Tripsleezy was born Lance Richard and spent his early years bouncing around New England, often moving twice in the same year. He had lived in over 17 different houses or apartments by the time he was 17, and often embraced the only thing he had--his love for Gangsta Rap. Smitten with early G's like Big Daddy Kane and Ice Cube, he wrote his first rhyme at the age of 13 and never stopped. His first clique,"KMP" spent afterschool hours and weekends bustin freestyles, and recording cassettes and home videos. After failing 12th grade and being asked by school officials to not return to his Massachusetts high school in 1995, Trip moved away and never looked back. In late 2000, while spittin in a local bar in Barre, VT, he was noticed by a local outfit, Rude Dog Productions , and their leader, Big Country. Country wanted Trip to sign with Rude Dog, but the birth of Sleezy's first child in 2001 forced him to move back to MA in search of a weekly paycheck. Working seasonally as a cook, he moved back and forth from ski town to beach resort, rapping wherever he could find a battle or open mic night. In late 2003, Trip hooked up with Matthew " Magic" Schievella, recording arts major at Full Sail Academy in Orlando, a school focused on entertainment and production. The two recorded TRiP's first major tracks at Magic's home studio and again parted ways in 2004 when Trip returned to MA for the summer season. They managed to connect one more time in December 2004 for a recording session, shortly 20before Matt went back to Full Sail to finish his degree. In the spring of 2005, Trip'l (as he was known in those days) received a call from an independent record label who'd been passed an underground CD of the Magic produced tracks. Trip immediately penned the deal for a full length CD and moved to Vegas, leaving his 2 kids and again pregnant wife back east. The label proved to be underfinanced, and virtually no useable tracks were recorded. He did however hook up with 2 local rappers, Blow'd and Innem, who not only invited him to spit with them, but approached him with being the front man of their clique, N.U.H.O.P. Trip agreed, and the group dubbed him, "Sleezy". In July 2005, NUHOP appeared at Club Seven on the Las Vegas Strip, as part of an official after party for the angermanagement tour. TRiP also became freestyle battle champ of The Cooler Lounge on Decatur in August. The record label finally collapsed shortly thereafter and Trip was forced to move back to New England to support his family. Still hungry for a CD, he continued to write and, in late 2005 was introduced to Thomas "Heck" Heckler, a young but extremely talented VT native who was already making beats and recording local acts by the age of 18. Logically, TRiP arranged a meeting between Heck and Magic, who had finished his degree and was starting a website to feature new talent. The three agreed that verbalmunition.com would independently produce and manufacture TriP's debut CD, a feat even the Vegas label could never manage. They recorded all winter 2005/2006 and in July 2006 verbalmunition.com kicked off as the exclusive retailer of TRiPsleezy's fully mastered LP, LOWLIFE. Featuring beats by Magic, Heck and even TRip himself, the CD includes tracks like the haunting,"Devil Inside", the tongue-in-cheek club banger, "Whatchoo Mean?", and the spaced out marijuana tribute,"We'd Smoke". It'll be the best ten bucks you've spent in a while. Look out for new shit coming soon from TRiP and his homies at hecklerhouse entertainment and verbalmunition.com!!!
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