Trillian, Busta Rhymes's Son, Prepares To Inherit The Throne: On NLE Choppa Collab, Lyrically Sparri

With a career spanning over 30 years, Busta Rhymes has set the gold standard for both creativity and technical prowess. Even in his 50s, he raps with the energy of a newcomer still determined to prove himself. But the dynamics have shifted-he's now an elder statesman in a genre traditionally defined as a "young man's game." Despite this, his age has never led to stagnation. Busta has evolved with hip-hop, continuously pushing forward even as new sounds, artists, and movements have reshaped the industry. For Trillian, Busta Rhymes' youngest son, the key to longevity in the ever-changing world of music can be summed up in one piece of advice: you have to be swift and changeable in order to be remainable. 




"You have to be willing to adapt to any situation and be swift and changeable in order to remain. Because you could hit a cold streak, but you could also have different things going on outside of you just being a rapper that's still keeping you relevant and still keeping you in the light of what's going on," he told HotNewHipHop over a Zoom Call. 




Over the past few months, Trillian has been making waves, thanks in part to his single, "10 P.M. In Miami," which led to two remixes-one featuring Busta Rhymes and Connie Diiamond, and another with New York's rising star, Cash Cobain, and R2R Moe. The Cash Cobain remix gained notable attention, reaching the #21 spot on US radio and becoming the third most added song to urban radio at the time. This week, Trillian raised the stakes with the release of his latest single, "Show Me Your Love" featuring NLE Choppa. He describes NLE Choppa as "one of the smartest kids and one of the biggest students of the game that I've ever met in my life." The new single embraces the infectious Jersey Club sound that has taken over the East Coast with a refreshing twist of R&B. It's poised to continue the momentum Trillian has built since the release of "10 P.M. In Miami."




However, to label Trillian as just a rapper would oversimplify his ambitions. A trained musician, he spent much of his life playing drums and other instruments before transitioning to rap. He is also an entrepreneur, serving as the CEO of Breadwinners Ent. LLC-a brand that began by promoting college parties and events and has since expanded into a full-fledged record label. Above all, Trillian, much like NLE Choppa, is a student of the game. He remains eager to learn and humble enough to accept wisdom, no matter where it comes from.




We recently caught up with Trillian before the release of his new single (watch below) to discuss his musical journey, growing up with Busta Rhymes as his father, and how he's working with his siblings to turn his dad's legacy into a thriving family business.




This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

HotNewHipHop: "10 p.m. In Miami" has been making the rounds as your biggest single to date with impact on the charts along with two remixes. What was happening around the time that inspired this song?




Trillian: Honestly, man, I was just experimenting in the studio, bro. I'm used to just going in the studio and I already have an intention of what I'm going to do. But this time around, I wanted to do something different. I was in a space where I just wanted to explore and experience myself as an artist. I felt myself growing, I felt myself entering a new phase in my life. So when it comes to my music, I call my music Classy-Fly, and I go based on how I'm feeling at the time. So at this very particular moment, I was feeling real experimental, for lack of better terms.




I just want to say thank you to everybody that's been supporting the song, because this song has changed my life. For me, going to an experiment to this, being charted, people getting on the remixes and stuff like that, it feels like the work is worth it, the grind is worth it, the endless nights, the sleepless nights is worth it. So I'm embracing the grind, and most importantly, I'm embracing this journey that "10 p.m. In Miami" has brought me on thus far.




What's the studio flow like for you typically, especially since you mentioned this record was more experimental than others?




Typically, I'll go in the studio, bring down the lights so I can get in my mood. For me, I listen to beats off the rip and it typically doesn't really take me long to find what beat I want to use. Like I said, I usually come in there with the intent of knowing what I'm going to do when I get in the studio. I had this beat in my phone for quite some time, and I'm like, nah, this beat is hitting and knocking the way that I like. It was the vibe that I was looking for. I put my verse on it, a little freestyle. And then after that, played it out loud. Mind you, it's just me an engineer in the studio. It wasn't even really that much people in the studio. The engineer paused the song, and looked at me,  and said, "Yo, bro, I'm gonna be honest. I've never heard a vibe from you like this, ever. For you to be comfortable to do something like this, it's only going to bring more people, and drive more people towards the the motion and the traction and the vibe and the aesthetic that you got going on. Everything that you got going, this song right here is going to gravitate gravitate people towards what you got going on. Because are people so used to certain things that I do in terms of certain ways I post [on social media], certain songs I might make. So just giving them something new, something refreshing, a different sound from Trillian, was just an eye opener for me and my engineer. We definitely knew that was the one. 

