THE JOY OF THE JOURNEY: Tray Chaney

FORESTVILLE, MARYLAND | TRAY CHANEY

INTERVIEW KB Tindal PHOTOGRAPH @IAMDONJUAN

Tray Chaney is an actor, an artist, and a TV series legend when it comes to what is, arguably, one of the best television series to ever air on HBO. He is also known as Mr. Tubi because he has so many movies on that platform. He has had a role in HBO's recent series ‘We Own This City.’ He has been through some difficulties along the way, but he stood 10 toes down and has continuously perfected his craft and stayed persistent in the pursuit of his dream. One of the hardest working actors and artists in show business widely recognized as Poot from the critically acclaimed HBO series, ‘The Wire,’ and now is also known as Bleek on BMF season 2 on the STARZ network. I got the chance to sit down with the legendary actor and artist and have a great conversation. Enjoy the ride.

Validated: Tell the people where you’re originally from, about your neighborhood, growing up, and how that kind of influenced you.

Tray Chaney: Well, I'm originally from Forestville, Maryland. That's the city right outside of Washington, DC. So, you know that I represent the whole Washington DC, DMV. Growing up, I grew up in a two-parent household. Always had mom, dad, and my sister. But, of course, even with me growing up with that positive type of example, I just always was curious. So, in my neighborhood, it was probably like 10 minutes... Like, if you go through a light, you will be in the heart of DC, which was some rough and tough streets, man, and I guess, me, like I said, coming from that great background, I just was always curious into getting involved in violence, the streets, and anything you could think of that was negative. But, of course, one thing that I always had at the forefront of my life was just my career. I just always was focused on the arts and entertainment, whether that be starting off as a hip-hop artist at eight years old, dancing with Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, and Slick Rick, all of the legends that are still tight with me to this day. And it's crazy, man because, when I look back, you kind of take me back down memory lane. When I look back at my career, I just look at how I'm the same young kid at eight years old who just had a dream that never once got discouraged. The thing is, I always said, I wonder when this is going to kick off. So, giving up for me was never like an option. So, I'm that same kid, man, that just followed his dreams from Forestville, Maryland, Washington, DC and never gave up. And now, over 33 years of being in this business, and seeing a lot of my accolades and rewards come to me at this age, at 41, I'm like, “Yeah, I'm living proof, and I'm a real example and testimony for people to just keep going no matter what obstacles you might face.”

Validated: Just your history with the legends, man, is incredible. Being a dancer for all of those major artists, those ‘80s and ‘90s cats that paved the way for this culture is incredible. A lot of people know you for your acting chops, and they don't know that you have a history in dancing, and being a part of hip-hop, and so on and so forth. Tell me what was your earliest memory of hip-hop and the culture?

Tray Chaney: My earliest memory, eight years old, was back in the late ‘80s. I'm backstage at the Apollo Theater in New York City, and a special guest by the name of Big Daddy Kane gets called out to the stage. The first time, it’s my first experience watching a crowd literally lose their mind, erupt. The whole building went crazy, and Kane performed “I Get The Job Done,” he performed “Raw,” he performed any hit you could think of. Kane performed and that was the day that I was just an eight-year-old kid looking from behind the stage at what he was doing, and that was the day I said, “This is probably what I'm going to do forever.” And I tell that story, because Kane, I still talk to Kane today. I tell him that story, and I'm like, “Man, if it wasn't for you, if it wasn't for me being able to see that as a child…” Because young people today, they might not necessarily get to see their idols, or the people that they really look up to up close and personal. I was very fortunate to be able to experience that. But that was the early part of me, like, just in the culture of hip-hop music. I'm like, “This is hip-hop.” I remember Puff Daddy running around backstage, passing out business cards when he was dancing for Father MC. Just being around that type of environment as a kid. Like I said, I just knew this is what I was going to be doing.

Validated: Yeah. You wanted to be a part of this from day one.

Tray Chaney: From day one. And in any type of way too, whether it was being an artist, music, whether it was television, film. I did not know how, but I just knew that I was going to be a part of the arts for real.

Validated: Absolutely. When you see something like Big Daddy Kane in his prime like that, that's life lasting.

