TroubleSum
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With a flow so vicious and a name like TroubleSum, it's only fair to say
Houston we have a problem.....and she hails from the southwest side.
The TeflonDiva is one of the reasons you can't sleep on southern
hip-hop. Ride us as we cruise down 59 south with Houston's first lady.



Inkstarzz: What’s up with you? How are you doing?

TroubleSum: I've been busy, but, ya know staying busy is always a
good thing.

Inkstarzz: How long have you been doing the rap thing?

TroubleSum: I’ve been rapping since I was like 15, so probably like maybe 10 years. As far as
professionally like pursuing a deal, all that good stuff, probably maybe 4 or 5 years.

Inkstarzz: So you did BET’s Rap City, how was that experience for you?

TroubleSum: It was wonderful,did you check it out?
























Inkstarzz: I didn't get a chance to see it

TroubleSum: Awwww... you suck! (Laughs) It was a wonderful opportunity. It was a great look for the city,
especially for female rappers. That’s like the biggest thing that any female rapper from the city has done
thus far. I felt real good about that. Q45, might I add, showed me crazy love. It was great, ya know, I love
New York. Any time I can get to New York, I'm there.

Inkstarzz: That's what's up, congratulations on that, too.

TroubleSum: Aww, Thank you!

Inkstarzz: What is one of the most difficult aspects of being a female emcee?

TroubleSum: Wow, there's so many (laughs)! Being a female emcee is wonderful. It's kinda like a gift and a
curse, ya know. It's wonderful cus you're a woman and you’re talented. You come into the game and you
stand out cus it's a male-dominant field. However, it IS a male-dominant field, so you have to fight harder,
you have to prove yourself, ya know. You cannot compromise your self respect because that's pretty much
a wrap. Not all the female rappers before me, but a lot of them have, stereotyped us. So, it's not so much
based on talent as it is sex appeal nowadays. I’m kinda tryna bring the rebirth to the whole female hip-hop
genre. ; Getting back to being a lyricist, having a message, setting a good example for young girls coming
up. We don't have to shake our booties and be half-naked. We do have depth.

Inkstarzz: Can you see females dominating hip-hop?

TroubleSum: Hell yeah I can see it!! (Laughs) I mean you have to have a vision, ya know. Of course I can
see it happening. We need to start a movement, cus it’s not that many of us. In the words of the late, great
Pimp-C, when a group of people come together, we knock down doors. Ya know what I'm saying? I don't
know if you're a Pimp-C fan.....

Inkstarzz: Oh yeah! All day













TroubleSum: "Knockin' Doors Down" about
everybody in Houston coming together, we can get
more accomplished that way rather than the bickering and the division. I think we can get more
accomplished that way. If we put forth some type of movement and show some type of unity and we knock
down doors, I think the movement would get created faster and we will open up opportunities for up-and-
coming female rappers.


Inkstarzz: How are you feeling about the H-Town music scene?

TroubleSum: I can only speak from my point-of-view and I can only speak about what they have done for
me. From Chamillionare to Trae to Corey Moe to Pimp-have really extended themselves to me, so I think
they do a good job. I think the up-and-coming artists out of Houston.... it’s really gonna be crazy because...
when you think of Houston, you think drank sippas, grain grippas; you know what I'm saying? Slabs, thats
what we have in the rhymes, but, this new generation that's coming up, we're more so lyricists. We're tryna
prove the stereotype of Houston rappers just being ABC rappers, we're tryna prove that wrong. Thats
where the problems come in for up-and-coming like myself and Mookie Jones. Have you heard of Mookie?

Inkstarzz: Yeah

TroubleSum: Mookie is a beast!

Inkstarzz: Oh I know!

TroubleSum: Cus we got the song "I show off"

Inkstarzz: Yeah I heard the song I'm feeling it!

TroubleSum: When you listen to us, you don't think Houston, you think something totally different. So, I
think that's a plus.

Inkstarzz: Yeah you're right on that one! What inspired you to start rapping?

TroubleSum: You know what? It's crazy. I had just moved from the ‘burbs to Southwest Houston and I used
to walk to get my mom newspapers and when I was walking up there, I eventually befriended a group of
hustlers that used to be on the block off of Club Creek and Beechnut. I stayed further down, but I would
deliberately walk up there cus I thought the boys was cute and I was being fast. I eventually befriended them
and they could tell by the way I speak and how I carried myself that I wasn't from around there. So, they
really took me under their wings and they used to listen to screw and freestyle on the block. So, just being
around that, I just kind of started doin it and when you around a lot of dudes and they encourage you, like
"Man that was hot!” you want it even more. So I kept doin it and they kept tellin me it was hot. So I took the
pen and the pad down and I started writing poetry first. Then I just started putting poetry to beats basically
and rearranging some stuff and then I started rappin. I just took off from there and everybody kept tellin me
I was hot and I stuck wit it.  

Inkstarzz: You still do the poetry?

TroubleSum: You know what? Every now and then. It has to come to me, ya know!

Inkstarzz: Yeah I feel ya. You go by the name of "The Teflon Diva"; can you tell me how you came
up with the name?

