Trent the HOOLiGAN Press Conference
On April 6th, MIC was given the opportunity to attend a press conference with rapper Trent the HOOLiGAN, held by °1824. Trent is the son of a pastor who was raised in the church alongside his seven siblings. He was born in Atlanta, moved to Orlando, and later ended up in Wilmington, North Carolina. He categorizes himself as a North Carolina artist since he started his musical journey there, but acknowledges his inspiration from the cities he grew up in.
His discography contains many singles, including “Red Rover!”, “Glim!”, and an album titled Medusa which was released in 2019. His most recent singles, “Red Rover!” and “Glim!” were released in January and March of 2023, and “FlamePrincess!” was just released on April 11th. When asked what 3 words he would use to describe himself and his music style he said, “southern, heartfelt, and hardasfuck, we’re gonna pretend that’s one word.” He takes inspiration from many outlets, including Christian rock and heavy metal. He claimed to enjoy new pop music, even as a rapper, and said that he enjoys listening to artists like Harry Styles and Olivia Rodrigo. He also told us that the first CD he ever bought was good kid, m.a.a.d city by Kendrick Lamar. His dream collaborations would be with Andre 3000 and J Dilla.
He leans heavily into the meanings of his songs, writing expressive and vulnerable lyrics that allude to deep contents. In his personal life, he treasures support systems and emphasizes having a close circle of friends who always support him. He aims to impact as many people as possible with his God-given gift. One of the best pieces of advice he gave to us during the conference was that “nobody ever grew while they were comfortable,” which is something that he lives by. Something that keeps him going is knowing that he’s using his gift to impact people’s lives, and he enjoys thinking about all the kids’ lives he’s touching.
His new album displays the way he has matured over the past 3 years since his last album release. The listeners will receive an introspective look into Trent’s musical and life journey as they go through the album. He wants listeners to feel like they’re going through the journey with him and growing as they hear the tracks in order. His new album is the outlet where he’s able to experience himself and speak about things he may not talk about even with the people close to him and leans heavily into this aspect in the album.
Check out his recent release, “FlamePrincess!” and tune in for his new album, releasing on April 18th!
Question: What is the process of collaborating with other artists? Is one artist’s vision prioritized, or is it truly equal?
Trent: “I think, for me personally, if I’m in the room with somebody and we’re collaborating, it is equal. I want to make sure that whatever we’re both talking about in the song is something that we both feel. It usually will start with a conversation; we’ll be talking about something and then it leaks into the record. I would say equal, for sure.”
Question: Why did you choose the specific cover art for your album Medusa? Did you design it?
Trent: “The concept was my idea... Medusa is a representation of a lot of my vices and struggles, so if you look at the cover, there’s cigarettes, telephones, a bunch of shit. They all symbolize weaknesses and things that I need to overcome. And then there’s a bunch of snakes which symbolize Medusa’s hair and whatnot. That’s what that album means to me, and I wanted a visual representation that matched that. My boy Antreo made that, he’s a super talented artist. I just told him what I wanted, and my vision, and he ran with it.”
Question: What was the significance of the girl with the pearl earring in your music video for “Carolina’s Finest?”
Trent: “When I wrote the idea for the video, I wanted it to reference some iconic fine art pieces, hence ‘finest, Carolina’s finest’ I wanted to a bunch of fine art references in there. There’s a part where we’re playing poker at the table, it’s like the dogs playing poker, that painting. And then the girl with the pearl earring and a few other paintings that we referenced… I think it’s just a really cold painting. It was actually one of my favorite moments as an artist, ever, because I got to direct that scene, because I wasn’t in front of the camera, I got to be behind it. And when we got the shot lined up, I was like ‘holy shit’, because it looks so freakin’ crazy. I remember when the director pulled it up on Google, and put it up next to the monitor, it was really like ‘holy shit that’s my favorite shot we’ve ever done in a video.’”