Trabolee and I go way back — close to four years now. I can still remember the first time we met back in Naks, the first time I heard him rap, the first time I got my hands on his mix tape “Blaq R.O.Z.E” (Blaq R.O.Z.E was a mixtape by Trabolee and Shakim Shallah, they have now gone their separate ways ).

Back then he went by the name “Trabolee the warlord” fresh from high school with nothing to lose but everything to prove. Rap for us was still a hobby just a means to kill time; life was good back then.

Those two had potential

“A fan of a fan”, that’s what Shakim used to call me. Why? I always thought it was because I was there number one fan; unknown to me that was the name of Chris Brown’s and Tyga’s mixtape.

The Blaq R.O.Z.E mixtape was rough around the edges; from the voice quality to the track beats, it gave an amateurish vibe but it was the lyrics that got me hooked. I would listen to the duo rap over and over again, it was simply music to my ears. None of this commercialisation nonsense one hears nowadays.

Trabolee is the lyrical incarnation of Tupac

That was then, fast forward to 2015. Neither of us resides in Naks any more, we all moved to the big city each of us doing our own thing— I blame ambition for that. One thing remains though; Trabolee’s ingenious rap. The only difference is that his fan base is tremendous, with every track released more and more hip-hop fans get to listen to his music and realise the truth I discovered a long time ago, “Trabolee is the lyrical incarnation of Tupac.”

What’s this upcoming album all about?

The album is called All Roads Lead Home. For one part it’s a very introspective and personal album, but for another part it’s about trying to find balance. Things like joy and pain, happiness and sadness, good and bad are all just spectrums of the same thing. They all complement each other in this experience we call life. The album cover says it all.

Also, musically, he wanted to experiment with unexplored sounds and themes (different roads) but still make something cohesive. Expect the unexpected.

How can guys buy Trabolee’s music?

The Occult Lore album is currently being sold digitally on a website called D’Tola but for the physical copies he delivers them himself or one of the guys from the team does that. All you have to do is contact Trabolee via phone or on social networks.

The idea is you can either purchase the whole discography (THC, Occult Lore and ALL Roads Lead Home) for Ksh.1000 only or purchase ALL ROADS LEAD HOME only for Ksh.500 a copy. For the former, you’ll pay more but you’ll get a broader sense of who TRA is as an artist.Peace.