The Third Talks Growth and Artistry
Photography by Julien Carr
A rapper who spits perceptive verses over introspective soul samples, The Third is undeniably skillful at his craft. The intense effort and consistency across his discography act as further proof that the young rapper is wise beyond his years. It’s no surprise that The Third was the winner at this year’s Young Chicago Authors’ MC Olympics.
Trey Raines, who creates under the alias The Third, grew up in Chatham before later moving to Hyde Park. As a child, Raines’ first introduction to the arts and performance was through his church where he was involved in various talent shows and showcases. By way of his father, Raines was later introduced to open mic events in his community. These experiences progressed into a passion for poetry and rapping.
In light of his recent win and upcoming debut album, we spoke with The Third to discuss his artistry, growing up, and his experience competing in the MC Olympics.
I read in a previous interview of yours that you went with your father to open mics a lot growing up and is still a passion of yours today. How did open mics help with your own artistic development?
I think open mics first give you a scope into what is out there. I mean–because it's an open mic–it's open to so many different walks of life and experience levels. You get to see what other people are creating and what the possibilities are for how you [can] create. I think I became the most open minded about my community as an artist when I went to open mics– and that helps a lot. The other thing is really just the practice. I think when you have the free space to exercise your craft and that creative muscle in front of an audience, especially like a Chicago audience, who as critical as they can be, are also relentlessly supportive. And so you get an opportunity to grow in front of an audience and to learn and to share. I think everybody who [is in this] type of artistry needs to be involved in an open mic or eight.
Tell me more about the production in your music. How do you describe the sound that you go for, not only in terms of instrumentals, but also in how you choose to approach your delivery?
I like natural live sounds. Even just in percussion, like the drums. I like a very live drum sound. I think my production is very melodic and progressive in the sense that a lot of my beat choices, so whether I'm making the beat or I’m choosing them, are very big. They're very simple and organized, but still layered and important. The way I write when I make music is very very layered, thought provoking, and poetic. I think like a lot of my poetry [and] a lot of my word choice has a lot to do with how I create music. The imagery I use is vivid.
How does your poetry play into your music? Do you find yourself in moments focusing more heavily on one versus the other?
My poetry definitely plays a huge role in how I create music because [of] the word choice. How I write is heavily influenced by my poetry. The language I use is definitely more of a poetic type of language. I think nowadays way more emphasis is put on my music-making. It’s strictly because that's what's paying me. When I have time throughout my week, I definitely will write a poem or two. But, I find myself nowadays writing a lot more music because [when] people are asking me to come perform somewhere, they usually want to hear songs. And so I found myself writing songs more than writing poems. When I was younger, people used to ask me to come in and perform poetry. I don't get those much anymore. And so now the focus is around music.
What goes through your head when you're beginning the writing process for a new song?
I think when I start a song, I'm trying to figure out first what message I want to convey in the song. I think that's the main thing. I want to make sure that I'm being intentional with my music. It's really easy to just drop anything. It's really easy to just drop a song and have people listen to two or three minutes of your song–and then you know it could do good or not. But I think even if the music is not good, because good is definitely subjective, there's always an intention with what I'm putting out. So I'm trying to figure out what the thesis is [to] start. So that's the first thing. And then after that, I'm going to find out what language I can use to communicate what I'm trying to say. And more importantly, language that has not been used before. So if I'm trying to write it in a way that people can understand. People have probably heard like, ‘the grass is always greener.’ But even if that's the point of that song, I'm trying to find another metaphor for that same message that people haven't heard and maybe could connect with people more. And so that's one of the things I'm always thinking about when it comes to creating a song is just what the message is and then how I can find a unique way to convey that message with my word choice.
How did you feel when you won the YCA MC Olympics?
I've been competing in the MC Olympics for like five years. I want to say maybe more, but at least five different MC Olympics I’ve competed in, I [would make] it to the level right before the final round and would always fall through. I'm always grateful for the opportunity and platform to even showcase what I can do. But when I was younger and I was competing, I was trying to compete to prove to everybody that I'm the best rapper in the city. And like, you know, here's something physical to show you that I am. I think now being older and way more mature [and] way more set in where I am as far as an artist in the city, I didn't feel the need to prove much of anything. But, I do enjoy competition. I’m a naturally competitive person. I always try not to let it leak out, but it's definitely one of those things where, when I did win, I was very happy. Sixteen-year-old me would be very proud. You know, eighteen-year-old me would be very proud. That was one of those things I was able to just mark off the list of things I want to do. That felt really really good. And also shoutout to all the people that were involved in the initiatives too.
How is the competition structured?
It's one day where the first round is 16 for 16–meaning whoever can rap the best verse [for] 16 bars. After that, it's a compliment battle where you get a minute or minute and 30 to, off the dome, just give somebody your best compliments in verse. It's a lot of fun. It's hilarious. Then after that, I wouldn't say it's a word choice battle, but this year it was a 2 on 2 basically. They paired up two people who had made it that far and they let the audience pick a list of ten words. Then we had 10 minutes to go and write a verse together that included all those ten words. That probably was one of the hardest things I ever had to do as far as writing prompts are concerned. Those words were ridiculously hard. I actually wrote down in my Google Docs what the words were so I never forget the trials and tribulations I went through to make sure those all got done. But that was a lot of fun. So that's that third round. And the last round was a song battle. So basically any song that you have, whether it's out or whether it's not, you pick it and you perform [the] song. By that time there should only be two people up at the top. Whoever has the best song, that's who wins.
What was your mentality going into the competition? And how'd you prepare?
I think my mentality was that it was mine. I think a couple hours before, like the day of, I was talking to my manager and we just kept saying, “when.” You know like, “When you win–after this is done–what are we doing next?” Kind of like speaking that up. I was very confident and by this time I’m like, “I lost this many. It only makes sense that I get this one.” I was hyper-focused on what 16 I was going to perform. And I think the song I did was “WUNNADEM” that I recently dropped not too long before then, so it was pretty easy to pick that one too.
Were you impressed with anyone else's performance in the competition?
Yes, I was thoroughly impressed with [Rico the Artist’s] performance. Rico is a rapper from the city. Hasn't dropped any music. And I told him about the competition like a week before. He came through and just was very confident, like was not performing like a newcomer at all. It was very intentional and went crazy. And he got second place too.
Anything else you're looking forward to music wise in 2023?
Oh my gosh, I'm about to drop an album. I'm so excited. My first album is called Southside Sonnet and we dropping this year. I’m excited to drop a few more singles before the album drops. I have some events that are planned out with some very special people in the city and I'm super excited for all that to come together.
Anything else?
Go listen to “Harold’s Date” everywhere. “Harold’s Date” dropped and it’s a really good song and it's hot outside. So listen to that and enjoy the weather.
* * * *