Trapboy JT delivers trap bangers and West Coast anthems on new album ‘Never Again / No AutoTrap’
By Brennan Stebbins
There was a time when music was just a hobby for Trapboy JT, with most of his time spent involved in “criminal activities,” as he describes it. Then came some clarity of mind.
“I saw the street life only ended three ways: jail, institutions and death,” he says. “So i figured might as well give this music a real shot before I end up dead or in jail.”
Now, with two years in the rearview mirror, the Southern California artist has reinvented himself as an up-and-coming rapper, producer and director and his new album Never Again / No AutoTrap showcases his mix of hype, uptempo trap bangers and smooth street rap anthems with a West Coast flair.
“You’re going to get a lot of head banging in the car and then a lot of slow head nodding and you’re going to get some laughs and some moments where you just want to be in a mosh pit,” Trapboy JT says. “It’s a completely unorthodox pairing of styles of music. It was supposed to be two different albums but I feel like that balance of energy and relaxation is like a musical rollercoaster. It’s like an audio Indy 500 where it slows down on the corners and then hits high speeds on the straightaways.”
The 14-track album opens with “Jesus Chris (Jack in the Box),” a song that features a “heavily blasphemous video of me dressed up like Jesus Christ, throwing up signs with my fingers and dancing out in front of a Jack in the Box.”
His Mercedes got a flat tire while shooting the video, an incident he said is probably more than coincidence.
Trapboy JT then brings some positivity with “Fendi Fact,” in which he raps “I’ve got a job and changed my life” but “I’m still gonna trap.”
“A lot of people are scared to talk about actually getting a job and manning up and being responsible but I’m still gonna trap of course,” he says.
There’s also “Shitty Nigga,” which he describes as a heavy West Coast banger with some funny undertones, and “Section 8,” which features ILLAH, a native of India.
“He moved over to America, grew up in the Fruit Town neighborhoods in Compton and me and this guy teamed up on a whole comedic adventure with this song, but at the same time it’s a very, very hard hitter,” he says.
Trapboy JT likes incorporating humor into his music, and says his sense of humor is what got him through several years in jail and several more on the streets. It’s also something contemporary hip hop is missing, he says.
“That element of laughter and fun it used to have in the 90’s,” he says.
Never Again / No AutoTrap is also his first album that refrains from using autotune, and was meant as a tribute to the West Coast.
“I have to get something out there for the West Coast culture,” he says. “I might have to come back and dip my fingers in a West Coast style again and a more hype style. I am a fan of autotune because it enables me to express the emotion I want to put into my music, but I feel like the game might be a little oversaturated with autotune right now and it might be time for some rappers who are just having fun and delivering quick punch lines and sick word play.”
For more, follow Trapboy JT on TikTok (jtfakeversace) and Instagram (trapboy_jt). His music is available on YouTube and Spotify.
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