Tray Chaney: Oh, man. You already know.

Validated: So, we all know your first audition was ‘The Wire’, and you managed to survive all five seasons without getting your head popped off. (Laughs)

Tray Chaney: Without getting my wig split. Yeah, I know.

Validated: The iconic show. Tell me your most memorable moments of being on ‘The Wire.’

Tray Chaney: You know what, man? When we say ‘memorable moment,’ it's almost like the perfect blur for ‘The Wire’ because I didn't know what I was a part of. I didn’t know what I was a part of with that being my first audition ever, my first job that I booked as an actor. So, the perfect blur for me is I did not know I would have a trailer. I didn't know about hair and makeup. I didn't know what a set was. I didn't know what landing on your mark was, I didn't know anything about cameras, or angles or… It was just David Simon, Nina Noble, George Pelecanos, Robert Colesberry. Rest in peace Robert Colesberry, who actually came up with my name Poot. I was just a part of history that didn't catch on to me until maybe that third, or fourth, or fifth episode in the first season when I started to get recognized across the country. That’s when I was like, “Okay, this is HBO, I'm a part of something that ain't just no regular degular.” Being on set with Idris Elba in his beginning stages, Michael B. Jordan in his beginning stage, Wood Harris who was already a legend, Wendell Pierce. Being on the set with these type of cats, man, and for these guys to become my brothers to this day, they never left me hanging anytime I had questions. Always were very approachable. Because, starting off in a business, I always had a bunch of questions. I'm like, “Man, how do you do this? How do you do that?” And these guys were very patient with me. They like, “Yo, you’re our little brother, we're going to make sure you are good.” They showed me the ropes. So, I guess all five seasons was a memorable time for me because, like I said, after the first season, after receiving praise from that first season, and now, I'm starting to get booked across the country to just make an appearance, I didn't know you could show up to a club and they say, “Hey, we're going to get you a bag.” And just get on a mic and pop bottles of champagne. I learned so much during ‘The Wire.’ And mind you, I was just turning 21 when I got casted for ‘The Wire.’ When I got casted, I was 20 going on 21. So, it was almost like being 21, being able to go into clubs, and get booked for appearances and parties because I'm on one of the most groundbreaking critically acclaimed shows of all time, ‘The Wire.’ It's like I jumped right into fame. So, I jumped right into making money, losing money, traveling, just anything that you could think of that comes with the celebrity lifestyle. Of course, during that time, I met my wife who I'm still married to. It's been 18 years, so… Yeah, I kind of experienced everything so quickly. Even when ‘The Wire’ was complete after five seasons, I remember my wife being on set pregnant with my son, Malachi. Malachi’s 16 now. I remember her being on set pregnant when Bodie got killed on the show, She watched that live on set. So, it's just those types of memorable moments, man, and just my whole entire family understanding what I was a part of, and us being involved in a part of culture. I can honestly say because we celebrated 20 years of ‘The Wire’ last year, but this is ongoing, I can honestly say I'm a part of pop culture. This is something that will never go away. Every single day I step foot out of my house, if I go out anywhere, I'm recognized for ‘The Wire,’ everyday. It hasn't slowed up in the last 20 plus years. And I'm grateful and thankful for that because a lot of people don't understand what that felt like. I'm in a hotel right now, man, out of town working, but I'm going to be in a hotel because I understand the magnitude of what I am, who I am, what I represent. And I only can be around people who understand that, they understand what we got going on.

Validated: Rest in peace to Michael K. Williams. Tell me something that you remember about him, and how did his death affect you as a brother?

