Of course, this is a delicate subject.
Recently, Clip, associate and spoken brother of Trae tha Truth, was shot and killed outside of a nightclub. Details were murky. No suspects were/are known or pursued.
Trae mostly maintained radio silence, popping up only to let loose a tweet or two about the funeral and its accoutrement.
Then, two nights ago, he called.
His voice was crushing; gigantically grumbly and static-y. He asked for an email address. And then he passed
this MP3 along
this MP3 along
It is a firsthand account of what played through Trae's head the night of the murder, set over the sunburnt piano of Drake's "Look What You've Done."
It sticks to the song's template for a bit, then unravels into a rush of emotion and heartbreak.
There aren't too many things to say about it. There isn't any dissection that needs to take place. There are no allusions or clever wordplay, only direct statements; Trae expressing his pain while promising his superheroic wings to Clip's family.
It is remarkable storytelling; honest and beautiful and unfettered and bare, reminiscent of his work on "I Could Use Somebody," which, fittingly, was written for Clip when his mother passed.
Listen to it.
And commiserate.
