Jody Breeze may’ve started as a boy in the hood, but he’s made a successful rap career using his talents. From his humble beginnings in Macon, Georgia to the charts, Jody has seen it all. Young Jeezy, Jody’s former crew-member isn’t the only “Trap Star” either. Here, Jody breaks down the fine lined differences between rap and the trap – something that Breeze’s past allows him to do. Whether it’s one method of getting paid or the other, both are relevant in A Day in the Life of Jody Breeze, as the album title suggests. But in the between time, Jody suggests how your street and lyrical investments stay safe, respected, and earning.
AllHipHop.com: Define the trap game and rap game for us…
Jody Breeze: The trap game is more of a hustle where as the rap game is more entertainment.
AllHipHop.com: How do you feel the transition is made between the two, and why do people make that transition?
Jody Breeze: It’s easier than it has been in the past, because it is basically the same thing. In the trap game, people are just selling anything for a profit, and it is the same way with the rap game, where you’re just selling CDs.
AllHipHop.com: What about going backwards from the rap to the trap?
Jody Breeze: It’s totally backwards, it’s just not going to happen like that. But some people are doing it now.
AllHipHop.com: Why?
Jody Breeze: Because it is easy. It’s easier to talk about something than to do something. That’s all records are. They are just words coming out of your mouth.
AllHipHop.com: How does one filter the real from the fake?
Jody Breeze: It’s the difference in whether you’ve been in that situation. As far as the story, and how you word things. You can’t say certain things if you haven’t been through certain things. People can tell if you’ve really been in situations like that. If you haven’t experienced certain things, people will know if you don’t use certain words.
AllHipHop.com: How does a person get into the trap game?
Jody Breeze: I can’t speak for everyone, but for me, it was easy money, well, not really easy money more like fast money – needed money. Growing up around certain things, that’s what introduced me to the trap.
AllHipHop.com: What makes it so much more attractive than just a nine-to-five?
Jody Breeze: The trap is somewhat illegal. But not everything in it is illegal, the trap is just where you work at. But being that people use the word trap so much, with the dope boys, and the criminals, and the police s**t, that makes that usage a lot different.
AllHipHop.com: Is there a certain excitement factor?
Jody Breeze: Yeah, it’s almost like playing tag or something.
AllHipHop.com: But what about the danger? How do you justify the dangers of trapping when you have to support a real family and such?
Jody Breeze: You really can’t but you can go to jail rapping to, just for saying certain things. You just have to know what you’re doing. It’s not as easy as putting words down. You have to show your actions to be a trap boy.
AllHipHop.com: What kind of actions do you speak of?
Jody Breeze: Just respect, man, respect in the streets, respect period. Once you get the respect, that opens up a whole lot of doors.
AllHipHop.com: How do you make sure you build your name up in the streets and the industry?
Jody Breeze: You just have to be real, there is so much rap in trap, that you don’t always know who’s doing what, if people are for real or what.
AllHipHop.com: How is the fame different and similar between the two worlds?
Jody Breeze: A trap star is more like a hood n***a. People respect him for what he does in the hood, instead of being worldwide. A rap star is more commercial more along the lines of entertainment. A trap star is someone that keeps it real with everyone but still chills in the hood. A trap star has the same stuff that a rap star has.
AllHipHop.com: What happens when a trap star gets too big and gets too much public attention?
Jody Breeze: He goes to jail. [laughs]
AllHipHop.com: How do you avoid that?
Jody Breeze: No new friends, keep the same surroundings. No talking, that’s the number one rule for being in the trap: no talking, no snitching! You need to put those in big bold letters, people need to know to stop snitching. Do not tell on people. At the end of the day, if someone goes to jail because they’re in the trap, it’s because someone told something. That’s key, keep loyal and have faith in people. It’s hard but you have to know your people are behind you and not talking behind your back.
AllHipHop.com: How do you know your people are loyal?
Jody Breeze: Being from the trap you would have to do something illegal, let people know that s**t is for real. But the entertainment business, just make sure you get a lawyer that will be in everyone’s faces 24 hours a day.
AllHipHop.com: Let’s talk about the wealth that the two worlds bring…
Jody Breeze: For the average rapper, there is no limit. Somebody in the trap game can only get so much money before you have to start doing legal things. A trapper probably spend more money than a rapper, at the end of the day, you probably won’t have as much money.
AllHipHop.com: Why would a trapper spend more money?
Jody Breeze: Because he’s living in the time being. But rappers are trying to get the money to come forever.
AllHipHop.com: Is it inevitable for someone from the streets to go legit?
Jody Breeze: Yeah, pretty much.
AllHipHop.com: Is rap a way to do that?
Jody Breeze: That question is kind borderline snitching, so I can’t really say much, but it is an option.
AllHipHop.com: How are the two mentalities different?
Jody Breeze: They both are about getting the money, but a trap boy is more die hard, literally, go hard for the trap money. You either die, get money, or go to jail. With a rapper, n***as is just trying to get money and hoes. More along the lines of women. Because a lot of rappers are broke as s**t, they sign their lives away. So it’s more like being someone, and the fame that does it for a rapper.
AllHipHop.com: What other rules are there for the trap game?
Jody Breeze: Loyalty, keep it real. Other than that, just small rules like you just can’t go into certain spots, have to stay in certain spots. Stay in your own territory, just like rappers have to mind their own business.
AllHipHop.com: What are the benefits of each?
Jody Breeze: The trap will benefit you a lot, if you have to take care of your family with the trap. I you don’t have anything but the trap, then what else can someone do? As long as you’re getting done what you have to get done.
