Many people think the only way to get out of the ghetto is to be a rapper, a baller or a drug dealer and Big Tray Deee says he grew up believing that, but now says those beliefs are not true at all.
“It was a total myth because it discounted that you could work hard and regular civil jobs and whatever and make your way up the ladder or it was so many other things that you can engage in to become successful,” he says during an episode of “Myths Exposed.”
He says that he understands why the myth came about, especially because of the visible success of drug dealers such as Freeway Rick Ross. However, that lifestyle was fleeting.
“There was a lot of people that gave it a shot, they dipped around the city in rag-top Rolls Royces with the finest jewelry on and women and all that,” he says, “but you don’t get more than a good five or ten year run in that, so that never really stuck with me as being true.”
Being a rapper also seemed like a long shot because in the 1980s, there were only a few who truly made a lifestyle out of rapping.
“Being an entertainer or anything of that sort, the likelihood of that coming up in the ghetto in our time was almost slim to none,” he says.
Big Tray Deee found himself a lane in rap anyways, saying he never really performed well in school and didn’t have a desire to do manual labor, but had a heart for music.
“I was thankfully gifted with the ability to put words together,” he says. “I have a passion for music and always held a liking for all different genres of music.”
He got his big break when he joined Tha Dogg Pound with Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Daz Dillinger and Nate Dogg. He also formed Tha Eastsidaz with the Doggfather and Goldie Loc. Big Tray Deee explains that he did not have overnight success, but shares his advice for making a solidified career.
“I just wrote rhymes in hopes that I would be able to showcase them one day and people would be like, ‘Ooo he tight,'” he says. “I never did imagine the transition from the life I had on the streets to actually being a celebrity. Everybody think if you just make that one record, you’re there. If you make that one scene that everybody plays over and over and it goes viral, then you have a chance at becoming a success, but all of those are myths. Hard work in whatever you do and dedication to what you’re doing and faith that you can become successful is very important and essential to achieving success. So it’s whatever you put your heart and soul behind you can become successful.”