Trey Lane

He's sponsored by Jagermeister and signed with an actual label. For a rapper from Sioux Falls, not normally noted as a burgeoning hip-hop scene (although it actually is such a place), Trey Lane is doing quite well. This weekend, for the third time ever in Sioux City, Lane will be performing at the Chesterfield with a gang of usual suspects from our own scene, the Gateway Drug and The Sound Insurgent.

Originally from California, Lane is not afraid to mix sounds from West Coast and even East Coast hip-hop into his own style. Yet, above all he keeps it real.

"I don't talk about selling drugs and what not because I don't do that," Lane said of his music. "But it's realistic of me to rap about going to a club or going to Vegas because I do those things."

Taking influences from Tupac Shakur (in his story-telling), Biggie Smalls (in the way he looks) and Jay-Z (in his business endeavors), Lane has concocted a style of hip-hop that is truly his own. Which is why Universal Music Group took notice.

"While I just signed a record deal, I don't know if I'd ever sign with a big label," Lane confessed. "Big labels aren't doing so well right now."

But that doesn't mean Lane isn't interested in making it big.

"A lot of the underground hip-hop music is anti going mainstream," Lane explained. "But I'm not that way. I think my music appeals to the masses. People always complain about what's on the radio but if we don't change it then there's nothing to complain about it."

And the whole Jagermeister thing? Even if Lane only takes Jager bombs every now and then the rapper is rightly proud of his being sponsored by the booze company.

"I'm the first hip-hop artist they've ever sponsored," Lane said. "They have a music department we reached out to them they were interested."

At this trade for almost seven years now, Lane has just laid down a new EP, "Here Goes Nothing" (coming out on Aug. 23 and iTunes Aug. 22), which is the reason for his going on tour in the first place. Along with the Chesterfield show, the rapper is an opening act for Young Jeezy for his shows in Lincoln and Fargo (The Sioux City show was cancelled). And through it all, it's the music that keeps Lane going.

"Music is something at the end of the day is the soundtrack to most people's lives," Lane expressed. "If you're doing things like running or cleaning you're listening to music. I want to be the music people are using to get themselves ready for the day - I want to add to culture not take away from it."

As for the show itself, expect mad energy to be emoted off the stage.

"I'm a bigger guy but I move on stage like I'm 150 pounds when I'm up there," Lane said. "I want to leave a lasting impression." - Sioux City Journal

Even though Flame On Entertainment is a Sioux Falls hip-hop collective, fans will experience more than hip-hop music at the group's Friday show.

The outdoor show also includes performances by the Sioux Falls Skyleaders and the Lady Stallions, a dance battle and a performance from pop-punk band More Than Enough.

Trey Lane (real name Anthony Withers) will be making an announcement about his music career that he has been keeping under wraps. Trey Lane, who has been a part of Flame On Entertainment for five years, says the outdoor show is geared to appeal toward a wider audience, even people who aren't necessarily fans of hip-hop.

"We're making it be an event versus a regular show. It's almost like a festival in a way. ... It will put a lot of spotlight on younger talent," he says.
Flame On Entertainment founder V the Noble One (real name Vaney Hariri) says this is the first time the group has organized a festival-type event.

"Most of the things that we've done in the past, we've done during things, like ShowBaby and JazzFest. This is one of the first times where it's all about us and all about the music.

"It's strictly for this purpose."

Performers include Sioux City, Iowa-based deejay Sound Insurgent and Trife Mack, who is from Chicago and lives in Sioux Falls, along with multiple other Sioux Falls performers.

Trey Lane will release his music video for "King Hustler," the first single from his album "Here Goes Nothing," which will be released Aug. 23. "King Hustler" features Hariri and Blitz.

Fans can preview other songs from the new album, including "Don't Have to Be" and a collective effort called "Hello. Goodbye.Goodluck." that features Wes Eisenhauer from Soulcrate Music and is produced by Soulcrate's DJ Absolute.

Friday's show also will be filmed as part of a documentary on Trey Lane.

Hariri is working on a new mix tape called "Too Big to Fail" that will be released in July. He also is planning for a collaborative album that he will begin work on later this year.

"The goal is for it to be live with different musicians in town," he says.

Hariri is a self-proclaimed music lover, and one of his favorite bands is Queen. Working with musicians from outside of hip-hop makes sense, he says. "It's a fraternity to be around the people who understand the power and the art of music."

Reach BryAnn Becker at 605-977-3908.
- By BryAnn Becker of The Argus Leader

There's a moment early in Trey Lane's song "Getcha" where the Sioux Falls rapper actually sneezes as a lyric.

Set against a sparse, looped run of dancing digital bells, the "aww-choo" feels more like an extension of the Ying Yang Twins' whispering than Ol' Dirty Bastard's mid-sentence burping - which is to say this bodily noise isn't a mistake.

The "sneeze" serves as a set-up to self-affirmation as Lane follows the phonetic signal with the line "Yes, dude, God did bless this." But as you listen through Lane's "Built for This" EP, it's easy to get the sense that this entire disc is a blessing for the Sioux Falls hip-hop scene.

By now, that very notion is treading on cliché status. Most local rappers can't speak three sentences without praising themselves or their peers. But rather than spout blind platitudes in his lyrics, Lane pimps the local hip-hop talent by showcasing it on his disc.

And, again, this isn't a new notion either. Album guest spots are as expected as sampling James Brown's "Funky Drummer." But when Lane leads a collection of local talent in his song "Last of a Dying Breed," the oratorio orgy feels more organic than past examples. The pieces featuring the likes of Soulcrate Music - including an impressive verse from Dirt Dee, Night Shield, Maniac, V the Noble One and

newcomer Nyte fit together naturally.

"That's one of the main reasons why I did the track. You want to show unity," Lane says. "I thought that all of us on the track would be good because we all have different points of view on hip-hop."

Friday night some of those unique perspectives will get together to celebrate the release of Lane's "Built for This" disc at Nutty's North.



The 6 p.m. concert will feature several of the "Dying Breed" contributors. But the spotlight will be focused on Lane, whose hip-hop roots have been digging in since his sixth grade days in a rap group with Marcus Wright of the United Ballaz.

"We were called Embassy South," Lane says.

These days he's hangin' solo and trying to ensure he preserves the integrity of his art form by, "Making sure I'm representing hip-hop correctly," Lane says. "And making sure I'm not being somebody I'm not."

Reach Robert Morast at 331-2313.

- By Robert Morast of Argus Leader