The Houston Native Revisits a Highlight from 2015's Tha Truth, Uses Newly-Captured Footage to Depict the Devastation and Recovery of His Beloved Community

Critical Praise:

"More concise rhymes, insightful and diverse subject matter, and solid features show how far Trae has come as an MC and a songwriter." - BET.com

"Houston hip-hop veteran Trae Tha Truth may not be anything to you but down in the city of Screw Juice, the Asshole By Nature is the man in the streets" - VIBE

"Trae embodies everything that is Texas in an artist. He's independent, strong and a survivor." - SXSW.com

"Trae Tha Truth (or just Trae) is one of the more authentic artists currently operating in Texas, if not the South in general." - HotNewHipHop

"Trae tha Truth is one of Houston's most imposing musical forces, a bona fide legend in the harrowing streets of southwest Houston." - Houston Press

The Video:

In the wake of the devastation Hurricane Harvey, Houston rapper and community activist Trae Tha Truth once again made moves to salvage and rebuild the city he's represented proudly for decades. In the past couple weeks, Trae has helped by patrolling a boat through Houston, Port Arthur, and surrounding areas to rescue those trapped by flooding (including San Antonio Spurs forward Jonathon Simmons), providing Texas inmates with food and supplies, and launching a GoFundMe through his Angels By Nature nonprofit organization.

Today, Billboard premieres "Trying to Figure It Out," a powerful and uplifting new music video that depicts the worst of the storm and the best of humanity. Juxtaposing the flooding and devastation of Harvey and the Herculean rescue and rebuilding efforts from the people of Houston, the video for the highlight from Trae's 2015 album Tha Truth is an inspiring love letter to his city and a testament of what people can solve when working together. In this time of turmoil and despair, it's important for Houston to rally together, pick up the pieces, and carry forward.

"The song fits the mood of the people in my community right now," explains Trae. "I was watching people post videos from Houston putting the song in the background, and it just so happens that the performance part of the video was shot a year or two years ago. Phillyflyboy took it upon himself to place footage from Houston right now into what we already had with performance footage. It fits perfect because it shows the reality of what's going with Houston. I'm not into promoting music right now, but I feel light needs to be shed so that people know what we're going through."

Widely respected for his charity efforts and his annual Trae Day initiative, eceived the key to the city earlier this summer from Mayor Sylvester Turner. Trae's GoFundMe effort to help underserved families in Houston has already raised over $134,000, with celebrities such as Snoop Dogg, Mike Epps, and T.I. donating money to the campaign. Earlier this summer, Trae released his ninth solo studio album, Tha Truth Pt. 3, a detailed portrait of the man behind the mic. An epic 18-track effort packed with street wisdom and rich storytelling, Tha Truth Pt. 3 is the second full-length this year from Trae, following Tapped In, a collaborative album with gritty Sacramento rapper Mozzy. Premiered by XXL, Tha Truth Pt. 3 follows 2016’s Tha Truth 2 as the third installment of the H-Town hitman's Tha Truth series. Featuring appearances from Young Thug, Post Malone, D.R.A.M., T.I., Wyclef Jean, Maxo Kream, Skippa Da Flippa, Sy Ari Da Kid, Ra Ra, Kim, Ink, and the entire all-star cast of "I'm On 3.0," (including Snoop Dogg, Gary Clark Jr., Tee Grizzley, and many more), Tha Truth Pt. 3 is one of the event rap albums of the summer.

Check out the Billboard premiere: http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/7965571/trae-tha-truth-drops-tryin-to-figure-it-out-video

Donate to Trae's Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/traethatruthweareonehurricaneharvey

Listen to Tha Truth Pt. 3: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/tha-truth-pt-3/id1238926411 || https://soundcloud.com/traethatruth/sets/tha-truth-pt-3

The Background:

There are three ways to write about Trae Tha Truth. One is to talk about his music, and that’s important because he is a rapper and making music is what he does. The other is to talk about him as a human, and that’s important, because he has done some truly monumental and impressive things. The third is to talk about the intersection of him as a rapper and him as a humanitarian, because that’s where Trae really belongs. His music is often inspired by the experiences of the disenfranchised, which is rooted in the broken roads of the ghetto. It’s driven by loss, by love, by loyalty, and by when one or two or all of those things are taken away or tested of those he cares about.

Trae Tha Truth is very modest, he never talks about his guest features he’d done or any of his new tapes (Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, T.I., Nas, etc.) or how he’d landed another MTV JAM Video of the Week or how he’d signed to T.I.’s label or any of the things people were watching him accomplish from afar. What you need to about Trae is he is a rapper, who has only ever viewed rap as another way for him to help people. Trae Tha Truth’s Tha Truth 2 is the second part of a two album series, following 2015’s Tha Truth. The project came out on February 5th and is available to buy on iTunes.