Trel Mack aka Katrel Kelly is a Hip Hop artist from Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, who hangs with his homey Q. Together they run their own label – Street Knowledge Entertainment. Read on to peep what he had to say about his influences and how he keeps it real when he spoke to Danielle…
Give us a little introduction about yourself?
Trel Mack: Well, I’m hip-hop recording artist coming out of Philadelphia making moves, Me and my homie Q started our independent entertainment label, Street Knowledge Entertainment.
You take influence from a lot of the greats like 2 Pac and Biggie, but you also take note on the likes of Mase right?
Trel Mack: Yeah 2Pac is one of my all-time favorites, like his music is just captivating and it has a lot of emotion. You can actually feel what 2Pac is saying and its like that even when he speaks. Biggie also had that captivating flow, from his delivery on down to his word play everything falls into place with that dude. Now, when I tell people I’m a Mase fan they would look at me like I’m crazy, so I tell them Mase is hot.
Before Mase retired to be a preacher he had the game on smash. Everyone knew Mase’s lyrics, everyone got down to his music in the club, and he went about 4 times platinum on his first album so its no reason not to show him some type of respect for his accomplishments. Even before he became the guy all the ladies loved, he was spitting. Murda Mase was dope. That’s just how I feel. Hey, you got to give credit where credit is due.
How would you breakdown your musical style if asked?
Trel Mack: Well my style is a more soulful and smooth, I just flow in a fluent motion. Where ever my mind takes me that’s where I’m going to go. I’m not a gangsta rapper, so I don’t have a gutta flow. Every once in a while I might put a little edge on it, just to keep a certain song in the right path. But hey that’s why the ladies love when I rap, they like a nigga to speak smooth to them [laughs].
You are one of the few rappers today that don’t glorify rapping about drugs and money etc, do you feel we need more artists like yourself to take away the glamour of such lyrics?
Trel Mack: I’m going to put it to you this way, everybody has their own path as to where they want to take their music and my path was just the opposite. I never experienced the drug game, I just know people who had. I can’t rap about something that I didn’t have my hands in. Every rapper wants the glamour, the money, the cars, the girls and the expensive liquids so they rap about it in their music and that’s fine, it’s ok to dream. I do it all the time and I believe you can speak things in existence; you just have to that drive that can lead you in that direction. Even I sometimes rap about it, but I just don’t give people the mistaken notion that that’s the storyline behind my music.
Nowadays, if you hear a rapper that said they killed someone or they will, nine times out of ten they didn’t or they won’t, same thing apply for some rappers who talk about the drug game. They probably hung around someone who did and made it there own story, too many liars. I don’t take anything from any other artist that’s rapping about money and drugs, because that’s their thing. As I see people don’t really listen out for lyrics anymore anyway, at least not like back then when hip-hop had a meaning to it. You can have hot production and say the most wackest things and still be hot.
Tell us about Street Knowledge Entertainment?
Trel Mack: Oh SKE we are the new dynasty, the new breed of entertainment. We are the hottest label out, holla at ya boy [laughs]. Seriously, SKE came from the ground up, the name has been branded. We all over, we are killing it across the waters, we are killing it on the mixtapes, radio play, interviews, reviews. Shout out to Q the Question, we CEO’s homie. [laughs].
We came from the streets and that’s where the knowledge came from, so with that being said the knowledge is us. We got a strong healthy team right now, myself, Quinton Hatfield aka Q The Question, Brandon aka Diverse as our A&R guy, C.H., DJ Trell Shells and DJ Phlash, GT & Young Nydy. We all are strong and our goal is to put a major impact on everything we do, not just music. Everything we touch.
You were born and raised in Philly right? What was your childhood like in the big city?
Trel Mack: Yup born and raised, my childhood wasn’t so bad and it wasn’t so great neither. I had my fair share of ups and downs like anyone else had growing up in their hometown. I’m just grateful for being alive and able to do what I like to do.
A lot of your music is for the ladies; give us an idea of your perfect woman?
Trel Mack: That’s an easy question and it’s a short answer that comes with that. The perfect woman for me is the female me, she don’t have to necessarily be a rapper, singer or actor. Just have my attributes [laughs].
What projects are you currently working on?
Trel Mack: Well right now I’m working a few projects. I’m working on a mixtape with Yoraps.com called “The New Dynasty”, which will be hot. I already got a few hot joints for it and so far it’s looking good. I’m going to have some of best unsigned talent on there, Fred Knuxx, Wordsmith, MarVo, Donny Goines, Clap Cognac, Rico Levant, Crystyle, Soulstice, Young Nydy, G.T., just to name a few so be on the look out for that.
Also I just hosted DJ Ames new Mixtape “Grind Time Vol. 6” which is hot and its out now on Datpiff.com. Other than that I just been working on the label releases of DJ Trell shells and Diverse’s mixtape called “Locked and Loaded” as well as DJ Phlash’s New mixtape called “The Preview”. Young Nydy is working on his promotional album called “Prosperity” and that will be hot. So it’s a lot of work coming for the fans of Street Knowledge Entertainment.
What are your views on the Hip-Hop scene in general?
Trel Mack: I think the Hip-Hop scene is missing something, like I said before hip-hop is not dead it just needs some direction. I don’t hear good music anymore, honestly I can’t remember the last time I actually listened to the radio. But I’m not in any position to knock anyone’s hustle, do your thing if you think this statement applies to you because Street Knowledge Entertainment is here to change the scenery of the hip-hop scene.
Where do you aim to be in 3 years time?
Trel Mack: On top, what you think I’m going to tell you anything less. Me and my team have huge plans that we are working on. Street Knowledge Entertainment is going to be a major label by that time [laughs]. And if not it’s going to happen at some point because like I said before, we have a strong team and with us together there is no limit. We above the sky. We will have everything we need to build an empire in this industry. I can show you better than I can tell you.
You are on your grind literally 24/7, but when you do find some free time how do you like to relax?
Trel Mack: I like to spend time with my family, go to the movies, chill with my homies, basically anything that’s fun. I don’t ask for much. I don’t sleep, because sleeping is for dead people man.
Any Shout’s?
Trel Mack: Shout out to my whole Street Knowledge Entertainment Team, shout out to CEO productions, and Tru-Fam Records. My boy Rico Levant, Shout out to everybody who supported me you know who you are. Kai, Melanie, Shawn Skeen, Joel aka Shake, all the DJ’s who put me on there mixtapes, Thank you.
Check me out at myspace.com/trelmackmusic, and the label www.streetknowledgeentertainment.net , also check out my homie Q for he keeps you lock with the latest on the hip-hop scene with his latest interviews and reviews at www.myspace.com/qhatfield.
By: Danielle
Interview for British Hip Hop courtesy of Underground Promotion UK.
