South Seattle born and raised, Thaddeus David has always been different. Raised in a single parent household, Thaddeus attended private school as a child, but lived in a completely different environment than his classmates. Overcoming a delinquent past and a less than ideal childhood motivated Thaddeus to conquer the challenges that lie before him as a rapper, while still keeping his originality.
I caught up with Thaddeus David and discussed his past work with the group State of the Artist, how living the Pacific Northwest affects his rap game, and his album Trapital Trill.
When did you start following your passion for music?
I started recording music when I was about 20. I was working on some random solo stuff, just testing things out with Parker (of SOTA) but wasn’t really taking it serious. When my first spot of my own got hit, I started taking music more serious and that’s when I started working with Parker and Nate and started working with State of the Artist (SOTA).
What do you like about making music in the NW?
All I really know is Seattle. I never went off and did the college thing or left home. The NW is cool as far as our scene. A fair amount of artists are starting to get on and at an increased rate. What I don’t like about it is the lack of light that you get being from a historically non rap area. People think about Seattle and rap doesn’t come up in the first five things they think of, you know?
Tell me about Trapital Trill.
The major difference between this and my previous work would be the beat selection and just overall feel. A lot of my previous stuff is more traditional “Hip Hop” I guess you could say. This is definitely a harder album something for the trunks and the streets.
What producers did you work with on this album?
I worked with Swish who people might know as Sam from Stevie and Sam,DJ Semaj, Firstborn, KeyboardKid, SAT Beats, Rob Skeetz & TrussOne.
What can we expect from it?
You can expect me with a twist. It’s like when McDonald’s dropped the spicy chicken sandwich to one up the regular. You just gotta hear it. I’m sure it’ll get a fair amount of different responses.
How will this project sound?
This Trapital Trill record sounds fairly different than any of my previous solo or group efforts in a lot of ways. The sound is a lot more for the trunks and more trap enthusiasts – a lot more just kind of gutter. It has features on it. I usually don’t do many collabs on my solo work. A lot of different producers. You kind of have to hear it to see the growth and change.