Meet Tré Lampkyn

 

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tré Lampkyn a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Tré , thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?

Simply by being consistent and keeping an open mind. Creativity can come from any and all walks of your life. Whether positive or negative, if it truly makes and impact on my heart I’ll always pull from that feeling it gives me. Creativity can come from a painting I saw or a specific phrase that my mother used to tell me when I was young. It can even come from the environment you are in. Emotions are one of the best parts of yourself to extend your creativity. I view creativity as a super power that everyone might not have. Some are born creative and other’s creativity is developed over time as long as there is something to jump start it.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

In the words of the late and great Quincy Jones “and the last two things that will leave this planet will be water and music.” This one quote pretty much explains why I make music and why I love it as well. Growing up I was always a great writer. It’s my gift from God. I wrote stories and poetry. But my love for music was and is even more prominent. I became inspired by one specific song by Too Short called “The Ghetto.” The song itself was way before my time. It’s what my parents listened to when they were young. But the story that is told in this song really hit my soul. He was observing his surroundings and his neighborhood and decided to tell a story about it as well as encouraging listeners to always stay on the straight and narrow path in order to escape those environments and become successful. That’s what sparked my motivation as well as my mother encouraging me to do that same thing. She told me that if I’m going to make music that I should make sure that it always has substance and that I have a story to tell. Over the years I sharpened my skills with my pen. I was always writing lyrics wherever I was. I started recording music in 2017 after i graduated high school. Growing up my family played a lot of old school music around me such as James Brown, Eminem, Andre 300, Nas, Ice Cube, Grandmaster Flash, LL Cool J etc. My dad was a huge fan of west coast hip hop which is what made me truly love and appreciate the art form of rap and using words to paint pictures. My mom and her side of the family jammed to a lot of 70s and 80s funk, blues, and soul. Once i got older i discovered more of my generation of lyricists that would help mold my style like Kendrick Lamar, J Cole, Big Sean, Mac Miller, Big Krit etc. When i first stepped in the booth in the only thing I felt comfortable rapping about was my life and my surroundings being a Milwaukee native. My music is extremely vulnerable and sometimes it might even come off as too vulnerable but i made a vow to always be real and be myself in order to help any and everyone who listens to my music. The best part about making music is running into people or getting texts from people who express that one of my songs or albums actually touched there hearts and made them feel like someone understands there emotions that they may have buried for a long time. That’s what fuels me. It fuels me so much to the point where I believe that this is my earthly mission before passing away. There’s something in my life and experiences that someone in the world is supposed to learn about that will inspire them to spark change in some way. Since 2017 I’ve released six EPs and one album. Every album of mine always has a theme and a specific sound to go with it. I have a new project I’m working on called “Jukeboxin.” This specific project is going to be the turning point of my artistry. After this project I’ll be telling my full life story on the albums that will follow. The next albums that follow will be called Introspection 3:The Growth, The Big Head Handbook, and Hear No Evil Speak No Evil. I’m not immortal so I want to leave a time capsule and music is the best way for me to do that. My love for writing also inspires me to be creative with my visuals as well. Videography is also an art form that can tell a story. I’m going to be writing scripts for my upcoming visuals and I will eventually write a script for an independent movie in the future.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

One quality that I’ve always had that was impactful is my observation skills. Nothing ever gets past me. I’m able to look at something that’s occurring and break it down and describe it in a very descriptive manner. My knowledge of music is another area that is very important. I studied music from my generation to the generations before me. The third would be my ability to turn t emotions into inspiration and creativity. A lot of people have trouble expressing their feelings in a healthy way. Any time I feel happy or sad or angry I just sit in those feelings and transfer them to my brain and my gears start turning. The only advice I have for people would be to give yourself grace and never give up. If you quit then you’ll never improve. The more you improve the closer you’ll get to your goals and success. Don’t beat yourself up though. Improvement takes time and nothing happens overnight so always celebrate the big and small obstacles you overcome.

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?

My biggest area of growth for me would be learning and drastically improving my recording and engineering skills. I invested in a lot of music recording equipment and I’ve improved so much since learning the basics of engineering.

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