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Tracy T has been in the music industry since he was a kid. In fact, he can still recite the first verse he ever rapped when he was only seven years old. Yet, on top of all he's accomplished in his music career, the Atlanta native is now embracing his new role as an aspiring restaurateur.
During a FaceTime call, the 33-year-old artist gives iHeartRadio a fresh look at his new venture, Loft Lounge Atlanta. The two-floor venue holds a massive bar, a DJ booth to provide the vibes, and plenty of seating. Tracy's spot also serves up "modern American food with a Latin flair," including tapas and more made by Chef Scotley Innis.
"It's real dope, bro," Tracy says. "Not the regular food, not the regular salad. Nothing regular. Nothing regular about it. It is an amazing place."
Tracy T's new lounge opened its doors a month after he dropped his latest album, Still Tracy. His 11-track project holds fresh collaborations with YTB Fatt, Vory, CEO Trayle, and Benny The Butcher. Tracy made the project as he was going through a break-up with the mother of his children, Kash Doll. He locked in with his trusted producer, Twysted Genius, to cook up the album while working with Da Honorable C-Note on their collaborative LP, I AIN'T FORGOT.
During our chat, Tracy T talks about making his latest album, how he connected with Benny The Butcher, his ventures in the food industry, and what he's got coming next. Scroll below for the entire conversation.
iHR: You've been in the music industry since you were about a teenager. How do you feel like you've developed as an artist since then?
TT: So me coming in early, it just prepared me for who I am today, how strong I am today. With the knowledge I got today, I can do certain things and move in certain ways. So as I've been growing, I've always made great relationships, made contacts, and made sure I understood what was going on. It was a lot of times I didn't know what was going on, and I had to be taught. So as I grew, even with MMG, I didn't know I was supposed to have a team with me. I was just thinking that their team was my team. So, to sum it up, it was more of a learning experience
iHR: Was there anything else that you learned from Rick Ross and his team that you still use to this day?
Yeah, a few books. "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. He put me on to a few books, and just hustle. As far as the hustle, the branding that goes with the hustle. Whatever we're pushing, we've got to push everything. We're branding this s**t, and we're putting it on display. I already was a hustler, but just seeing him hustle different things at the same time on the same platform, it reminded me of how things should go. He showed me how to maximize your hustle, man. Maximize your hustle. Don't leave no crumbs on the table.
Since your time at MMG, you've developed not just as a successful artist but also as a successful entrepreneur. A family man, too.
I got my son in there with me right now in the restaurant.
You've also been on a run, at least over the past two years, with your music. You've got your new album Still Tracy, that's still in rotation right now. Talk about making that album. What was the inspiration behind the record?
I was going through a breakup. I was in a depressed stage. I wasn't myself. I wasn't happy, and music is the way I express myself, a way I release my stress. So I went through that with the family thing, and through that whole time, me and Twysted Genius were talking. He'd send me beats, so I pull up on him. I had a project already that I was working on with Honorable C-Note. So I was doing songs there and with Twysted while I was going through the breakup situation. So in the end, when we finally broke up, I just locked straight in the studio and turned that pain into music. Me and Twysted locked in even stronger and we have a lot of good songs. We still had a lot of songs that I didn't even put on the project.
So we can expect a deluxe coming soon?
Oh yeah, we get a deluxe coming. Yeah, we got a deluxe coming real soon. We working on that as we speak right now.
On Still Tracy, you got a couple of dope records. My favorite was "Pusha" with Benny the Butcher.
That's your favorite?
Yeah, that's definitely one of my favorites, man. Your energy on there was definitely dope to hear, and I rock with Benny The Butcher's music. Talk about locking in with him.
He flew right in, man. He came, we chopped it up, vibed out for a minute, played a few songs. We were at Twysted's studio. Played a few songs. I think that was one of the last songs. We locked in man, we just vibed out. Then I heard him on the interview before saying I was one of the rappers he's listening to right now. So I was like, damn, I ain't even know he was listening to me. To hear him say that was cool, but my first time meeting him was at Nobu in Atlanta. It was my birthday or something, and n***a sent me a bottle of Dom Perignon. We were in a private room. He sent me a bottle of Dom P and I was like, damn, okay, I f**k with you for that. So we traded numbers then and then he was busy. I was busy. So we finally locked in with each other when he came to Atlanta one of those times and pulled up to the studio and we rocked out. I went in, knocked mine out. He went in, knocked his out. It didn't take long at all.
How long ago was that?
Probably about two years ago. It wasn't last year, so it was the year before last. But we just did the song this year.
So it's two years in the making. You also got the record on there with Vory, "You Really Know Me." Talk about that one.