TroubleSum: That's crazy! All my names have been given to me. That name was actually given to me from
Mookie, Mookie Jones because they say I behave like a diva as far as just wit my hand on my hip, wit my
stage presence, how I love to toss my hair! (Laughs) He says I'm Teflon because I'm so rough and rugged I
can stand up with a group of n!&&as and hold my own. So it just ran, like "you the Teflon diva, that's
you!” and I took it and ran wit it.  I was like "yeah I am the Teflon Diva" I be yellin at everybody! (Laughs)

Inkstarzz: (Laughs) alright, I see you’re doing your thing as an actress, how is that life going for
you?

TroubleSum: Oh, I love acting, its second nature. Being on a stage, ya know, it's all the same thing
because you’re entertaining, you’re putting on a show. Who I am on the stage is definitely not who I am off
the stage. Just like Beyonce with her whole "Sasha". Become someone else, you know what I'm sayin? Then
really vibe off the energy from the crowd and it’s the same thing with acting. I love acting. I have to continue
to do it because I really love it and I just feel like a natural, that's what everyone tells me. Just working with
different people, they told me I have a natural niche. It’s something that I just want to continue to do. I'm
actually working on another movie with Trae the Truth and the ABN Gang, it's called "Against Everything"
and it’s actually still in production, so that's something to look out for.

Inkstarzz: I think I saw the clip of that one. It's real wild!

TroubleSum: I'm real gangsta in that one!

Inkstarzz: I see that!(laughs)So do you get the same feel when walking  on the movie set as you
do going into the studio?

TroubleSum: Yes! When they say action, it's like when the beat drops in
the booth. Either or...... when I'm rappin, it’s like my alter ego, kinda like Cassidy when he did "Split
Personality". It's like your other half. When I'm in the booth, it’s like that. Then, when I'm acting, it’s like I'm
playing a character that's totally not me, but it's familiar to me, but it's not who I am. In the Trae movie, (my
character) name is Trouble and she is so gangsta! As you can see, she be busting N!&&as in the head and
just coming with some gangsta s%!t, like " F$%k that, kill that n!&&a". It's fun because I'm acting out a
person who I never could be, but it’s still entertaining and fun to see that I can go there.

Inkstarzz: I read one of your blogs about keeping your enemies close and watching your homies,
I know there are men that gossip too, so I wanna ask how would you handle that situation?

TroubleSum: I believe that God puts people in our lives for a reasonand a season and a lifetime. I believe
that you have to determine which purpose that friend fulfills. If a friend wasn't being a friend to me,there is
no way I would keep extra baggage around. It's not healthy and I wouldn't encourage anyone to do that. It's
not healthy spiritually, mentally, financially, physically, in no way is it healthy. So, if I had someone who was
that way, I would have no problem moving on. I would be fair about the situation, I wouldn't be malicious.
Just let it go. We’ve matured and we've grown apart. It’s just best that you do you and Imma do me. Ya know!

Inkstarzz: Can you name one artist and one producer that you would love to collabo with?

TroubleSum: Well I would love to work with Jay-Z. Right now, he is the hottest in the game. The maturity
from "Reasonable Doubt" to "American  Gangsta" is..... what this man has done for the game, period, is
phenomenal. From being from the streets, to being an entrepreneur, now to being worth 300 million dollars.
I mean, you have to applaud him. He is someone definitely I would like to work with. A producer? I don't
know. Right now, I'm really feelin....... I don't know cus it's so many hot ones. I wanna say Paolo Da Don, but
I haven't heard any classics. I would probably have to go with Just Blaze or Timbaland because most of the
records that they've produced have been my favorites.


Inkstarzz: What’s one word to describe your flow?

TroubleSum: Effortless. It comes with no effort, it's just there.

Inkstarzz: (laughs) toot your own, huh? (laughs)

TroubleSum: (laughs) Let me explain that, because when I say effortless, I'm saying that because I believe
that it's God-given. It’s not something that I have to work at or that I have to try to do, it just came without
effort. With any craft, you have to nurture it and you have to work at it. As far as having it, I've always had it.

Inkstarzz:  If somebody put out a diss song about TroubleSum, what would be your reaction?

TroubleSum: (laughs) I mean, my first reaction, I probably would just laugh, cus it would be very, very
funny. Then, as far as a diss track, I probably wouldn't because it really wouldn't be worth my time to feed
into it or to glamorize that or give them any type of hype. My favorite saying is "Keep talking s$%t, you
making me famous". Just keeping my name out there, creating a bigger buzz, letting people know why I'm
hot. At this point, I wouldn't try to attack or get back at 'em. Imma say I wouldn't do it but, who knows?

Inkstarzz :( laughs) alright now let me ask you this, If you got a chance to put Hillary and Obama
on your CD, what would the song topic be?

TroubleSum: "You can get with this, or you can get with that” (laughs)."I think I'll get with this cus this is
where it's at!" (Laughs) Rock the vote! We talkin bout a change, you know what I'm talkin bout?

Inkstarzz: (laughs) that’s what's up! What can we look out for from TroubleSum?

TroubleSum: Definitely, you need to be on the look out for the movie that I'm in with Trae Tha Truth called
"Against Everything". I have a couple more articles that will be coming out, I got a new mixtape that's about
to drop probably within the next month called "Rise to Power". I have everybody in the city who is hot. I have
a couple of movies under the belt that I can't really speak on cus they haven't been confirmed, but hopefully
the next time that we sit down maybe we could discuss those. That’s basically it.  

Inkstarzz: Thank you for the interview


                                                                                      Interview By: Sonnie V.
TroubleSum
"Nitty Gritty"