Trinidad James responds to DJ A-Trak’s open letter

A few days ago, A-Trak penned an open letter for The Huffington Post, pleading with the hip-hop community to start leading dialogues discussing the rampant and excessive use of drugs in hip-hop. Though the signature illegal substance for the genre in the past has been the usage of marijuana, and the sale of pills or cocaine, the subject matter has evolved at alarming rates. On the west coast, Black Hippy members ScHoolboy Q & Ab-Soul are constantly discussing the sale or use of drugs, from Oxycontin to DMT, while Trinidad James, Tyga & Juicy J have been repeat offenders when it comes to Molly references. A-Trak, founder of the Fools Gold record label, called it a transformation to the “psychadelic” age of hip-hop, and admitted that while its okay to support the raps in context, artists should also begin to use their platforms to raise awareness and have conversations on the subject.

Today, in a phone interview Trinidad James held over the phone with XXL Magazine, he qualified how some of his lyrics relate to the statements made in the open letter written by Kanye West’s former DJ, and justifies his continued use of drug references in his raps. In addition to that, he made a rather controversial statement that may not go over well with some.

I have a strong mind, but people are going to read his thoughts, and hopefully his [DJ A-Trak] message reaches a kid or an adult who doesn’t have a strong mind so they won’t even waste their time with drugs because if they do they’ll end up being an addict and dying. I feel like people who die from drugs are just weak-minded.
–Trinidad James

Thoughts?

-Khari Nixon (@KingVanGogh)