TJ Porter

From a young age TJ Porter felt drawn to rapping, yet he set those ambitions aside once basketball began yielding real promise during his early teenage years. The death of his closest friend in a gang-related shooting prompted the 15-year-old to reverse direction; he returned to music with fresh urgency. His lyrics, frequently autobiographical and centered on hardship and resilience, appeared on a series of initial singles and on the 2019 full-length Voice of the Trenches.

Born Terrence Reaves, Porter spent his childhood in a Harlem housing project. An uncle introduced him to golden-age rap by playing Nas and Tupac during his boyhood. Although he rapped regularly for enjoyment through his preteen period, basketball soon claimed more of his attention and he thrived at the sport as well. In 2016, his best friend Juwan Tavarez was murdered in a violent incident. Reviewing old text exchanges with Tavarez, Porter noticed the repeated encouragement his friend had offered regarding his abilities as an MC. Determined to pay tribute, he suspended his basketball goals and committed to rapping full time, initially uploading several tracks on his own. The 2018 release “Tricky” gained rapid traction and secured him a Def Jam contract while he was still completing high school. Subsequent singles reflected the influence of New York legend 50 Cent, as Porter aimed to recapture the commanding, inescapable force that defined his idol’s strongest era. The reflective and frequently melodic Voice of the Trenches reached listeners in June 2019; Chicago rapper Calboy appeared on its sole featured verse, the track “Flooding the Streets.”