TRUE TO HIS NAME: TRUCARR

INTERVIEW KB TINDAL

WATTS, CALIFORNIA RAPPER TRUCARR HAS MADE SOME HEAVY WAVES WITH HIS BLUEFACE ASSISTED SINGLE “OUTSIDE”. THIS LANDED HIM A DEAL WITH EONE ENTERTAINMENT AND HE IS ALSO SIGNED TO WACK 100’S, 100 ENTERTAINMENT LABEL. TRUCARR HAS BEEN WORKING STEADILY DURING THE QUARANTINE BY RELEASING TRACKS WITH HARDINI AS WELL AS WITH BANKROLL FREDDIE.

AS WE ENTER 2021 TRU SHOWS NO SIGNS OF SLOWING DOWN. VALIDATED MAGAZINE GOT A CHANCE TO CATCH UP TO TRUCARR AND WE CHOPPED IT UP ABOUT EVERYTHING FROM HIM GROWING UP IN WATTS TO HIS “CLOCKED IN” BRAND. TAP IN.

“I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO ANYONE FROM THE CITY TO PUT ON. IT’S ALL LOVE ON MY END.”

VALIDATED: HOW DID YOU GET THE NAME TRUCARR AND WHAT DOES IT STAND FOR?

TRUCARR: I THOUGHT OF IT MYSELF. I WAS JUST LIKE I’MA KEEP IT A HUNDRED EVERYTIME SO I’MA CALL MYSELF TRU AND TO MAKE IT AUTHENTIC I JUST PUT MY LAST NAME ON IT. 

VALIDATED: WHAT'S YOUR EARLIEST MEMORY OF HIP-HOP AND THE CULTURE?

TRUCARR: I WASN’T TOO FOCUSED ON THE MUSIC IN MY TEENAGE YEARS, OF COURSE, I LIKED STUFF WHEN IT CAME ON BUT I WOULD SAY I LIKED THE BET ERA WHEN FREE AND AJ WERE ON. SO EVERYTHING BACK THEN.

VALIDATED: TELL US WHERE YOU ARE FROM AND ABOUT YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD GROWING UP AND HOW IT INFLUENCED YOU?

TRUCARR: I’M FROM WATTS, RAISED IN WATTS, IT’S A FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL, LOVE, AND STRUGGLE. SURVIVAL BECAUSE OF HOW YOU GOT TO MOVE TO STAY ALIVE. THE REASON I SAY LOVE IS BECAUSE IT’S A SECTION WHERE YOU GROW UP THROUGH THE CITY AND EVERYBODY COME BACK TO WHEN THEY GET OLDER. STRUGGLING WAS WHAT THE WHOLE CITY WENT THROUGH. I ALSO LIVED IN THE INLAND EMPIRE LIKE 45 MINUTES FROM LA IN A CITY CALLED MORENO VALLEY, RIALTO, ONTARIO AND SAN BERNARDINO.

VALIDATED: WHO ARE 2 RAPPERS THAT YOU LOOK TO FOR INSPIRATION MUSICALLY AND BUSINESSWISE THAT MAKES YOU WANT TO BECOME A BETTER ARTIST AND BUSINESSMAN?

TRUCARR: WHEN I WAS YOUNG I WAS LISTENING TO DMX UNTIL LIL WAYNE AND THEM CAME OUT. FOR INSPIRATION, I’D SAY RICK ROSS, AND HOW HE WENT INTO BUSINESS FROM THE POSITION HE WAS IN. WHEN IT COMES TO MUSIC, WHEN MEEK FIRST CAME OUT I WAS ROCKING WITH HIS DELIVERY.

VALIDATED: WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON YOUR CITY’S CURRENT HIP-HOP SCENE AND WHO ARE YOU CHECKING FOR?

TRUCARR: MY CITY IS LIKE THE PARTY SCENE TO ME, THE BIGGEST ARTIST FROM HERE DROP MORE CLUB MUSIC THEN HOW PEOPLE FEEL. I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO ANYONE FROM THE CITY TO PUT ON. IT’S ALL LOVE ON MY END.

