Growing up as a first-generation Haitian American, Deerfield, Florida rapper, Trapland Pat was instilled with a sense of value and pride for his culture and family, taking annual trips to Haiti where he immersed himself in his heritage. His older brother was his first influence, never taking music seriously, but always writing in a composition notebook sparking Pat’s interest in rhyming. While Pat freestyled for fun, it seemed like football was going to be his path, but the universe had bigger things in store. His football scholarship didn’t pan out and, at a moment where many others might have given up, Pat seized the opportunity to redirect his focus on his music and harness his talents.
Known for his animated facial expressions and exuberant energy on camera, Trapland Pat first made waves with eye-catching videos & hits like “Emergency” & “Overdose” ft. Spottemgottem. It wasn’t long before Pat signed with Fredo Bang’s Bang Biz Entertainment and released his critically acclaimed project Thru Da Door, with viral track “Big Business” which currently stands at over 4 million collective streams and views. Since then Pat has continued to release a successful discography of music and has even signed with Alamo Records in addition to his current deal with Bang Biz. Today Pat joins us to discuss working with his two labels, his newest single and video for “Hellcat” featuring Eli Fross and an exclusive on his forthcoming project.
The Knockturnal: How long have you been making music?
Trapland Pat: I’ve been making music 6 or 7 years.
The Knockturnal: How old were you when you first experimented with music? We’re you writing or free styling?
Trapland Pat: I was a youngin’, probably like 13 or 14, but I was just experimenting, I wasn’t taking it seriously, I was just having fun.
The Knockturnal: Who around you or in your life encouraged you to pursue music?
Trapland Pat: My brother, even though he wasn’t really seriously into rapping, but he had a composition notebook and I used to just be reading his rhymes most of the time. Cause I was able to do it myself.
The Knockturnal: Who are some of your inspirations or influences?
Trapland Pat: Future, Gucci Mane, Young Jeezy, Dom Kennedy, Chief Keef, a lot of people.
The Knockturnal: You also have a distinct style who are some of your like fashion influences?
Trapland Pat: Kodak is definitely one & Fabolous, he always been dripping.
The Knockturnal: Did your family or upbringing influence your sound at all? How does your Haitian background influence your creativity?
Trapland Pat: With Haitian music there’s like a wide variety when you listen to Haitian music. So I like to keep the versatility. I don’t want people to know how I’m gonna come on a track. I want them to just be surprised every time.
The Knockturnal: Shoutout TRSH that’s actually where I first discovered you, I love platforms that that focus on regional/local artists and upcoming acts, how important are platforms like that, that cater to local artists?
Trapland Pat: That’s very important because you never know who they’re reaching out to and they’re just always working and it gives you a good promotion from like the neighborhood and I knew them for a long time too though, so it’s like they always been in my corner. They helped a lot though.
The Knockturnal: How did your relationship with Alamo come about?
Trapland Pat: They reached out through Bang Biz Entertainment and they’re really cool with my videographer Jolo so it was already a connection there and they was already watching me from when I started, Jacob was already following me, but I never knew what it would lead to.
The Knockturnal: How does it feel to be signed to both Fredo Bang and Alamo?
Trapland Pat: It feels pretty good, like climbing the ladder, you never know where you’re gonna end up, so it’s like an adventure to me. I feel good.
The Knockturnal: What’s the best advice Fredo has given you?
Trapland Pat: You gotta work. You gotta work. It doesn’t matter how you feeling or what’s going on. You still gotta work. Can’t get tired.
The Knockturnal: Can you tell us about your new single & video for “Hellcat” featuring Eli Fross? What was the inspiration behind the title?
Trapland Pat: It’s about living life, women and dealing with haters.
The Knockturnal: What was it like working with Eli Fross?
Trapland Pat: Eli is a cool artist. We listened to a few beats, laughed, and made jokes. It was easy for us to vibe! He chose the beat to “Hellcat,”and then we cooked up. We created the concept of us going back in fourth and made a hit.
The Knockturnal: How did you two link up?
Trapland Pat: My label made the connection with Eli’s team at Winner Circle. They thought it would be a good idea to connect with a New York artist. Once the connection was made, we flew to New York and straight to the studio then flew back to shoot the music video. The Video is a vibe — you get Florida and New York together.”
The Knockturnal: Is this the first NY artist you’ve worked with, and do you plan on collaborating with more?
Trapland Pat: “Yeah, Eli is the first. I would like to connect with more New York artists in the future.
The Knockturnal: What else are you currently working on/have on the way?
Trapland Pat: I got a big project on the way with some good features on there. It’s gonna be called Trapnificent. I’m thinking about dropping it in the Spring.
The Knockturnal: Any collabs on the way you can speak on?
Trapland Pat: Fredo’s might be on two songs.
The Knockturnal: Are there any Florida artists or producers we can expect to see on the project?
Trapland Pat: PepperJackZoe. He’s my main producer. He’s from Florida. He’s definitely one. He got a lot of songs on there. Like most of them, he produced them, but I’m thinking about putting a Florida artists on there.
The Knockturnal: Did you record most of the project back home?
Trapland Pat: Yeah, but I actually recorded like 10 songs in New York. I’m gonna pick a couple of those songs to go on the project.