Today's Trae cover story was nearly a year in the making.
As noted, the whole Trae vs. The Box thing can be traced back to the 2009 Trae Day shooting. Rocks Off was actually at that event and happened to be none too far from where the bullets were fired. We wrote up a little piece about it, did some follow-up stuff, then let it be.
Now, in light of all of the negative press the shooting was (rightly) receiving, we decided to also include a mostly goofy pre-shooting write-up of the events that took place beforehand, during the course of which we made a joke likening Trae's then-unborn son to a newborn rattlesnake.
Now, Trae is a good person. His work in the community is reason enough to believe that. Beyond that, he is extremely loyal. But here's the other thing you need to know about him: He doesn't give a fuck.
Not in the pejorative "I'm Only Concerned With Me And My Perceived Realness" sense, more in the "If You Say Something Negative About Me Or Anyone I'm Associated With, You Can Expect To Hear From Me Soon" sense.
You know those little uncomfortable situations that arise every so often that most of America tries to avoid? The conversations people ignore because it's easier than having them? Those things absolutely don't appear to bother him.
Every Trae fan in the world knew that after his interview with The Box's Nnete, who has built her own well-deserved local fame on a foundation of expressing herself, turned ornery, he was going to respond sooner or later. It was just something that was going to happen. There was a better chance of the sun not coming up the next day than him sleeping that one off.
Which is why it wasn't altogether that surprising when, maybe a few hours after the pre-shooting piece went up on Rocks Off, Trae called (he got the number from his publicist, whom we had worked with before on numerous occasions) to get an explanation as to whether or not the intention was sinister when we compared Baby Trae to a rattlesnake.
