CEO Trayle has made a name for himself by sticking to his guns and authentic style. After putting everyone on notice with “Ok Cool” and eventually the official remix with Gunna, Trayle has proven to be a household name in the trap scene. Staying true to his name, he’s always standing on business by consistently feeding his fans with new music throughout the year. His latest release is a sequel and sixth installment to his fan-favorite “Happy Halloween” series, and it was well worth the two-year wait.
With a tracklist of 18 songs, Trayle does a phenomenal job feeding into his villain alter-ego to keep the spirit of Halloween alive throughout “HH6”. This project perfectly embodies the ominous energy that Trayle invokes in his sinister lyrics. The lead single, “Drake Verse” flawlessly sets the tone, as the legendary DJ Drama‘s iconic narration prepares you for all the madness that will unfold. There seems to be a method to Trayle’s madness, which requires him to take listeners behind the curtain of his chaos-filled life throughout his music.
I recently had the chance to enter the brain of CEO Trayle to discuss the return of his beloved yearly Halloween mixtape series with “HH6,” his next moves, and much more. Check out the full interview below.
We are here with the one and only CEO Trayle. How are you doing today?
I’m backdooring.
This is the sixth installment of your Happy Halloween tape series. What separates #6 from the rest and makes this one special?
I don’t know. I guess what I put into it.
Did you approach it a different way creatively?
No, I just really put a little bit more thought into this one.
It’s been two years since the last “HH.” What was the reason for the gap?
I was done with them. Like, I wasn’t doing any more Halloween [tapes], but everybody convinced me to do one this year, so it’s, like, cool. And I took a year off. So I could just go ahead and it’ll be cool. They waiting on it. You can see that. Like, they waiting on that.
What do you feel like you learned about yourself between this and the release of your last full-length project?
Not, so much as about myself, but just the industry. I learned more about the music industry, as opposed to myself. I just learned how to move a little bit better.
Do you feel like you were moving incorrectly before?
Not wrong. But moving like I, let someone come help me instead of just moving like I’ve been moving. I don’t need your help. When you offer to let someone help, they will. You know what I’m saying? You got to let them know right away.
So you feel like they were taking your kindness for weakness?
Right, Right.
*NOTE: This interview took place one day before Young Thug was released.*
I saw your No Jumper interview where you talked about your friendship with Young Thug. With him coming home soon and my connection to B Slime, I’ve met some of the YSL family, like Lil Gotit, FN Da Dealer, and Dolly. Can you share more about your bond with Young Thug and the YSL crew? It seems deeper than music.
Really bro, that’s really why I went over there, like, with them type sh*t. It’s been a lot of people that’s been that have tried to stamp me over the years. You know what I’m saying? I just never really embraced it to receive the stamp. But with Thug and them, it just felt like it was a whole family vibe. So I went over there because it’s family-oriented. They are, like family. Everybody.
You are not exaggerating. I can confirm they treat you like a regular person and not like they are better than you.
Thug acts like a regular n*gga. So everybody moves around like regular n*ggas. Like, ain’t nobody better than nobody over there. Everybody is the same in his eyes.
Since we are talking about labels—correct me if I’m wrong, but you are still independent, right?
Yeah. But this tape (is) going through Empire.
How do you feel about staying independent in today’s music scene? Someone of your stature could’ve easily signed a major deal but continues to choose independence.
Being independent works for some. It doesn’t work for everybody. Some people need the machine behind them. Some independent people get to the point where they feel like they did all they can do independently and they want the machine behind them. So it’s like, it’s all that works best for you. Ain’t no such thing as a bad deal. It’s only bad if you don’t negotiate. That’s a bad deal.
What advice would you give to artists who might be in a similar situation as you are, like, who’s teetering the line of should I sign or should I stay indie?
Sign, take the money. It’s just always better to spend somebody else money. Like, why do I want to spend my own money? I hate spending my own money. When it comes time to shoot videos, I hate spending my own money. But if I got a label to call and they gone pay $2,500 for this video, and all, then that’s cool. Do that. Just make sure you can recoup whatever you spend. Just make sure you know how to make it back. That’s all.
One of the biggest independent artists right now is Larry June, and I saw you recently shot a video with him at Club Digital for your song “Capital P.” How did that collaboration come together?
