Nashville performer seeks empowerment through music
By Ron Wynn
But one of the more interesting things about her is that while she loves Hip-Hop and rap, she doesn't restrict herself to it. Ms. Trice writes and works with R&B ,pop, even country writers, something that she feels helps her extend and develop her all-round skills.
"When I'm doing something in pop, or soul or country, then I have to think outside of what I would normally say or do," she continued. "I get to express different sides of myself, to think about how I might feel in another situation or how someone else might sing my lyrics or do a song."
"It's the best way to grow as an artist, because when you're writing a country or pop number and thinking about what fits in that context, it helps you better understand who and what you are, and when you're doing your own music, it makes it tighter and sharper and stronger."
Still, while she definitely enjoys being versatile, for Ms. Trice, everything ultimately gets back to Black music, and the message. "These are very tough and hard times, and it's a period when we really need to think about what we're doing as a people," she said.
"I want everyone to enjoy and embrace my music, but there are also some hard truths out there that we need to face as a people and a nation. There are people out there trying to bring back Jim Crow, trying to stop our progress, and we have to acknowledge that and be ready to fight against it. We're not going to progress if we don't help each other."
"There are a lot of artists out there who don't want to take this approach, who don't want to talk about issues in their music, and that's their right," she continued. "But that's not what I want to do. I'm not afraid of being a strong Black woman or putting my feelings about these issues right out there."
"This isn't a time to be meek and afraid. Young boys and men and women are being killed. It's time to take a stand. I make it my business to uphold and uplift our people, especially Black women."
"We're taking our song straight to the people through the Internet and social media," Ms. Trice adds. "I'm on Tumblr, Instagram, Soundcloud, You Tube. I want folks to go on Youtube and hear the song, then go and tell the people who control the airwaves that you want to hear it on the radio as well."
"The best thing that can happen for me is for someone to hear "Change" and think, yes, it is time for a change, and then go out and do whatever they can to make that happen in their neighborhood and community."
The first thing that catches the ear when you hear the powerful tune "Change" is the assertiveness of the message, with the dynamic rapping of Ms. Trice framing a message that insists the time for justice is now, and urges Blacks to stop being complacent and satisfied, and reject any notions of a "post-racial" society.
With the hook a refrain from Sam Cooke's classic "A Change Is Gonna Come" underpinning her furious verbal statements, "Change" isn't intended to comfort or soothe, but to prod, ignite, and agitate anyone who hears it into action.
The result of a collaboration between Ms. Trice and Mr. B. Low Ki, "Change" resonates and also stands out from the ranks of material about romance, sex and parties. It's also emblematic of what Ms. Trice wants to do with her music, and especially the people she wants to reach.
"I'm a Black woman and I'm really speaking to other women who've experienced our struggles," she said during a recent interview. "Being a single parent and female, that's a struggle a lot of Black women understand. I keep my music simple and straight to the point. I keep it real and I'm talking about things that are a reflection of what we're going through as Black women every day in America."
"I write my own material," she continued. "I'm very much interested in and about Black empowerment. A lot of Black people don't know their history, they don't their potential. They don't know what a mighty people we are or what they can do if they just know who and what they are."
"That's what I want this song to say and that's what I want my music to do and to be, an inspiration for people, something that really reaches them and gets them to really reach for that greatness that I know is there and i know is in all Black people."
Ms. Trice has writing, singing and performing since she was a teen. She did briefly stop performing, but says she cranked it back up in her 20s because she realized "music is my heart and my love, and my way of communicating those things I feel need to be said."