On April 8th, 2011 GRNDGD friend Terry L. Hayes, other wise known as Trife, succumbed to complications stemming from a brain injury which had relegated him to a hospital bed since late January. Survived by his wife and three children, he is also remembered with respect and admiration by friends and fans of his lyricism. You wouldn’t know it by the lack of coverage but Trife ripped mics. The idea of being an MC is sometimes so tied to recording and sales that if you do not fully partake in the latter it’s almost as if you do not exist, especially to peripheral media outlets. If an MC spits in the middle of a cypher but no one is there to record it, does he make a sound?
But Trife did make some noise. With roots in Long Island and Queens he ran with other area artists including Roc Marciano, who later would go on to introduce him to Pete Rock and Busta Rhymes. With the re-prioritization of live performances in recent years it’s disappointing to consider the new opportunities a rapper with his talent could have had to show and prove. Astute observers removed from the Tri-State may still have heard rumors of Technical Rival Implying Flagrant Excellence, of Long Beach battles with Subroc and Zev Love X or of rhyming outside radio stations with Natural Elements and Nas. But then again, chances are when you see the name Trife it will likely only trigger a faint acknowledgment of an unrelated artist from Ghostface Killah’s extended fam, which reminds me, someone should really add to that Discogs entry.
We were hoping to change all that one day by getting Terry in the studio, but like many of our grand ideas, it was not meant to be. We’re left only with rough bedroom recordings and memories of uplifting conversations. Respect to Robbie over @ Unkut for asking about him and much respect to Marci who recently hinted at writing some music for his fallen friend and was also generous enough to share some of his memories of Trife which we hope to be publishing separately soon.
RIP
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Trife – Trife (Prod. by Trife)
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Trife & Megalon aka Tommy Gunn (1999)
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Pete Rock – Give It To Y’all ft. Roc Marciano, Trife
I remember one night Trife was at my studio and my partner at the time came through with a fellow MC that he was friends with. He and Trife met and Trife said lets exchange some lyricks meaning let me hear you spit. The kid did so and he and Trife went at it. The kid was nice and holding his own but Trife kept on coming like he was invincible. When it was said and done they shook hands and the dude step off. Trife left not to long after and about an hour later the dude came back looking for Trife but he was gone and the kid said I just wanted to tell Trife that he is the best Rapper I ever heard in my life. I have so many amazing memories of the magick that I witness of Trife’s skills. He was so powerful as an individual that his spirit and energy and spiritual presence is felt by his friends and love ones. He has truly shown me that we can do anything that we put our minds into on and Godly level.
One year ago we lost Trife Rip. I will remember this day as I did the year before A Few Years After Tomorrow.