dj khALEd - Ozone Magazine

Coming off a great year with
several mixtapes heavy in the
streets and one major label
release, Torch and Triple Cs are
continuing to build their momentum.
As one-fourth of the group,
Torch also has his own lane and
supporters. Here Torch gives us a
rundown on what’s new for him,
and what makes him a standout
part of Carol City Cartel.
Tell us what you have poppin’ right now.
We got the album Color, Cut, Clarity coming
soon. We got the new mixtape Sticks & Stones.
I got my solo mixtape Crash Course comin’. We
got a lot of big things comin’ this year.
You put out a lot of solo material last year.
What all did you have circulating
My shit be like albums. I have a lot of original
material, I don’t usually jack people’s shit like
everybody else. I had about 3 or 4 mixtapes
worth of material. I’m working on my next
street album.
Being from New York, your sound touches a
different market than your group members.
When you’re looking for beats for your solo
music, do you use the same producers as
Triple Cs Or do you work with different
people
I work with everybody that provides heat.
Sometimes I work with producers from the
group, but those people craft different kind of
beats that what I’m on because I’m not from
this region. But a lot of my stuff on this new
mixtape came from up north. We do have a
couple Runners beats on it, JUSTICE League,
Transformers, Olympicks, just to name a few. It
should be coming out within the next couple
of weeks. We’re gonna drop the Triple Cs mixtape
first. We’re just keeping shit in the streets
so we stay relevant in the game. We’re one of
the hottest labels in the game.
So you guys have a fourth member now,
Young Breed. What do you think he adds to
Triple Cs
He’s like the gutta, young version of Triple Cs.
We just added another element by bringing
him into the crew. We been seasoned together,
but when you get that younger strength in
there, it’s like a big bowl of gumbo.
Everyone likes to try to outdo their last project.
Are you guys trying to improve anything
from the last album
The only improvement is that there’s gonna be
less features and more Triple Cs. People were
saying they wanted to hear a lot more of us.
They know we can hold our own, we’re nice
with it. So you gon’ hear more Triple Cs, more
polished records, and the last album was
really more raw and uncut and for the street
crowd. We gonna keep our street crowd, but
we gonna make a couple more records that
will get a little more radio play.
So you’re trying to get more of that radio
market
We already knew what the people wanted,
now we gotta give the PDs and radio what
they want. All our mixtapes is what the people
want, and our album is like a hot ass version of
a mixtape. This new album is gonna be more
polished, you’re gonna hear a lot of growth
in Triple Cs. Of course it’s gonna surprise
everybody.
Have you come up with any singles yet
We got a lot of records recorded, that’s all we
do. Right now we’re on everybody’s radar with
“Teflon” for Ross’ new shit. When we record
100 songs, putting together an album isn’t really
hard. Even with the last album, we didn’t
release the records that were good for radio,
we kept it street, but we had those records.
What direction are you trying to go with
your own solo records
My music has always been more about life
than death. I’m pro-life. I talk about the
struggle. You can just expect a lot of good
music from me. I done been there, done that,
touched on every subject in life. It’s time to
start making more grown shit and get money.
You have a reputation for lyrical content.
Definitely. The game has changed. You can’t
be in the trap forever. There’s gotta be some
kind of message with your music. You gotta
be able to balance it. That’s what makes Ross
such a great rapper. He doesn’t just give you
the trap; he makes good music too. That’s
what I pride myself on. I’m a writer and I do a
lot of writing for people. That’s how I became
more musical with my craft.
Anything else you want to add
Everybody follow me on Twitter @TorchCCC to
keep up with everything. I got my own website
TorchIsNY.com. It’s like somebody told me,
if you ain’t got 15 ways to get money in this
game you ain’t using it right – I’m up to 20. //
OZONE MAG // 11