Certified Fresh: Hardo – The Mind Behind Trapnati

The beauty of hard times arrives in the lesson life teaches us in the aftermath. But that’s only if the person in the proverbial driver’s seat adapts and changes their life for the better.

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Photo: Dan Folger/Instagram

HHW: You’ve been incarcerated a few times. What made the last time the last straw?

Hardo: I noticed that the streets are all fine and dandy at first. I can do this, make this money, and possibly get out and go under the radar. I didn’t think sh*t could happen and change so drastically in a split second. You never know.

If I would have lost the case, I probably would have gotten 10 to 15 years; I wouldn’t have been around for a minute. When you’re in there, you see people with 20 years or life sentences; guys have been in jail longer than I’ve been alive. People get arrested everyday and don’t see the sh*t coming. Jail isn’t for anybody.

HHW: I read that you wrote a book during your prison bid. What was that about?

Hardo: Yeah, I wrote a book. And it was easy to write one in jail. It’s harder for me to write rhymes and get different melodies and flow patterns in jail without an instrumental. At the time, I was fighting a case, so it was like f*ck a song right now. Who’s to say that anyone would ever hear it?

I do create music in jail, though. But I’m not able to sit down and write a thousand records. I wrote maybe a few.

HHW: I was more focused on the content of the book. Care to elaborate?

Hardo: I’m really capturing the detail of my story. The book is about what I want to do with music. I actually cited different lyrics in songs I haven’t put out, songs I’d recorded, and describe the life experiences that inspired the lines.

HHW: Were artists like T.I., Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller in contact while you were down?

Hardo: Yeah, I spoke to anybody who supported me. But I try not to think about the outside world when I’m incarcerated fighting a case. Especially with the time I was facing, there was no telling when I would get out. When you make those phone calls, you can get excited about a life it may take years to see again.

Plus, I have kids. I spent most of my time calling to see if my boys were ok.

HHW: What’s a misconception about Hardo?

Hardo: A lot of people haven’t gotten to see what I have going on. They only know what’s on YouTube. But when Trapnati drop, it’s going to show people that I’m really an artist.

I believe that I can be one of the greatest artist to ever do it. People of status that I’ve studied (I look up to Jay Z) I want to be bigger and better than. When I do my homework and look at what artists were creating at 22 years old, they hadn’t perfected their sound like I have early in the game. I feel like things will be even crazier 10 years down the line.

HHW: Since you’re on probation, do you think being mandated to stay in Pittsburgh has hindered your progression?

Hardo: I have 10 months left. It’s putting sh*t on hold. If I could move around, things would be a lot bigger right now. Don’t get me wrong, I love my city. But I did a lot of wrong here; I have the city behind, but the people who run the city are the police, and I don’t have them in my corner.

It’s kind of like what’s happening with Meek [Mill]. You have someone who’s made it out and whats to do the right thing. An artist travels to make money. Who wants to put a hold on that? They blame us when someone sells drugs, but it’s the same system that won’t let you travel to get a check.

When I get moving, things will get way bigger and way better

HHW: That said, do you plan to wait until your probation is up to drop Trapnati or will it release soon?

Hardo: I’m gonna drop it soon, I believe. I’m thinking within the next 60 days.

It ain’t gonna stop, because I’m gonna work the Internet. They make it hard for us, but we always find a ways to make it work. The limitations expands our brains and thinking process. It ain’t too much that can stop me. The only person that can stop me is me.

HHW: Do you think that the police will stop harassing young Black men who are trying to make positive changes in their lives?

Hardo: It goes both ways, you feel me? We as Black people do what we do, so I can’t all the way blame police for what they think and feel.

It’s like if you go on the corner and you see a drug fiend, that’s what you take that person as. If these people over here are labeled rapist, that’s what you judge those people as. If a lot of us are committing crimes like robberies, and selling drugs, I can understand their thoughts about us with the job they have.

It’s going to take us as people to make necessary changes. But on the same token, police do wrong too. There’s a lot of sh*t I see and say “That cop had no right in hell to do what he did.”

It doesn’t just happen to us. There’s a lot of white people and other races in jail too. From my understanding, there’s more whites on death row than Blacks.

HHW: What do you see for yourself in 2015?

Hardo: I think it’s going to be a big year. I see myself making a big impact independently, and in that case I won’t be on a major, or I’ll be on a major. I may even win an award if things go as planned.

I’m off parole in October, but by the summer I’ll be in a better situation.

Essentials:

“Stressin”

“Cut Throat”

“Trapnati”

“Ghost of Trish” ft. Deezlee