Trae Yung
This week i caught up with the beautiful Zim Hip Hop Diva, Tracy Mbeulani, better known as Trae Yung. Now me being female , i felt its only right to feature a fellow woman and promote the girl child!!!
So if you didnt know who she is, here is my conversation with her.
WHO IS TRAE YUNG?
Trae Yung is a female rapper/mc who hails from Zimbabwe’s capital of Harare.I basically rap about everything,life issues ie the problems people face everyday,the good times too,love,street life,just life in general.
WHEN DID YOU REALISE YOU HAD A PASSION/TALENT FOR HIPHOP?
I realised that i had some serious passion for hiphop way back when i was young,i can take that back to primary school level.I would concentrate so much on memorising lyrics to songs.i would sing along all the time.so as i grew older,i just felt the urge to write my own lyrics and put them on beats.I tried that,and i was glad that i actually had the talent to write my own rhymes,rap,and make sense out of it!
TAKE ME THROUGH YOUR FIRST STUDIO PROJECT,WHO YOU WORKED WITH,HELP YOU GOT, THE FINAL PRODUCT AND RECEPTION IT GOT FROM THE PUBLIC
My very first project was with Marshal Mutemajiri,better known on the hiphop scene as Mr DarkfFace. I’ll forever pay my dues to because even though i had so much stuff that i had written,i never felt ready to hit the studio. When i met him,he literally forced me to jump in the booth and record, he saw way beyond what i thought i could do. So he helped me bring that out of me. We did a track called ‘Kickin Up A Storm’. To date, that’s one of my personal favourite verses. We recorded with McGuyver at Ice Reign records. We got so much positive feedback from the public. That’s when i realised i had to start taking my music seriously.
CHALLENGES , IF ANY, THAT YOU ENCOUNTERED. IT IS WELL KNOWN THAT THERE ARE INDUSTRY BULLIES WHO TEND TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF FEMALE ARTISTS
Yeah it is true that the male players can be bullies in the game. I just thank God that so far, i haven’t been a victim of any of that. I actually get loads of them approaching me for collabo’s. That’s a great thing really, coz it shows that they are appreciating that girls can be in the game too, and do it major.
WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU WORKED ON?
After my first project, i got to link up with Darkfface again on more tracks ,together with Kevin Sagomba aka MC Cut. We recorded with Xndr and H1. We did tracks like ‘We Goin In’ and ‘Look At Us Now’. I then got to work with Dija and Mr Noxa on a number of tracks that got to be hits on local radio. ‘Can’t Help it’ and ‘Karekodhy’ managed to top the charts. I’ve collaborated with Lil Swayz,Snazzy,Alethia,8L and a whole lota artists.
SO ANY AWARDS/NOMINATIONS TO YOUR NAME?
There are the annual Zim hiphop awards that i was part of last year(2011),as a nominee for Best Female Artist.this year’s awards are going to be held 0n december 12.i do not know if i’ve been nominated or not.they are yet to announce the nominees soon.
YOUR LATEST PROJECT
My latest is my first solo project,an album entitled ‘I Will’.it’s got 6 tracks.and they are all doin extremely well on radio and on the internet.
AS PER BARS 263 CULTURE, PLEASE DO SEND YOUR SHOUT OUTS
I’d like to send my shout outs to my family-Mum,dad,Sean,Marvin and Nigel. Shout out to Darkface and the whole of C-North and 946,TMG Rekodz family-Dija,Mr Noxa,Snazzy,Friky Don and 8L. shout out to Dj Davies Mugadza for pushing local hiphop,Dj Thembz,Kimmy K,Lroy and the whole power fm crew. Shout out to ALL of my Facebook friends,too many to mention,and shout out to all my fans and everyone who believes in Zim hiphop and everyone who’s part of the movement.i love you all!
So to every little female MC out there and generally anyone, i hope Trae Yung’s journey with inspire you to become great in whatever you want to be.
Bars 263 