You mentioned that you freestyled that song and I know you've mentioned that Lil Wayne is an influence in past interviews. Did Lil Wayne influenced you or inspire your process in that way?




Yes, I'm not gonna lie, bro. Me, my brother, my cousins, like we all used to listen to Lil Wayne. Like when they used to sell CDs, we used to have a karaoke machine-a grey and blue karaoke machine. My dad would always give us his albums before they hit the market. And, you know, we would always just be in tune with music. Like, we had Chris Brown's Fan of A Fan with Tyga album on the CD, we had Rick Ross's Teflon Don. We was real music heads growing up.




I don't know if you've ever noticed, but Lil Wayne has like a 20-something minute song. The reason why the song is so long is because that was the last song he rapped where he was reading off of a notepad, and every note, every lyric and every bar he wrote in his notebook, he rrapped that on that song. Then after that, he never used a notebook again. He just started freestyling. He basically just gave people all his content, and then just started creating new content by freestyling that right there. When I seen that, I was like, "Nah, he's GOATed, bro." I've never seen any rapper, celebrity, artist, singer, R&B artist, nobody-I've never seen them do that, ever. He's had this run of freestyling up until present day. He's definitely led by example in terms of me just seeing that, being able to embrace that and call my consider myself a fan because of that is honestly, like a blessing to me. For me, I feel like I'm one of the lucky ones that was able to embrace that time period of life. 




You connected with NLE Choppa for your upcoming single, "Show Me Your Love," which is set to drop this week. Talk to me about the Jersey Club sound and your relationship with it, along with how you connected with NLE Choppa for the single.




First and foremost, I want to say NLE Choppa is one of the smartest kids and one of the biggest students of the game that I've ever met in my life. Funny thing is he's younger than me. I'm 24 and I believe he's 22, if not 23 now. He was giving me jewels because he's been in this industry since he was 16. And he's went through many different changes, many different life phases, had kids. Things for him was fast motion and fast paced. He really had to come back and really get self centered and tap back in with God. I just want to say, working with NLE Choppa, that's my brother. He's one of the first artists outside of my father and outside of Jaden Smith, a few other artists-he's one of the artists that embraced me, and actually-all celebrity stuff aside-he actually was just cool to just be around, chop it up with, and actually gain some knowledge from. I feel like a lot of people in this industry feel like, because they're older than us, they can't take any advice from from a younger cat. I still can learn something from him. I'm a student of the game just as much as he is. 




The Jersey sound thing is definitely influenced by going to school at Lincoln University of Pennsylvania. Shout out to my HBCU. We are the first HBCU to start actually granting degrees to African-Americans back in 1854 so shout out to my HBCU. But just being around that whole Philly vibe, Philly culture, they super tapped into that Jersey sound and all of that stuff. So, you know, the tanging, the hip rocking and the hip shaking, like all of that stuff definitely was Philadelphia, PA, Lincoln University, College Bound-based, because I actually made this song in my college dorm, bro. I mean, like, I made this song in my college dorm, sent to my Pops. I'm like, "Pops, I need another verse on this." And magic and Allah made things happen the way he made it happen. But, you know, I'm just happy that we are finally here for "Show Me Your Love." I'm finally happy that the world is about to get to see it and hear it, and I'm so happy about the feature that I have on it. So can't wait for you out of hear.




Before diving into rap, you had an in-depth knowledge of music, having been a drummer and dabbling with the saxophone and trumpet. How has understanding different musical disciplines assisted you now in pursuing a career as a rapper? 




I don't know how to physically make beats, but being a percussionist growing up-because that's one of the instruments I played the most out of the other instruments that you listed-was because my brother was a drummer, and his music teacher, Mr. Gordon, who actually used to manage me way back in the day. My boy, Greg Gordon, one of my favorite musical teachers and Miss Pellegrino, another musical teacher that I had when I was in elementary school. [Those] two elementary school teachers taught me how to really love and gain a passion for music, first and foremost, before I even picked up a pair of sticks. Once I picked up a pair of sticks and started drumming, I started learning how important a drum line is to a beat or to a song or to an orchestra. Without a drum line, the orchestra is kind of bleh.




