it. Just kidding. Friendship. Email it to sheaserrano@gmail.com. Trae Restless (Asylum, 2006) ​Disclaimer: We dissected this album without referencing "Swang," the album's best song and possibly the finest representation of what it is that makes Trae Trae. We did this in part because we wanted to see if we could do it, but mostly be

  October 22, 2009

• Five Spot: Congratulations to Trae and His Family on the Birth of His New Son

  Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It's five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com.​In June 2007, we became papa to twin boys. It was wild. And they were so, so beautiful the first time we saw them. Actually, "beautiful" isn't the right word; at least, not literally. That's just something fathers get used to saying because it's easier than explaining the tr

  October 23, 2009

• Turning the Screw: Lil Keke, Trae, Dre vs. Rush Limbaugh, Weezer, Weezy, Chamillionaire, 50 vs. Jay-Z, The Kanye, Nas, DMX, Big Pokey, etc.

  Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: "Still Here," Lil' Keke Wire To Wire Again, congratulations to Trae and the newest tiny Trae. Hey, Rush: Fuck off. Sincerely, Dr. Dre.

  October 26, 2009

• Five Spot: Did Nnete Have Trae Banned From 97.9 The Boxx?

  Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It's five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com.​ What a fortnight it's been for Trae. First, his Restless album was named the 14th best rap album to ever come out of Houston. Then his newest son, Houston, was born. Then he released the anticipated The Incredible Truth mixtape. (We're assuming those are listed in order of

  October 30, 2009