Me and Larry June have been locked in, man. We used to be talking on the phone and he got the blueprint. I feel like I’m following his blueprint. Because he is a slept-on artist. A lot of people slept on him for years. Like they still sleeping on him. But it’s artists that some people don’t know that are rich as hell in the game and doing what they do and selling out shows and everything. It’s just he doesn’t get the credit from everybody. But his fan base rocking out. So I’m just really following his blueprint. Like, you know, like my own way. He gives me a lot of game and we have just been talking about his little brother, who is a huge fan of mine. So that came together easily, organically. That was super organic.
Speaking of Larry June, y’all teamed up again on “P’zzz” from HH6, produced by Atlanta duo 6lement. They’re easily some of the most underrated producers out right now. How did that collaboration come together?
He pulled up on me at Sonny Digital’s studio. He was just there and I was there. So he was just like, let me send some beats. And I was like, hell, nah. I could just pull up to a session and we can have a studio session. And then he hit me. He had a studio session. And then we’ve been making music since then. Ever since that night. I pulled up, and we got, like, seven songs. Because I pulled up with somebody else. I pulled up to do a feature for my homie from St. Louis. And then Park3r was in the next room making beats. And I had heard it and I was like, “Oh, that sh*t hard. I’ll get on that right there.” Because then we were in the room, in the process of looking for beats. So when one of them n*ggas heard me say, “I’ll get on that beat.” He went out there and told the n*gga, which ended up being Park3r.
Who are some of the producers that are on “HH6?”
If you know me, then you know the same n*ggas I use StribbOnABeat, Yung Icey, and Trauma Tone.
Tony Shhnow is one of my favorite Atlanta artists right now. Someone asked him if you had any collabs coming, and he said you were supposed to be on the remix of “Don’t Slip.” Talk to me about that, especially since Tony rarely does remixes—the last one was “Don’t Count the Numbers” with Brent Faiyaz.
This is what happened. And I was blown at myself because I don’t take long to record. I just take a long to sit down to record. So, yeah, I was just moving around a lot at that time. He had already sent me the song. I told him I was gonna do it. And by the time I did it, it was like the day before his tape was coming out.
But y’all do have some more stuff in the works?
Yeah, hell yeah, we got like four songs.
What can we expect from CEO Trayle in 2025?
Damn, it’s 2025. That sounds crazy. But just expect more music, more videos, and More high-quality videos. Like more lifestyle (videos), n*ggas seeing me more, like just expect me to be outside more. But yeah, you could just expect more. Music, more videos, more projects going up, more collaborations with people. That’s what I’m looking forward to. I’m looking forward to pulling up on muhf*ckas and getting them collabs because I won’t be realizing that I’m CEO Trayle when I see another muhf*cka. Like I will be around Gunna and Thug and forget I’m CEO Trayle. I will just be with them.
Do you think it’s politics?
No, not really for me. Because I don’t give a f*ck. I don’t gang-bang or anything. So I can hang with who I want to hang with. I don’t have any beef or no problems with anybody. I ain’t got no blemish. I’ve been solid on all ends with everybody. So it’s like, you know, I just stay out of a lot of shit. So it ain’t politics. I don’t speak on Twitter on anything. Cause ain’t nothing got nothing to do with me. I don’t have any opinion on anything. So you know what I’m saying? But it’s just for me, it’s just more so just like, just like being a rapper, like, oh, this like being the rapper. Not being a rapper, like knowing like, oh, damn. Okay, you see you’re CEO Trayle. Yoo these folks know who you is. So when I’m across the room and let’s say Chris Brown, he over here on this side. And I’m looking at him like, oh, that’s Chris Brown. And he looking at me like, oh sh*t, that’s CEO Trayle. Why he ain’t come say nothing type sh*t? Do you see what I’m saying? Yeah, like that type. I just gotta go start saying sh*t to n*ggas. Because it worked with Key Glock. I just walked up on Glock and he was like,” Trayle, what’s up” and I’m like, damn, he knows me. But what I’m saying is he was already. He already knew who I was typing. I just didn’t know he knew who I was. I was just on, like let me just go try something, and see what happened.
For my last question, I have to ask—how did you link up with Kai Ca$h? It seems like you’ve been locked in for a while, with you on his 2021 project 711 and him on your track “Lemon Drop T**t.”
Yeah, me and Kai (Ca$h) were locked in way before this. That’s like my little brother. Like, for real, for real. I knew what Generation Now was, but I wasn’t close with Drama or anything like that or Royce or nobody like that. So I just really used to be in and out, now and then. But me and Kai, we’ve been locked in for the longest. Feel like he is a great rapper and he a great artist. So he gotta get his shine. And I always say to him, “Oh, we gonna take it.” I tell them that all the time.