I'll definitely say being a part of that musical era growing up, and having teachers such as Mr. Gordon and Miss Pellegrino embrace me in the music world at such a young age, and teaching me how to grow and learn, love and read music. I was reading music, and I had to just be keen to music. I was just always musically inclined. Music was something literally part of my daily living schedule. Part of my school class schedule, like I had to go to band and have separate lessons and certain stuff like that. It was always a part of me no matter what I was doing, whether I was playing football, basketball, whether I was wrestling at the time, track. Even still being an athlete, having jobs, I still was making music. I knew at that point I had a passion for it. So I'm like, "Alright, bet. Let's try and go on to something else, even past that." My brother wrote my first rap now we're not playing instruments, we're rapping. We're past singing, we're past playing instruments, now I'm rapping. It's like, dang, I keep finding myself back into music some way, somehow. So I knew from the moment I picked up a pair of sticks that this was going to be something that was going to be a part of me forever. Because I just could always, I just always find myself going back to it. 




You described having an assortment of the latest music at your disposal because of your dad but outside of hip-hop, what else was being played in the house? 




A lot of reggae, a lot of dance hall, a lot of Jamaican tunes. I grew up in a West Indian- Jamaican [household]. My  grandma and my grandpa, they're Jamaican, straight from Jamaica. And my mom's side, she's Vincentian. She's from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. So I just always been around that kind of culture. And, you know, in Jamaica, in the West Indies, when it comes to music and performing, they go all out, and that's where my dad picked that up from. Just in terms of being charismatic on stage, and just bringing that energy in the crib. My grandma, she raised us so she kept that energy around us, especially because she knew that I was so into music. She made sure that she always had some kind of music playing, or always had something in the background of the crib, like elevator music, for lack of better words. So cleaning, we're listening to Barrington Levy and things of that nature, so my music, and my range of music spreads deeply because of my upbringing. 




In terms of versatility, what's one piece of advice your dad gave you in terms of expanding your musical horizons?




For one, definitely be myself. Two, don't portray an image that you can't upkeep, because at some point, every artist hits a cold streak. You're not going to be lit forever. My third reason [is] based off the second reason: you have to be swift and changeable in order to be remainable, meaning you have to be willing to adapt to any situation and be swift and changeable in order to remain. Because you could hit a cold streak, but you could also have different things going on outside of you just being a rapper that's still keeping you relevant and still keeping you in the light of what's going on, and keeping you up to date with the times. Those are the top three things.

What was the first studio experience like with your dad?




Aye man, I definitely knew I had to come correct. Me and my dad, we love the friendly competition thing, he'll tell you. We aren't friends when we're rapping on the beat, bro. Just like he says, I'm coming to tear your head off. I'm coming to tear his head off, and then we laugh about it and joke about it after the song is said and done.




I remember one time we were actually recording the studio at IMI Studios that's to be out here in the city, in Manhattan. And we were recording a song, literally just going back and forth on the song. The energy got so crazy that we just had to pause and just listen to what we had so far, and I was like, "Nah, I'm going back." Like, we both love the grind, we both love music so deeply. The vibe and energy in the studio between me and him when we're recording just be so authentic and just genuine, friendly competition-father and son competition but in a good way. Iron sharpens iron, man. Like he's 30 years in this joint. When I'm in the studio with him, I'm just looking at how he worked, and I'm just watching and just embracing and just learning-again, being a student of the game. I don't even really care about nothing else, you know? I'm saying I don't even got the time to have butterflies [in my stomach, like,] "Oh, shoot, I'm in the studio with Busta Rhymes." Granted, it's my dad, but still, like a lot of people, they would feel intimidated because of who he is, bro. But at the end of the day, not only is this my father, but this is somebody that I'm trying to learn from, so there's no reason to be intimidated by him. He's just making me go harder, and making me grind harder.




I was listening to Busta's "Letter To My Children" where he mentioned his out-of-the-box fashion senses. As someone who is fashionably inclined, what was the best piece of fashion advice he gave you? And also, what's your favorite fashion moment of his?




