The Reason: T.R.I.N.I

Born and raised in Trinidad, rapper and songwriter T.R.I.N.I migrated to the United States at the age of 18. Upon arrival, he was embedded into the culture of hip-hop. His mom, who was already in the U.S., was a D.J at the time. T.R.I.N.I expressed watching his mom practice her craft. “I remember my mom practicing her craft every other day in the basement; I started to join her practice session to listen.”

Growing up, T.R.I.N.I always had a love for poetry. After his mom enrolled him in high school, he took his poetry skills to another level. “I had written a poem on the plane on my way to America…fast-forward I ended up showing this poem to a female friend of mine in hopes of making a song.” It wasn’t long until he started getting into rap. But it wasn’t till his mom mixed a Jay-Z beat on her mixer, T.R.I.N.I used the same poem making his first rap song.

Back in Trinidad, T.R.I.N.I grew up listening to calypso, reggae, soca, and hip-hop. “Hip-hop was sub-culture for me; I would listen to rappers Eminem, Slick Rick.” Before coming to America, all T.R.I.N.I knew about hip-hop was Eminem and Slick Rick. As an adolescent, he favored reggae and dancehall. “Back home, reggae and dancehall were more for the streets; that’s what we grew up on.”

His on-stage name T.R.I.N.I. came about six years ago. “My first rap name was A.K…my friend who I was rapping with at the time told me that I needed a rap name…my real name is Adam Kent, so I just went with the initial A.K.” After running with into Ruff Ryder’s, the historic record label told to him come up with a better on-stage name.  It wasn’t until meeting up with popular radio host Steph Lover, T.R.I.N.I came out with his new on-stage name. “I remember her asking me what’s my rap name, and I told her I didn’t have one at the moment…she then asked me what’s the reason you’re nice.” From there, he came with the acronym T.R.I.N.I which stands for “The Reason I’m Nice Is.”

During the summer, T.R.I.N.I released his latest E.P., ‘The Reason‘ featuring fan-favorite ‘Long Time Coming (Freestyle).’ As an artist, T.R.I.N.I felt he lost himself during the pandemic due to everything being shut down. “I started to have writer block…I lost part of myself during that time; it was very frustrating for me because music is life.” Not writing, T.R.I.N.I went back to his old ways, which is freestyling. “I went to the studio and recorded the first track Emergency…the way I pick beat was different, production-wise I took a different route.” For six months, T.R.I.N.I went to the studio every two weeks to record music.

With the E.P. out now, T.R.I.N.I is letting his fans know to go after anything they’re excellent at. “Anything you want to become; you can do it but make sure you’re nice at it!” He is also coming out with a visual for’ Trap Baby‘ and ‘Don’t Hide It‘ before the holidays.

Stream T.R.I.N.I latest E.P. The Reason, out now on all streaming platforms.