Tripp Doogan Interview (Feel Tha Reel/Blocwise/Regime)

[ToOoOoN!!!]

1. INTRODUCTION:
Tripp Doogan, one of the last genuinely "REAL" mutha fuckas left in the rap game. That's not just me telling you that, that's me telling you what everyone's telling me. Born in Malden Massachusetts, grew up down in the 3rd Coast (the Gulf Coast), in Fort Myers and Sarasota Florida. I jumped off the porch young at about 12 years old, burdened by a life of poverty that was in my family for generations before I was even born, I learned at a young age there wasnt much help coming to me. Everything I wanted or needed, I pretty much had to go get it, one way or another. My teenage years were crazy, maybe a lil more crazy than most teenagers lives are. Back in the early 1990's down in South-West Florida I could pretty much get away with anything, or should I say I knew how to get away with anything. Being that it was so easy for me to commit crimes and violent acts as a way for me to get what I needed, I started doing it more and more frequently. At 16 it led to a purse-snatching incident that my mother instantly got wind of, and I was kicked out of her apartment that same day. On my own, alone on the streets of Florida, I pretty much raised myself. Actually the streets raised me. I learned some very hard and painfull lessons on the streets. That's where it all started for me... the streets.


2. BLOCWIZE CONNECTION:
The Blocwize connection was actually brought about by me. When I was on the streets with nobody to rely on and nowhere to go, I used music as a thereputic resource, as something to relate to. I would search for underground artists that rapped about "REALER" subject matters, and situations and feelings I could relate to. I used to ride around listening to Ice Cube's group "Kausion" (where Gonzoe got his start). And they were wild and hood wit' it. I related to that. Then I picked up Gonzoe's album "If I Live And Nothing Happens", and it had a few songs on it that hit me deeply during my struggles, I related with his trials and tribulations, and not only that, but I related with how he spoke on his situations, with a resiliant attitude. So later on in my life when I got involved with making rap music, I had already started my own record label (Feel Tha Reel Wrecords), but I felt like being involved with the ones I related to that were bringin' it on that real level, so I contacted Gonzoe directly and asked him if I could join forces with Blocwize and The Regime. And that's what it is. Now you see me representin' with the same homies I used to listen to, you hear me on tracks with em. Real recognize real, in life we link up with the people we relate to.


3. INFLUENCES:
I dont like giving artists free promotion by saying their names and all that, but just for this interview I'll go head and speak on a few of my influences in the rap game. I've been following the rap game since it started. I was really feelin' artists like Tupac, I think he was the realest to ever touch a mic, and since the loss of Pac, the rap game has taken a downward slide into whackness. I feel Scarface, Geto Boys, like I said Gonzoe, Kausion, Ice Cube was a huge influence of mine, Master P was probly my biggest influence (business wise) when it comes to his hustle and how he planted his flag in the rap game, nobody did it like "P"! Snoop Dogg, The Dogg Pound, Spice 1, E-40, Trick Daddy, T.I., Bone Thugs N Harmony, Outkast, Goodie Mob, Witchdoctor, Cosmic Slop Shop, Deacon The Villain (of Cunninlynguists), mayne it's a whole lotta mutha fuckas I could keep naming but basically anybody who just spoke it the way they felt it. Artists that was genuine and had a point behind what they rapped about, and put their heart and their life in their music, that was the biggest influences to me.


4. WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO THE RAP GAME:
Like I said I've been listening to rap since the 80's, I've had an ear for it since I first heard it. I never really pictured myself being a rapper until I moved up to Kentucky. When I linked up wit somebody who's like a cousin to me "Dark Soul" in Versailles Kentucky back when I was like 16 or 17, him and a couple homies were having a lil' freestyle session in the crib while we was all drinkin and smokin blunts. 'Soul passed me the mic (like I was in rotation) and said "spit somethin". I was like "naw man I dont rap!" But he insisted and kept tryna peer pressure me and I was high so I said fuck it, I went ahead and said some lil whack ass shit, I was tryna make it rhyme, hahaaa.. but after that night I found myself sittin by myself in my room listening to 2Pac songs and other artists songs and paying more attention to the beat than the lyrics, and tryna think of what I would say on those beats, and thats pretty much where it started for me. Then I grew a bigger love for the music, and a deeper passion for it, not only listening to it, but now I had a drive in me to write and create my own music, my own style, and tell my story in my own words. My homie Deacon The Villain was the first one to beleive in me enough to get me in the booth and provide me with beats, and record me for free, so shoutout to Deacon for my real start!
5. WHAT TO EXPECT FROM MY NEXT ALBUM:
I havent even dropped an "album" yet, although alot of people respect my work and my craft as if I already had a few albums in the game. But I released my first mixtape "RELOADED" in 2009, and that's my only CD out right now. Im gonna be realesing my new mixtape "TALES FROM THE TRIPP" soon, and it's a banger!! Full of hard shit!! On TALES FROM THE TRIPP you wont hear any soft tracks, or club music, it's all hood, grimy, gutta, murda music type shit! I'll be releasing my first ever solo album in the near future too, and that's gonna be where people get a deep view into the real Tripp Doogan.


6. FUTURE FOR FEEL THA REEL WRECORDS:
Feel Tha Reel is a indie label, but it's also a brand. We're workin' on many different avenues in the money making market, and you can expect to see our name all over the place. Mixtapes, DJ's, Albums, Shows, Clothes, Videos, DVD's, I even got a few (secret products) coming soon I cant really speak on right now, but it's in the works already and everybody's gonna be able to fuck wit' the new product, no matter WHO you are!! We steady workin over here at the F.T.R. Headquarters!!  Feel Tha Reel is a way of life, it's a moral too, something we live by. Being "REEL", not substituting our beleifs for bullshit, we Feel Tha Reel, we dont feel tha fake, we dont fuck with the flaw. You can expect nothin' but reelness from us, all the time.


7. SHOUT-OUTS:
God's first and foremost, without God I wouldnt have made it this far, and I wouldnt have the blessings I have now. My mama, cuz she was even there for me when she wasn't there or me, that dont make sense to some people but I beleive everything happens for a reason, and I learned alot of my most valuable lessons in life because of my mama. My 2 beautiful daughters Skye & Rayne, and my son Carell, without them I wouldnt be the man I am today, I'd probly still be a fuckin fool runnin' wild, doin all kinds of dumb shit. Shoutout to my F.T.R. soldiers, DT, DJ B-RITE, Antoine, all the FTR Street Team members holdin us down in other cities and states (and countries). Shoutout to da whole Blocwize gang, Gonzoe, P Beezy, FatDog, Cali Slim, Jesus Aromin, The Beat Arkitekz, all the producers who submitted beats to me and didnt even ask for money for em, that's real shit! All the artists that featured me on their shit, K-Dubb & Brotha Lynch Hung, Krohme, Cunninlynguists, DJ B-RITE, Deacon The Villain, the C-BAN crew out in DC, my Regime Dragon Gang homies, Sac Tha King, Big Prodeje, S.C.C., Tre-8, Dark Soul, it's so many people I'd like to name but all my real people know who they are, everybody who supports what I do, people who listen to my music, buy my CD's, promote my songs and videos online and in their cities, all the DJ's who spin my shit, Sami at "The Album" for always bein' down for me and puttin' my CD's right up front and on the counter of his shop, the homie Most Hated, Rob P, T.A.G, the list goes on and on... shoutout to all the REAL MUTHA FUCKAS!!!