My favorite fashion moment was probably... he had this-it was like a silver long sleeve, and then, like the pants to match. And then he had some silver Clarks on with some black shades. And then he had, like, a 18 inch tennis chain, VVS diamond chain, just one of them, though. It was busting so crazy. I'm going to find the picture. I post it pretty frequently, like typically when his birthday come around and Father's Day. That's probably one of [his] best fashion moments. I can't remember what award show it was, but he had dreads at the time too. He had his hair in a bun, but everything was just so sophisticated and simple, but yet fire. It wasn't too much, but it also wasn't too little-It was the right, it was the perfect statement piece.  




I will say this any piece of advice he's given me is stick to what you know, but also be willing to explore. But if it's something that you don't feel comfortable doing, don't do it. So stick to what you know, be willing to explore options, but also don't compromise what you are comfortable doing for other people to like you or accept you. 




How do you balance carrying the legacy of your father and trying to establish yourself as an artist in your own right?




Pressure makes diamonds, man. I'm a diamond in the rough that's waiting to be cleaned off and shine brightly. I feel like everything I'm feeling is for a reason and my pops has groomed me and guarded me with the necessary tools, knowledge and information that I need to be able to maneuver and keep away from all the white noise and all the extra stuff that be going on in the outside world. I feel like my pops is a different breed. He don't be doing too much, he stays in his lane, he loves his music, he provides for us as a family, and he provides for the streets in terms of giving and supplying the streets with the music and the necessary knowledge that they need. 




If y'all really tapped into Busta Rhymes, bro, all of his albums is literally everything that's going on right now. He literally has been teaching his fans and has been giving them the necessary knowledge and the tools for them to be able to maneuver in the present day. Like Extinction Level Event 2, Anarchy, the list goes on. Just having that person around me to guide me through this, and actually give me the tools that I need to be strong enough to not worry too much about his legacy, because at the end of the day, his legacy is his legacy. The only thing I'd be doing is upholding the legacy and creating my own, not disrespecting the legacy, not tarnishing the legacy. I can't literally step in my dad's shoes and be Busta Rhymes. I could just be Trillian and continue on my path and what I'm going and what he has teaching me and has groomed me to do.









The Blockbusta project was very interesting because we saw Busta Rhymes further bridge the generational gap through collabs with Bia, DaBaby, and younger artists. How often do you and your siblings put your dad onto new music and new artists? 




I'm not gonna lie, we've been doing that since we were kids. Like, my dad would come home for dinners and stuff, and we would chill in the crib, and we would talk around the dinner table. He'd be like, "Yo, what's the hottest rappers on the market right now?" Like, who's lit right now? We would literally tell him. When Soulja Boy, Chief Keef, Lil B and all of them was lit, we would tell him. He would literally go reach out to them, or he would DM them, get on a feature, and go crazy, you know I'm saying? And then come back to us and be like, "Y'all hear this. Who's nice now?" Again, that friendly competition, that grind, that that love and that passion for the music. I say we definitely be helping him, be keeping him in tune. But again, my pops is also, like I said, swift and changeable. He's also keeping up with the times himself, hence why he's also able to find artists and sign artists and get artists on the Conglomerate and get people in tune. Connie Diiamond, myself, BK Gudda, J-Doe, T-Money, it's a plethora of artists. But again, this is all him being swiftly changeable, ought to be remainabl. Him staying in tune with what's going on with the industry, and being able to put people on and put people in a position to win, especially by doing what they love. 




You've established Breadwinners Ent. LLC so I'm curious to know what it is and what you envision for it?




Breadwinners Ent. was something I started back in spring '22 on Lincoln's campus, actually. We originally was just throwing parties. So we would go to colleges and throw parties, but mainly we were throwing events on our campus. We came home, I'll say spring '24 so for this two years straight, we were throwing parties, just trying to get our name out there. The people in Breadwinners, I got athletes and artists. Shout out KDN and shout out KJ Lattimore. We just had a wide range of people to create a movement that people would mess with. On Lincoln's campus for the whole two years, people were really liking what we were doing. 




When I got home and I left for my last semester on Lincoln, I told them I'm about to turn this into an LLC, and I'm about to make this a record company. We can still throw our events and stuff, and throw our parties here and there. But I really want to turn this into something. If we going to throw parties and events, y'all could do the college stuff, and whoever's the artist, we move and shake on some artist stuff. We can just brand that way too, like we just market Breadwinners in all different market places so that we can gravitate all types of crowds and audiences because that's the bank. That's the main thing. 




