Ever since Rick Ross launched his Maybach Music label, the rapper-turned-mogul has been stockpiling talent. Ross has already done wonders with Meek Mill and Wale, and he has Gunplay, Rockie Fresh and Stalley on the way.
And now he has Fat Trel. Yesterday, MMG announced that they signed the 23-year-old rapper. Trel, who’s from the DC area, has been buzzing in the streets for a little while now. MMG is now going to see if they can make the kid a crossover star.
Fat Trel has been rapping for years, but things really started to pop for him on an underground level in 2010, when he released a mixtape called No Secrets, which dropped on The Board of Administration, Wale’s label.
We can’t talk about Trel without talking about Wale: the first DC-bred rapper to have a national buzz. His rise started with the song “Nike Boots,” then it continued on with the Seinfeld-themed Mixtape About Nothing. After Wale released his debut album, Attention Deficit, in 2009, the rapper started a label called The Board Administration, dedicated to breaking local DC acts. One of those acts was Fat Trel.
There’s some key differences between Wale and Fat Trel. While Wale has become a successful rapper, there were a good amount of folks from the DC area who didn’t feel like the rapper repped the real DC. Or, more specially, he didn’t represent the underclass of DMV.
Fat Trel didn’t have these problems. The rapper, who was 19 when No Secrets dropped, is from the hood hood of DC — Ward 5— and his raps are about living the hard street life.
Following the success of No Secrets, Trel was set to release his April Fools mixtape under The Board Administration umbrella. However, just days before the tape was set to release, he was dropped by the label due to contract disputes and issues the label had with Trel’s management.
Even though at first Trel downplayed beef with Wale, there were moments when it seemed like the two were legitimately beefing.
On a blog post for NikeTalk, under the name ILoveHipHop43, Wale wrote about the Trel situation:
“fat trel left..after i spent about 10k in a month on him (flights clothes etc.) amicable split…but he wanted buzz with the split so he said he was dropped…never drpped trel..that’d be a waste of money …he just used the company …he got what he wanted….and ps.. fat trel didn’t give me street cred ..im been doin go-gos in the dirtiest of clubs in dc for 6 years now …tcb byb essence..THATS street cred in dc ..if any…this aint goin to get “real”… trust and believe”
Whatever the reason, the relationship became chilly and Trel was on his own. And he just kept on cooking. He released new mixtapes, like his Nightmare On E Street tape in 2012; he dropped high profile collaborations with the likes of Lex Lugar and Chief Keef; he joined a side project called Louie V Mob, with Master P and Alley Boy, dropping two stellar mixtapes in the process; and he put out his own street anthems like “Respect with this Tech” and “Deep in the Game.”
Oh, and he stopped all the beefing. He became cool with Wale again (Trel would appear on Wale’s The Gifted album). Not only that, but Wale would help Trel squash things with another local DC rapper, Shy Glizzy.
Throughout 2013, there were rumors that Trel was going to join Ross’ MMG squad. However, things didn’t become official until yesterday. It might have something to do with the SMDG tape Trel dropped a couple of months back. The tape featured a more polished Trel showing off various styles: there’s street stuff like “Shoot,” club jawns like “Make it Clap” and smooth underground hip-hop ish like “Willie Dynamite.”
Then there’s a song like the somber and beautiful “Niggaz Dying,” which shows the depth that Trel has.
That SDMG tape shows Trel can put together a complete project. And MMG jumped on it.
And look whom he has to thank:
I WANNA PERSONALLY THANK MY NIGGA @Wale 4 MAKING DIS HAPPEN!!! TIME 2 TURN UP …I AINT LETTING NOBODY DOWN!!! ACTIONz WILL SHOW!!! #MMG #SB
— $$$FAT TREL$$$ (@FATTREL) November 7, 2013
