Long before Rick Ross was hustlin’, Brisco was rollin’ with Lil Wayne, and Flo-Rida made every lady in the world 'Get Low', Trick Daddy was piling up platinum plaques and repping for the Sunshine State on a national level. From spitting with fellow pioneer Luke back in 1996 and introducing the world to Trina in 1998, Trick Daddy has done it all.

While putting his state on the hip-hop map, Trick always remembered to stay humble and keep his mind off of his legendary status in hip-hop. Trick even dropped his album www.Thug.com in 1998, as one of the first rappers to realize the importance of the internet. Now more than ten years deep in the game and his state getting more recognition than ever, Trick is still doing his thing and his work ethic hasn’t slowed up at all with movies, albums, and books all in the works.

Sixshot.Com’s Jon Michael sat down with Trick Daddy to discuss his role in the success Florida is having, his status as a legend and pioneer, and his upcoming projects.

Sixshot.Com: Trick I consider you a pioneer and I believe that you set the stage for Florida to have all the success that it’s currently having. Would you agree with that?

The first time somebody asked me for my autograph he was like, “you Trick?” and I come from somewhere where that could mean anything. I didn’t even know that dude. And then I thought to myself, “oh, he’s talkin’ about Trick Daddy”. At first I thought the nigga wanted a problem, you know? I don’t want to be the best. I don’t want to be the king. I don’t want to be the best rapper alive. I just make this music for my fans and I keep it real in my music. As far as music goes that’s the realest it’s ever going to get, period.

Sixshot.Com: How are you feeling about all the attention that Florida is getting right now?

Trick Daddy: I love it man. We give the people good records and we getting’ the recognition for that. I try to set a good example because people are really watching us man. Even when I do interviews I try to say something. A lot of these dudes don’t be sayin’ anything. Even though we have the shine it’s still hard to make that extra dollar off record sales. It’s hard for me to get my video played. It’s hard for me to get my song played on the radio. There are only so many songs they can play in a day. It’s like a wait list and all that. I think the artists are starting to understand what the artist really goes through. We got ten or fifteen mainstream artists now in Florida. It’s not like it was ten years ago. We doin’ our thing right now and I got a situation where I’m doing my own album so right now it’s about checks.

Sixshot.Com: Do you feel like the newer artists from Florida look up to you as somebody who paved the way for them to be successful?

Trick Daddy: I don’t know man. I think a lot of people don’t realize that. There are people from like the age of ten to forty-five that were raised on my music. There are a lot of people out there who don’t want to give me my props for the things I’ve done in the game. I feel like there’s some niggas in the game who are real disrespectful towards me and to other niggas in the game as well. They’re disrespectful as far as knowing how this all started. We came a long way and I think these cats need to pay homage man.

Sixshot.Com: You’re taking the independent route this time around. Having been on a major label for most of your career how does it feel?

Trick Daddy: It’s good to own your own thing man. I just spend a whole lot of money on studio equipment and when you doin’ your own thing you got your sanity. You could do things your way and do what you gotta do, you know what I’m sayin’? You also gotta make sure you keep those bad people away from you man. They bring you down so you gotta have good people around you man. The media and all that are always going to try and attack a rapper’s character and whatnot so it’s important for an artist to keep the right people around him. We need to stop this, us as Black people need to stop thinking of everything as a competition. This is a business. This is a business where you have to embrace the other artists man and not be with all this battling nonsense man. If we battling and you end up dead and I end up in prison then what good did that do? You make your music and I’ll make mine. You be you and I’ll be me.

Sixshot.Com: You also have a new book deal through MTV. Tell us about that.

Trick Daddy: That’s going to be out at the top of the year too. This is the real deal. We ain’t fakin’ with this. This is real. I’m just tryna do what I gotta do man. You got motherfuckers out here who’s worth fifty and sixty million dollars who ain’t lookin’ out for these kids man. We gotta look out for these kids who are runnin’ the streets man. This book is real man. This is a graphic novel and I ain’t scared to call it that either. This is for the jail cells, the slums, the ghettos, the hood, you know what I’m sayin’?

Sixshot.Com: You have a movie coming as well, correct?

Trick Daddy: This is some shit where it’s like we tellin’ the police that we pay their salary and not to harass us. This ain’t no Dog The Bounty Hunter shit man. I’m sick of reality TV anyway man. That’s why we got these kids sitting in front of the internet and watching reality TV and don’t even know what’s going on. They don’t have a clue and that’s why they make bad decisions man. That’s all they know is this reality TV.

Sixshot.Com: Has anybody ever approached you to do a reality show?

Trick Daddy: We shot a couple of pilots but I’m a hands on nigga and that shit you see on MTV these people are acting knowing that the camera is on them. I think about some shit though like what if that boy from Punk’d try to punk me and I shoot him? And he just tryna punk me?

Sixshot.Com: You have your group the Dunk Ryders as well. What’s the plan for them?

Trick Daddy: Man I got several groups and by the time we do our next interview I’ma have it all laid out. We got plenty of artists man. I can’t even tell you who’s signed yet and shit. I’m tryna be on some Master P type shit where we putting’ out new shit every two weeks and it’s not gonna be no bullshit either. It’s gonna be some real shit. We doin’ it all independent right now. I been with the majors and I sold platinum albums for them but they want too much control over my shit so we goin’ straight independent right now.

The major labels should be paying me some respect right about now. They should have offered me a position or something out of respect. But like I said this is a business. One we stick together we gonna be able to feed our kids and pay our bills. The major labels make more money off a project than the artist even knows man.

Sixshot.Com: All right Trick give us the rundown of all your upcoming projects.

Trick Daddy: The album is coming. I’m tryna call it Guns N’ Roses but I don’t know. They tryna get me to change it but I’m on some ill shit right now so I don’t know.

Sixshot.Com: You have a lot of fans Trick. Anything you’d like to say to them?

Trick Daddy: We got a Black president right now so everything is more understandable and I just want to tell everybody that I been here and I’m gonna be here.