Trinidad James, an Atlanta native, rose to fame during his rookie season by combining elements of Lil B’s free-spirited and alternative-sounding music with Wiz Khalifa’s hedonistic lyrics and fluid flow. Raised in Atlanta, he was born Nicholas Williams in Trinidad & Tobago and became Trinidad James at the age of 24 while working as the manager of a downtown streetwear store.
Trinidad James, an Atlanta native, rose to fame during his rookie season by combining elements of Lil B’s free-spirited and alternative-sounding music with Wiz Khalifa’s hedonistic lyrics and fluid flow. Raised in Atlanta, he was born Nicholas Williams in Trinidad & Tobago and became Trinidad James at the age of 24 while working as the manager of a downtown streetwear store. That was in late 2011, and Trinidad released his debut mixtape, Don’t Be S.A.F.E., in October 2012; on it was the viral hit song “All Gold Everything.” When the “All Gold Everything” music video surpassed three million views in December of that year, Def Jam revealed that they had signed the rapper and dropped the “All Gold Everything” remix, which featured verses from T.I., Young Jeezy, and 2 Chainz. Early in 2013, the label released the Don’t Be S.A.F.E. mixtape on official record. Later that year, a second mixtape was made available. Rich Homie Quan, Gucci Mane, Danny Brown, Travi$ Scott, D4L, and Childish Gambino all had featured appearances on 10 PC Mild.
James kept putting out mixtapes under the Gold Gang label, releasing three albums in 2015: Trips to Trinidad, No One Is Safe, and The Wake Up. Along with Dev and Chrish, he also had an appearance on a remix of “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars and “The Gun” by Cash Cash. With the release of the single “Just a Lil’ Thick (She Juicy)” featuring Mystikal and Lil Dicky in 2016, James switched his attention back to his own work.