I'm not going to lie, bro, we're gonna make something shake. I really think that in the next two, three years, I can make Breadwinners Entertainment be the entity that I want it to be, and I can start signing artists  because that's my main goal. That's really my end goal. I want to be that boss that's able to sign artists and put other artists on and give them a foundation that I was granted and given coming into this game. Give them a foundation that they are seeking and that they're looking for, and give them the necessary tools and guidance that they're looking for and seeking through the label, through the connections that I have, through the networks that I have.




I'm big on networking, super big on networking. My major was mass communication. And I want to be able to share that foundation, and share those tools and that knowledge with other artists like myself, with other creatives like myself. I don't even want to just sign artists. I want to sign engineers, producers, creative directors for fashion brands. I want to sign all of these people and really have a movement of people that are just visionaries, who actually know how to accomplish the goal, that actually understand the assignment, understand the goal, and what we're doing and what we're trying to accomplish here.




What have you learned from sharing the stage with your dad?




Man, I've learned that ain't nobody stage presence like Busta Rhymes, Spliff Starr, and DJ Scratchator. They mastered their show to the tee and if you're a fan or supporter, you know what I'm talking about, you feel like you are on stage performing with them. That's how engaged they have you, and they keep you engaged for the whole show. Like if you blink, you're gonna miss something, and you don't want to be that person to miss something at the show, especially a Busta Rhymes show. Down to the outfits, his charismatic attitude on stage, down to DJ Scratchator being so in tune with how he's doing his bars, and when to turn the knob down and turn the knob up. Spliff Star knowing what lyrics to say. Just again, being charismatic, being engaged with the crowd and just giving them a show. I've learned that most importantly, bro. I can't wait until I have my own tour and I'm headlining my own shows.

Your brother manages you, right?




My brother T'ziah does definitely manage me and JR, Justin Harris, those are both my managers. Those are my guys.




Is this the brother that wrote you first rap?




No, this is my older brother. My other brother, TK, he's the middle brother. He wrote my first rap. He's actually an MMA fighter now. 




That's crazy. What a talented family. On a final note, how does it feel turning what your father started 30 years ago into a family business? Obviously, your brother manages you, your sisters Cie and RAI are singers, too. 




It feels good to say that my family, we have our own Black-owned business. I feel like a lot of people and a lot of families now are starting to become more keen to that and starting to pay attention to just passing what they did in their legacy down to their children, because it's like, if y'all don't pass it down to us, it's gonna end up in somebody else's hands. Nine times out of 10, it's not gonna end up in the right hands. My family's big on just helping each other out. We're big on supporting each other and just being there for each other. And I'm saying 24/7 365, around the clock. I could call my dad for anything. I call my sisters, brothers, I call my cousin. I call them for anything, no matter where I'm at in the world or what I'm doing at the time. I can call them for anything, and they're going to support me with whether it's bad or not. That's how hard we ride for each other.




Just to see my dad be able to trust us to later on lead what he is soon to finish, it means something to me. I hold it near and dear to my heart, and it's something that nobody could ever take from me or take from us as a family, because we built this from the ground up. That's most important to me, like just the fact that my family just has such a strong bond in terms of support system, in terms family orientation, and the way we present and conduct ourselves. Royalty, legacy. We move with some kind of umph and some kind of step that it's just inspirational, motivational, and we want to continue that going, because that's the blueprint, and that's the precedent that he set for us. He already set the tone, so we just going to keep upping the tone.




You mentioned that your dad "is soon to finish." Just wanted to clarify, is he thinking about-




He ain't retiring! He ain't retiring no time soon. At some point, he's gonna pass the throne down to me officially. But my dad got way, way too many years under his belt. Again, we love this music thing too much for us to just stop. He'll probably be rapping even after he retires. My dad's not giving this up no time soon. So no, don't think my dad's retiring. He probably got like six, seven more albums in the tuck bro, probably more than that. My dad has music for decades.
The post Trillian, Busta Rhymes's Son, Prepares To Inherit The Throne: On NLE Choppa Collab, Lyrically Sparring With His Dad & The Significance Of Lil Wayne's "10,000 Bars" appeared first on HotNewHipHop.



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