How did you guys get started? 

 

The partnership came during high school. We first went to school together at Hillsborough High School but never really spoke to each other. We knew all of the same people, but never had anything in common; or so we thought. We played football together at Middleton High School in Tampa, FL a couple years later and found out that we both used Fruity Loops to make beats. He knew things that I didn’t and I knew things that he didn’t. So we got together one day to see what we could do, and that was how we popped things off.

 

Who came up with the name 2TRU and why?

 

The name 2 Tru came into play after the label name “Tru Tru” Ent used to be what I wrote on all of my mix cds that I made starting back when I was in middle school. I figured I would go ahead and begin my label underneath that name. So I went and turned Tru Tru Entertainment into a corporation under that title. Believe it or not, we put out our first CD without a group name. We never thought of ourselves as group members until people began asking us what was our group name. We sat down and explained what the label name meant and came up with the idea that we are 2 serious, 2 real and nothin’ but da truth. So that’s where 2 Tru came from.

 

How would you characterize each member of the group? What do each of you bring to the table that makes you all a success?

 

The group used to be a trio, but is now just a duet. The group’s members are just Chambers (CRB) and me (C-BIG).  We don’t usually like to characterize ourselves because it defines what we do and who we are. We’re usually spontaneous with the type of music we produce so it’s kind of hard to characterize us. But we bring plenty of talent and hard work to the table, and that’s what makes us good at what we do. We both put in many hours a day, trying to make ourselves better, and persistently pushing ourselves to work harder than anyone else.

 

Describe a typical day in the life at tru tru entertainment.

 

 

First off, we live together at the same residence. One of our studios is also at that same residence; therefore we wake up in the studio.  For me, it depends on the day of the week. If it’s a weekday, I go to college. If I’m working, I go to work. If not, I’m in the studio or out in the streets promoting.  On the weekends, I’m either working in the studio or out of town promoting at big events, while Chambers is doing the same thing back home. We work in the studio, work to pay bills, party every now and then, and work some more.

 

What’s the vibe like when you guys get in the studio?

 

The vibe is ridiculous. Its like we get in a whole new world. It doesn’t matter what mood we’re in when we get there, all that matters is music.  We lose focus on everything: time, girls, and money; everything except for our music. You can’t even get us to turn our head to see a knockout. There’s nothing better than to be in that zone, but sometimes it does get slow. There are many times when you just can’t come up with anything new or good. You just have to relax and dig into what motivates you. When that motivation gets going, you feel invincible. We are each other’s motivation.

 

Are there any artists that you admire or model yourself after?

 

 

Yeah, of course.  Well, I wouldn’t say we want to be like anyone, but there are definitely those who we respect and admire. We have viewpoints on all aspects of the music game so we admire who we think is the best in each area. We do it all and there aren’t many who can do that, so the most respect goes out to them. Cash Money Records was a big influence.  They’ve got (or had) everything: one of the best rappers (Lil Wayne), one of the best producers (Mannie Fresh), the attitude to run the industry for years (Baby “Birdman” Williams), and a group of the hottest rappers in their area (Hot Boys). Master P did the same thing. Jay-Z & 50 Cent’s ability to sell records, Tupac & Biggie’s ability to change lives, and JD & Dre’s longevity to see it all and work through them are all aspects of the game anyone would admire. We hope to be legends in any aspect of the game.

 

What makes your music standout?

 

We do all of our music ourselves. We write, record, and do the beats for our music. We don’t use outside influence to regulate our work. None of our work can be credited to sampling. We don’t take music and remake it as our form of production. The “Kanye West” style is not our own. By no means are we saying that it isn’t difficult or a true art form, we just prefer to begin from scratch and make new melodies from nothing. The thought of our music sounding like no one else’s makes our style and music standout against other artists and producers.

 

At what point after you guys formed the group did you really get focused and say we can do this, let’s do this?

 

Well we started out just making beats, we weren’t “rappers” nor did we want to be. We just wanted to be producers. The reason we switched to form a group was because we wanted to make money off of selling our beats. Many of the local labels and local artists don’t have the funds available to expend money on beats from smaller producers. In order to get our beats heard, we decided to do what many other producers do…mixtapes. After calculating expenses, it seemed like a waste of time to let local artists get free promotion off of our sweat. We decided to use our own skills to “bless” the tracks and promote our own. Once we got feedback from people respecting what we were doing, it was obvious that we had everything it took to make hits and make a name for ourselves. From then on, we’ve been perfecting our craft with production, lyrics, marketing, and business propositions.

 

What’s coming up from 2 tru?

 

Music, Music, Music! Be on the lookout for mixtapes, shows and albums. We will be posting pictures, doing radio promotions, showing up at all big local events, and hitting the streets to get our music out. We will be doing features and hanging out with big name celebrities! Check is out on Myspace.com/trutruentertainment to drop us a comment and hear our new tracks before they hit the streets. Myspace is our official interaction site for our fan club and street team. Check out the site weekly for new postings about where we will be and what’s going on.

 

Now as far as the album, who’s doing the production and who is featured on it?

 

We’re currently working on two different albums. We’re working on our second underground album and our debut album. We do our own production. We have a third producer who is also under Tru Tru Entertainment. Our third producer and co-owner is Coisge. More info and samples of our beats can be found online at TruTruEntertainment.com