Music for All
By Hailey Stangebye
Photos by Kenny V.
Growing up, TrigNO was only allowed to listen to gospel music in the house.
But TrigNO and his brother were crafty. His brother would sneak VHS tapes of Usher videos into the house when their parents weren’t home.
“I feel old saying this, but they were tapes,” TrigNO laughs. “So he’d put them in the VCR and I’d watch them and see somebody moonwalking on their knees. He used to listen to a lot of rap and stuff when my mom and dad weren’t home. I was just like, ‘Yo, this is what I want to do. I like it.’ So I started training myself.”
“He used to listen to a lot of rap and stuff when my mom and dad weren’t home. I was just like, ‘Yo, this is what I want to do. I like it.’ So I started training myself.”
TrigNO became a dancer. But his interests extended far beyond just dance, as he practiced everything from rapping to acting — and, for a brief stint, the trumpet. Today, he defines himself broadly as “an entertainer” because that’s the most inclusive label for his talents.
He still remembers his first performance: It was fifth grade, his school was celebrating black history month and he had to rap.
“I had to rap in front of the whole school and I think I was the only one who remembered the words, and people really liked my verse,” TrigNO says.
It was around that age that he also met one of his most influential mentors — Mr. Malik Willoughby.
“We’re just so alike. Him and his brothers used to rap. They still do. And he’s a phenomenal dancer,” TrigNO says. “He taught me a lot. He also gave me good advice about finances and a whole lot of different stuff.”
With his own drive to create and help from mentors like Malik, TrigNO has honed his creative craft in rapping, dancing, acting and beyond. Today, he continues to rap and he also teaches dance for kids in Columbus.
“When I started, people knew me mainly for dance because that’s how I was in the community. I was teaching kids to dance as a kid,” TrigNO says. “Just imagine people knowing you for this one thing. As soon as I said, ‘Hey, I do music too, come and check out my project,’ they were like, ‘Aw yeah, but when’s your dance class?’”
“Just imagine people knowing you for this one thing. As soon as I said, ‘Hey, I do music too, come and check out my project,’ they were like, ‘Aw yeah, but when’s your dance class?’”
Breaking that limiting mold has proven to be one of his greatest challenges. Despite the resistance he’s faced, TrigNO continues to write and perform because he knows that there’s a need for his music in the community. He witnesses that need every day when he teaches his students.
“I know that the music that they listen to is very reckless, very young. There’s not a lot of wisdom to it,” TrigNO says. “I’ve had the pleasure of having both parents, and a father in my life who actually cared about me. They poured everything they had into me to make sure that I had everything I needed as far as my morals go.
“I’m not sure if these kids have that or not. But, I’m going to treat it as if they don’t. Or as if they just need to hear what I have to say.”
“I know that the music that they listen to is very reckless, very young. There’s not a lot of wisdom to it.”
TrigNO says that his music is for all ages. He doesn’t curse, he recently stopped saying the “n-word” and he focuses on the power of a message that he feels is missing in the hip hop canon. He says there’s value to preserving that innocence, even with raw subject matter.
“I can’t help but rap. I can’t help it. A lot of people feel like they have to dumb stuff down. Me? I’m not too complex because I want you to understand what I’m saying,” TrigNO says. “It’s real. It’s thought provoking.”
TrigNO’s Work