He was going through a similar situation with this baby mama. So we were always cool. We met through some mutual homies and we did some music before, but we ain't never just catch a few vibes. You know how you do music and when you don't catch the right ones, but I did something for his project. It was one of the ones, and then I just told Twysted "Man, I need some girl songs or something. Send me some girl beats or something that I can send to Vory." He sent me that shit in 0.2 seconds. Vory sent it back. He sent it back like he already knew how I was feeling. He was going through a similar breakup. So by him doing that, he just laced it man. I had to do my part. So we lock in on a certain level man. Mentally that's my partner and I'm saying we on some next level mental s**t.
You mentioned your breakup and I know it's been a crazy couple of months between y'all. Outside of the music man, how have you moved forward?
I was just staying busy man and found something that took up my time and eased my mind. The gym and working in the studio, The studio was a way of releasing a lot of things and s**t, man, just stay busy and productive. When you're in the gym, you ain't just working your body, you working your mind. So me working my mind and my body just created strong attachments to things in the universe that was for me.
That's deep and I think that's very important for you to do that in these times. It's good to hear that you're finding ways to move past it.
Oh yeah. For sure. I'm past it now. I moved past it. We already on the next level.
You're a very busy entrepreneur nowadays. You were just telling me about the Loft Lounge. You also have a collaboration with LOL Burger, right? How did that deal happen?
That was something I never knew I wanted to do or was thinking about doing. I'm just attracting different things for me.
Focusing on your businesses, what have been some of the hardships that you had to overcome to get to where you're at now?
Oh man, there are so many different hardships like oh my god bro, it ain't just one. I don't know where to start it. Everything you do is not going easy. You got staff, you got contractors. The licensing is probably the worst part. Looking up licenses, going through all that with the licensing. That's probably the worst part because it takes time. It is the county's move on. The city moves on they watch so that's one of the problems. Well it wasn't a problem. It was just something that we had to handle.
I know that you have other things in the works too. I heard you're working on a TV show?
Yeah we working on on TV show right now. I don't want to get too deep into it, but I'm preparing and working on a TV show with some business partners and some powerful people. I'm just pushing every angle of it. Just get your energy right. You'll attract positive things.
Is it a reality show or is it scripted?
Reality, for now, and scripted. I'm trying to do it all. I'm just working. We grinding man. Whatever we going to get out the cake bowl from what's grinding, that's what we going to get it.
I can definitely see you doing some acting. I'm sure that you've had your fair share of experiences over the years. What's your dream project on TV?
I wanted to have a show like broadcasting. Broadcasting something that I love, which is cars. Not "Pimp My Ride," but something similar to that with the old school stuff. There are plenty of shows that got the old school cars and they always working on them. I want to do it on a more reachable level. Not so high class because it's a lot of bulls**t shops. It's a lot of janky mechanics. There's a lot of bulls**t out here too with the car world. So I just want to bring the reality. That's not what I'm working on. But that's just something I always thought about with the old school cars, and the muscle cars.
Well hopefully somebody will read this and they'll tap in with you to get that done.
Man. I love cars and I've been dealing with cars since I was seven years old. I always loved cars. I always loved music. My first time in the studio was when I seven years old.
What were you doing in the studio at seven years old?
They had wrote for me. They had the song. I still remember my verse. "I'm down with Chebas/It's a plus and it's like that/He keep me straight and I'm aware where my goal at/I need the down, the ghetto and the old hood/Just chill, parlay, you see it's all good." He say, "Hey little T," then I say "Yeah, I got to get some never will front or diss the place I come from/Guns and drugs, I'm sick and tired of hearing it/Only seven now, I'm not fearing it/I know my right, I know my left/I know my death/I know my math, it's a 20/I know it's left/I never beat a cheat, you see I don't sleep/All I want is to be in a decent place to rest my feet." That was my first and I still remember, bro. I was seven years old bro. They wrote it for me though, but I remember rapping that s**t bro.
Yeah, that's crazy. Who wrote that for you?
It was a dude named Cheba. He dead too. His name was Cheba.
Damn, I can't believe that you could still recite something you did when you were seven years old so perfectly. That's just impressive man. That's history right there. So what's next for Tracy T?
Well, the deluxe and another project is what's next. I've been grinding a long time bro and since I got my wheels rolling, it's kind of picking up and I'm seeing more traction than I ever seen as long as I've been rapping. I always tend to do some s**t and stop, do some s**t and stop. I do get into other things. I get thrown off track. But now I'm just strictly focused. I don't know what's to come next because I'm surprised at myself right now. I'm just walking in my blessings. I'm just preparing myself. I'm at an age mentally and physically where I am ready for whatever comes my way. I'm strong. I got the mental capacity to handle it. So whatever it is, I'm ready for it.