Trae Tha Truth

Houston rapper Trae tha Truth, who has recorded under the shorter name Trae, established himself as an H-town fixture after surfacing in the late '90s on Z-Ro's Look What You Did to Me. His first proper studio album, Losing Composure, reached stores in 2003. National attention arrived toward the end of the following decade via Life Goes On, after which his catalog throughout the 2010s drew prominent guests and stronger chart placement, highlighted by the 2015 project Tha Truth and the two follow-ups issued in 2016 and 2017. Hometown Hero and Exhale wrapped his work of the 2010s, while Truth Season and Stuck in Motion marked the start of his third decade of activity. Outside the booth, the artist has long been recognized as a civic leader; in 2008 the city of Houston created Trae Day, observed each July 22.

Born Frazier Othel Thompson, he belongs to both the Screwed Up Click and Guerilla Maab and formed the duo ABN (“Assholes by Nature”), which issued two albums in the early 2000s. Losing Composure, his initial full-length, appeared in 2003 and included fellow Houston voices Bun B, Paul Wall, and Chamillionaire. Subsequent releases Same Thing Different Day and Restless preceded the wider-reaching Life Goes On in 2008, which enlisted Lil Wayne and Jadakiss and prompted the mayor to designate July 22 as Trae Day in acknowledgment of local philanthropy.

Street King arrived in 2011, loaded with contributions from Jadakiss, Lil Wayne, Lupe Fiasco, Wyclef Jean, Shawty Lo, Wale, and Big Boi, among many others. Not long afterward he joined T.I.’s Grand Hustle roster. Following the mixtape I Am King, his first album for the label emerged in 2015. Tha Truth, featuring Future, Boosie Badazz, J. Cole, and Rich Homie Quan, entered the Billboard 200 and reached the upper half of the Top 15 on both the hip-hop and rap charts. Its sequel, his eighth studio album, came out the next year; Tha Truth, Pt. 2 included B.o.B, Rick Ross, Ty Dolla $ign, Wiz Khalifa, Yo Gotti, Young Thug, and additional guests. The trilogy concluded in 2017 with Tha Truth, Pt. 3, which landed inside the Top 40 of the Billboard Independent Albums chart.

Houston suffered Hurricane Harvey’s impact one month after Pt. 3’s release. Trae devoted himself to recovery initiatives in the storm’s wake and, after receiving the key to the city, issued the aptly titled Hometown Hero, which carried verses from T.I., Mozzy, Young Thug, and Boosie Badazz. Three months later he dropped the mixtape 48 Hours Later, a direct follow-up to his 2016 project Another 48 Hours. His next studio album, Exhale, surfaced in August 2019. A 2021 collaboration with Mysonne, If You’re Scared Stay Inside, preceded the solo return Truth Season: The United Streets of America and the mixtape Life n Pain in 2022; Stuck in Motion arrived the following year.