Lupe Fiasco, Yo Gotti & Young Money Perform at Houston Trae Day [With Pictures]

Texas MC Trae Tha Truth treated fans and families to a day of fun, prizes and performances yesterday [July 22] in Houston at the third annual Trae Day—an honor given to the rapper by Houston’s City Hall for his charitable works in the community.

Trae and his non-profit, Angels By Nature/A Better Neighborhood hosted the free event, which included train rides, pony rides and face-painting for the children in attendance.

Trae gave away backpacks full of school supplies and uniforms to the crowd. He also brought out Lupe, Fiasco, Yo Gotti, Gorilla Zoe, and Young Buck to perform along with Young Money’s Lil Twist, Lil Chuckee, and Shanell.

Representation from other Houston-based artists was notably absent, likely because of the controversy going on between Trae the Truth and The Box. As previously reported, the noted community servant was denied an injunction on Radio One, who’s Houston radio station 97.9 The Box, is refusing to play his music.

Trae filed a lawsuit against the station, it’s parent company Radio One, and a few of it’s employees, claiming that 97.9—the only hip-hop station in Houston—stopped playing his music after an on-air interview in which radio personality Nnete Inyangumia accused him of causing violence at a recent public festival. In addition to the ban, he accuses the station of interfering with other personal business dealings. For instance, Trae alleges that Kracker Nuttz, one of the station’s most popular DJs and a 12-year vet of the company, was reportedly fired for accidentally playing a song by Chamillionaire, which featured a verse by Trae.

However, Trae was not going to allow politics (or the rain) stop him from hosting his third annual Trae Day, and neither was the crowd that came out to support Trae, wearing t-shirts reading “You Can’t Ban Tha Truth,” “I’m on Trae’s Side,” and other slogans in support of the southern rapper. The theme of this year’s event was “Stop the Teen Violence” which Trae considers to be a growing problem in Houston as well as across the nation.

At one point during the event there was a minor altercation in the crowd but it was quickly diffused by Trae; who got on the mic to call out the wrongdoers, ensuring that the day ended on a very peaceful and positive note.

Next up Trae will be gearing up for his next hearing in the case against The Box, set for August 16. —Brooklyne Gipson

Turn to the next page to view photos from the event.

Photos courtesy of Xphaqtor. Click on image to enlarge.