VALIDATED: WE KEEP LOSING OUR KINGS AT YOUNG AGES LIKE POP SMOKE AND MOST RECENTLY KING VON, SO WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO YOUR FELLOW ARTISTS ABOUT HOW THEY SHOULD MOVE TO PROTECT THEMSELVES BETTER?

TRUCARR: WITH WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE WORLD I FEEL LIKE US AS ARTIST SHOULD ALWAYS HAVE A TEAM OR RIGHT-HAND MAN THAT UNDERSTANDS HOW TO MOVE LIKE FOR SIMPLE THINGS, LIKE GETTING GAS. 

VALIDATED: WHAT SACRIFICES HAVE YOU MADE, OR THINGS THAT YOU HAD TO GO WITHOUT BECAUSE YOU'VE INVESTED IN YOUR ARTISTRY?

TRUCARR: THE TIME FOR MY KIDS BUT WHEN I DO GET TO SEE THEM WE GET THAT BONDING MOMENT. I LET THEM KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON THOUGH AND I SHOW THEM EVERYTHING SO THEY NOT WONDERING. 

VALIDATED: HOW DID YOUR COLLABORATION WITH BLUEFACE ON “OUTSIDE” COME ABOUT?

TRUCARR: MY WORK ETHIC WAS NOTICEABLE AND BRO REACHED OUT. RESPECT IT!

VALIDATED: AS A HIP-HOP ARTIST, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOUR RESPONSIBILITY IS TO HIP-HOP CULTURE?

TRUCARR: TO GIVE BACK AND LEAD BY EXAMPLE, TO CHASE YOUR DREAMS AND OPEN UP DOORS THAT WEREN’T OPEN FOR ME, ESPECIALLY WHERE I COME FROM.

VALIDATED: WHAT’S THE NAME OF YOUR LATEST SINGLE OR PROJECT AND WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THOSE TITLES?

TRUCARR: I NAMED MY TAPE “TRUFORECER THE JOURNEE” THAT EXPLAINS THAT I’MA ALWAYS BE A HUNDRED TO MYSELF THROUGHOUT THE JOURNEY AND MY DAUGHTER’S NAME IS JOURNEE.

VALIDATED: WHAT DO YOU WANT LISTENERS TO GET FROM YOU AS AN ARTIST?

TRUCARR: THE TRUTH AND TO GET TO KNOW ME. I ALSO WANT TO TEACH SOME GAME SO I PUT THAT IN THERE AS WELL SO THEY CAN USE IT IN THEIR OWN WAYS.

VALIDATED: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TRACK THAT YOU HAVE DROPPED IN THE LAST YEAR AND WHY?

TRUCARR: “OUTSIDE”, BECAUSE I JUST HAD FUN WITH IT. I WASN’T DOING SO MUCH AND IT CREATED A BIG IMPACT THAT GOT ME GOING.

VALIDATED: WHAT DOES HIP-HOP MEAN TO YOU? AND TELL US ABOUT OTHER VENTURES YOU'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON. 

TRUCARR: HIP HOP IS LIKE A TIME CAPSULE, IT TAKES YOU BACK TO OLD TIMES. I’M WORKING ON A TAPE RIGHT NOW WITH EONE AND 100ENT CALLED “BASED ON A TRU STORY.” IT’S BEEN WILD REALLY BECAUSE THIS AFTER MY SINGLE “OUTSIDE”, WHICH WAS BIG SO THIS TAPE EVERYTHING DONE GOT BIGGER FROM MY STYLE TO HOW I MOVE AND WHAT I’M DOING. I GOT A BRAND RIGHT NOW CALLED “CLOCKEDIN” WHICH BRINGS CLOTHES AND OTHER ITEMS THAT CAN BE USED LIKE LIGHTERS, PENCILS, BACKPACKS AND OTHER PRODUCTS.

VALIDATED: WHERE CAN THE READERS SUPPORT YOU AND YOUR MUSIC ONLINE AND ON SOCIAL MEDIA? 

TRUCARR: YOU CAN FIND ME ON ALL SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS @TRUCARR