Plato III: What Is Trailer Trap?
Let’s hop right into this latest single, “Holiday” — Tell me about this particular track; how did it actually come to fruition?
It was Winter 2020, and because of the pandemic I was able to spend a month and a half back in Texas with my mom on the outskirts of Abilene, in a town of less than 2,000 people. It’s the longest I’ve stayed with my mom since high school and the extended period of time inspired me to reflect on my upbringing and get into album mode. “Holiday” was the first beat I made. All I had was a loop when my friend Uriyah hit me and said he showed Lil B my music and Lil B wanted to collab. I didn’t have any other tracks to send him, so I recorded a quick verse on my iPhone, sent it to him, and he sent a verse back on Thanksgiving. The verse was so based that we had to give it its own track later on the album, so ultimately this final version of “Holiday” doesn’t feature Lil B, but he definitely inspired me to complete the track and get the ball rolling on the rest of the album.
Of course “Holiday” comes courtesy of your new LP, The Devil Has Texas — Conceptually, what does this title represent both to and for you?
Abilene, Texas, the town I was raised in, is known as the Buckle of the Bible Belt. It’s said to have more churches per capita than any other US city. It’s also a place with extreme poverty, the lowest minimum wage in the country, and was the 7th most dangerous city in Texas as of 2016. The Devil Has Texas is me exploring this dichotomy of religiousness and poverty in my hometown, a contradiction that is also a defining characteristic of Texas and America as a whole.
How then does The Devil Has Texas either differ and / or compare to previous efforts?
Making music in a town that doesn’t have a rich musical history means you have to import your influences. On my previous albums, I was borrowing from other rap scenes like Atlanta’s trap, East Coast boom-bap, or Chicago conscious rap. The Devil Has Texas is the first time I set out to create a sound that captures where I’m from sonically and not just lyrically. The result is an album that is heavily guitar-based.
What particular string of events led to your current signing to Polyvinyl Record Co?
I’ve released 9 albums – 4 as Plato III – without a label, manager, or anything. I never really considered trying to get a label, because with rap it’s mostly just major labels that have influence. Since this album had lots of guitar, I thought that maybe some indie rock labels might be into it, so I sent the demo around to see if there was interest. Things only started to pick up once I sent it to a producer from back in Abilene that had collaborated with a few indie labels on compilation projects. Once he shared it with Polyvinyl, things moved pretty quickly, and I signed my first deal. They say, “it’s who you know,” and that had always worked against me before, because you don’t know many people in music when you’re from West Texas. But it turns out I knew one person who had moved to Brooklyn and met some people. So after 9 albums, I got lucky.
As a songwriter, when you sit down to pen your lyrics where do you draw your inspiration from?
When I write songs, I’m always trying to resolve something within myself. It’s like something is off and every album is me digging into what that feeling is and making peace with it. It’s why it’s hard for me to write songs outside the context of an album, and also why I don’t write many happy songs. When I’m happy, I just want to enjoy the feeling. There’s nothing for me to work through.
Reflecting, tell me your whole inception into music — When did you become interested in it? And, how did it all begin for Ryan Silva?
My mother loved music. I have memories of her playing N.W.A., Michael Jackson, Jodeci, and other ‘80’s music around the house when I was young. We were at the mall back when they had a place to buy CDs and she let me pick out my first one back when I was around 12. I picked the explicit one in the rap section with a teddy bear on it…(The) College Dropout made me fall in love with Hip Hop and shortly after that I bought a $10 USB mic from Wal-Mart and was uploading songs to MySpace.
Now you’re a native of Abilene,TX, by way of L.A., CA, correct? So growing up in ‘The Key City,’ who all did / do you consider to be your strongest musical influences?
We didn’t have much of a music scene in Abilene, so the internet is where I got most of my influences. Kanye West, OutKast, Nas, Mos Def, Jay-Z, Common, to name a few. Chamillionaire was my favorite Texas rapper for a long time and (The) Mixtape Messiah was the first physical mixtape I ever had a copy of. There were a couple local bands in Abilene that inspired me to pursue music though: The Rocketboys and Close Your Eyes.
In having said that, how do you classify your overall sound and / or style?
I try to switch it up every album, but my girlfriend called this album “trailer trap” and I dig that.
Where does your moniker originally derive from?
Family name.
Switching gears here…
To date, what has been your greatest career moment(s), at least thus far anyway?
Getting my song “Illuminate” in Netflix’s ‘Always Be My Maybe.’ Seeing it in a theater for the first time and seeing my name on the credits. It was the first time I ever really made money from my art, too, so that felt nice.
What’s an average day like for you?
These days I been substitute teaching on the weekdays. I either write or promote my music online between classes. Then I come home, eat dinner and spend time with my lady. Weekends we try to get out and experience something new. Hopefully soon enough people will know my music so that I can make money touring or do music full-time, but for now we still building.
Please discuss how you interact with and respond to fans…
As an indie artist trying to build a fanbase, I try to actively post on social media – mostly Instagram – and share my journey with anybody interested. I’d rather be like Prince and stay in the shadows, but I don’t have that luxury yet.
What is your favorite part about this line of work? Your least favorite? And, why?
Favorite part is easily creating and just testing my ceiling. Growing and evolving as an artist and continually being challenged to improve at my craft is really fulfilling for me. Least favorite is the promoting / marketing component of being an artist. I just enjoy making music, but to get to make music, you have to be able to sell it and profit and all that. It’s a necessary evil.
What advice would you have for someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?
I used to get mad because I used to ask for advice from people who had had success in music and many would say, “Just don’t stop” or “keep going.” It’s the most basic, vague advice there is, and I always wanted something more specific like please tell me exactly what to do. But now, I think I get it. There’s no guaranteed way to do anything, but if you keep pursuing whatever it is you want, you will ultimately get some version of it or adapt and find a new desire. You will figure it out as long as you don’t stop trying to figure it out. You might not get exactly what you want in the exact way you thought you wanted it, but you will find something out about yourself, which is ultimately what you were looking for anyway.
Lastly, what’s next for Plato III?
My label debut The Devil Has Texas (dropped) June 17th. We gon’ see how that go and go from there.
Is there anything I left out, or just plain forgot to mention?
No Sir, I appreciate all the questions and the research to find out Abilene was known as the “Key City.” I forgot about that, I ain’t been home in too long!
Any “closing” thought(s) for our readers?
Stay up!
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