Tray Chaney: Well, first and foremost, man, it's always touchy to speak about our brother just because, maybe two weeks before he passed, I spoke to him, and I spoke to him on a possible booking for him because I'm very connected to all of ‘The Wire’ cast members. We do things together, we do parties and stuff. And to receive that type of news, it really broke me, man. It's hard for me to just get riled up with emotions and stuff like that, but he was such a good brother. I always say this in interviews, Michael K. Williams, he was not an industry guy. That's how real he was. It wasn't about the industry with him, he was more like family. He was more like, “How's your mother doing Tray? How's your father? How's your sister? I want to come over for dinner.” He was so real until a point where it's like, I ain't even looking at this brother as Omar. I ain't looking at him as no actor. But that's how he embraced me as his younger brother, and I embraced him as my older brother. And we just had a bond. We had a bond, man, and the effect, not just with me, but just people around the world. It's just a shame people don't, they don't really give you your flowers until you’re dead and gone. He affected so many people in such a positive way. But life will hit you, man. And when life hits you, and it's that time, it’s just unfortunate. So It's a real crazy feeling when I think about him in a great way because he was a great guy. And I know he’s not here in the physical form, but, of course his energy never dies. I know he's smiling down on me now because a lot of the stuff that I'm doing now musically, television, and film wise, we talked about years ago. I told him I was going to produce my own content. I told him I was going to go on tour. He knew about my rap career, he supported that. So, just to really experience that loss, that was a heavy blow. That was a heavy blow. Cheers to Michael K. Williams, man.

Validated: What does acting mean to you, and what should we be looking for from you movie-wise and music-wise in the upcoming future?

Tray Chaney: What acting means to me, it's one of the most creative things for me. You know what? No, wait. What acting means to me is one of the most creative experiences. That's what it is because you get to transform into these characters. A lot of times, you identify with the characters that you're playing. So, when people see you on screen, whether it's the small screen, independent, big screen, it doesn't feel like you're acting. 

What people can look forward to from Tray Chaney, I'm on BMF Season 2, on Stars. Shout out to 50 Cent, Lil  Meech, Big Meech, the whole BMF family. I'm on BMF Season 2. I just finished Miss Keyshia Cole's biopic. I made Keyshia Cole’s new biopic for Lifetime. I got to shout out one of the most amazing brothers, he's my business partner, Brett Rosen from RB Capital Partners, Inc. We're doing a lot of major things right now, man, in television and film, independent. My people out in Florida, James Hunt. These guys are my guys who I do big business with. We're doing big films, we're doing big television shows, and we're doing it independently. Music-wise, I just dropped my 32nd video “Know The Feeling,” and it's featuring Abira Greene from Little Women of Atlanta, and my brother, one of the baddest drummers in the world, One Badass Drummer. Shot, edited, co-directed by my brother, @IAmDonJuan, produced by CR The Show. I wrote it, and it was my first national placement. And the “We Own This City” limited series, which I played police officer Gordon Hawk in. And yeah, it was my first placement, but we shot the video, MTV picked it up, all the bloggers, ThisIs50, theJasmineBRAND. People are really running with it. I had a great time shooting that. I'm currently working on - it was titled ‘Thanksgiving Rose Part 2’ but now it is titled ‘A Naughty Christmess.’ And I'm currently shooting that as we speak right now. Like I said, once again, shout out to my partner, my brother, Brett Rosen, RB Capital Partners, Inc. We’re doing some major things. We’re getting ready to do something special, and I'm announcing this for the first time with you KB. We’re getting ready to do something special with ‘The Wire’ cast members. I ain’t gonna tell y'all what it is, but look out. Tray Cheney, we’re getting ready to hit y’all upside the head with this content. It's going to be big. But we are hitting y'all all across the board; television, film, music. All across the board. It's going to be huge.

Validated: That's what it is. Yo, I appreciate you so much for coming through, man. I know how busy you stay. You drop a movie on Tubi like every other week. (Laughs) I know how busy you are, man.

Tray Chaney: Tubi really looked out for me, man. And being independent, KB, it’s a beauty in that because ain’t nobody over the top of my head telling me what to do, bro. I do what I want, and it’s positive. No negativity, man, everything is love. On this powerful note, I just want to leave the readers with the understanding that the blessing is in the journey. The blessing is in the journey. We got to continue to fall in love with the process. We can't get emotionally attached to the end result. Don't look at the reward, don't look at the outcome, the accolades. It took me over 30 years to receive the rewards and the accolades that I'm receiving now being in this television, film, and music industry. Like I said, I never once got discouraged. I never doubted myself. The only question that I had was, I wonder when is this going to happen? And now, I'm starting to see it all happen and unfold in real-time. So, right now, I think what people are experiencing, they’re experiencing a Tray Chaney experience.