Before becoming a Detroit rap icon, Christian "Trick Trick" Mathis was just another aspiring emcee looking to work alongside Eminem. Thankfully, the Goon Sqwad hypeman had D12 superstar Proof to turn to for some advice and guidance.
Apparently, Trick first learned about the rise of Slim Shady from the "Shake Dat Donkey" lyricist:
"Em and Paul [Rosenberg] came to the show," he explains during an exclusive interview on Live with Steve Lobel. "He put me up on him already, but I had never met him face to face. But I remember seeing Em and Paul and I told Proof, there's some mean-looking-a$$ White boys, man."
Things slowly evolved from there. Proof (real name, DeShaun Dupree Holton) made the initial connection, and Trick started recording some beats that would hopefully get passed along. But then Em was signed to Dr. Dre's renowned Aftermath Entertainment, and Trick almost seemed left in the dust:
"I called Proof, 'Hey, I gotta get these beats to Eminem.' I called him 'Infinite' by mistake," Trick recalls. "I was like, 'I gotta get these beats to Infinite.' He was laughing like a motherf*cker. He said, 'Who?' I said, 'Eminem.' He said, 'He just went out there with Dre yesterday.' I was like, 'That's dope as f*ck. Dr. Dre?' He says, 'Yes, Dr. Dre.' I'm thinking to myself, 'What the f*ck is they finna cook up? Jesus Christ, I can't wait to hear this sh*t.'"
Thankfully, the Promatic rapper really stepped-up to get Trick's music career on the right track:
"Proof was the cat that introduced me to the whole culture of hip-hop," he reveals. "I was a street n*gga. I'm in the hood selling dope. Rap was the fun sh*t. It was a lifestyle that was mandatory at that time that I lived the way I lived... Proof's sessions would be in the morning when my sessions was in the morning. So when I get there, he'd be leaving or other way around. And he would always give me some game every time. He was younger than me, but he would always give me some game. At first, I would look at him, 'This n*gga getting on my damn nerves. He's always saying some educated-a$$ sh*t.' I'm a young dumb n*gga at the time, so I'm doing my hood sh*t. Then I started listening. He said this, 'There's five elements of hip-hop. You must know this. You can't be in rap and not know the five elements of hip-hop.' So I say, 'Well what the f*ck is the five elements of hip-hop, Proof?' He said, 'It's rapping,' now don't quote my order, but he said, 'it's rapping, breakdancing, graffiti, dress code, and beatboxing.' When he told me that, I said, 'That's some interesting sh*t.' He said, 'If you don't have those elements, you don't have hip-hop.' I said, 'That's what's up.' He said, 'You gotta be involved with the culture, Trick.'"
And the rest is history. Check out the full interview below:
