What’s up guys? It’s your girl,
Amina Smith with BET Social
- And I’m here with...
- Trevor Jackson
- and I’m pullin’ up.
-Yes.
- Skirt.
- Pullin’ up
skirt-skirt with us.
All right, so a lot of people,
let’s just
jump into your music.
A lot of people know you for
your onscreen work as an actor,
but people are just starting
to get hip to Trevor Jackson
- The artist.
- Yes.
And you had your new project
dropping Rough Drafts, Pt. 1.
What was the inspiration
behind naming your work that?
Rough Drafts basically
stands for the imperfections.
And all of the mistakes
that are necessary
to get to the you
that you will be.
And I’ve started to embrace
that throughout my life,
I was like, I got to be great,
I got to be...
But I’ve started to realize
those times that I wasn’t
totally sure about where
I was going, was necessary.
And I feel like it’s just
the same way in college.
You have a paper.
To have the perfect paper
and final draft,
you have to go through
quite a few rough drafts
to get the best version.
So I just want everybody
to know that it’s okay
to not be perfect
and go through the changes
that you go through to become
the best version of yourself.
Every video that’s come out,
off the album, I’ve directed.
So I’m just trying to be
more in charge of my vision.
I’ve been told to do, told
what to do, for a long time.
When I was younger,
when I was like, 15,
and I was told what to wear,
how to dress, how to sing,
who to be, and this is
the first time I’m really just
being who I am and being
at the head of the shit.
- Yeah.
- Which is great.
So let’s talk about
the cover art for this project.
- Look at this!
- Hey!
- Very [bleep]! Right?
- That's not [bleep].
You giving me like,
The Breakfast Club , you know.
-Yes.
- Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
That’s exactly
what I was going for.
What was the inspiration?
Why the 80s?
The 80s because,
I was always bring this up,
I just wish that I was
kind of alive in that time.
Just the talent. Not saying
that there’s not talent now.
But c’mon, you had Prince,
you had Mike, you had Luther,
you had Ted,
just so many people
- Right.
- That were taking it,
you know, to the next level.
And I also wanted
to do this pose because
there was a meme on Instagram,
they’re like you knew
the album was fire if they got
the pose on like this.
So that means it’s
going to be fire.
Yeah! Luther, Michael, Teddy
Pendergrass, they all were like,
so I was like, I got to do it.
I got to do it.
And I wanted the wording kind
of like, Similar to Purple Rain
because Prince really
inspired the...
So you have a track
that you recently dropped
- called “Apocalypse”
- Yes.
It tells this story of this
ride-or-die kind of love.
The love that we all love.
It’s the love that is like,
I don’t know why I’m here
- Right
- I don’t know...
It doesn’t make sense to me,
but I know that I want
to be confused with you.
- So I have to ask you...
- Please.
Being that the song is about
- that ride-or-die kind of love,
- I am single.
You didn’t even let me
get the question out!
- And I’m looking.
- You didn’t let me
get the question! Is there
anybody, a leading lady
that maybe inspired you
to write that track?
Uh...
There’s not,
there’s not currently.
There’s, I mean an ex,
but, you know.
I feel like I love everybody.
And it’s weird because
I find something to love in
every person that I know.
Whether I’m with them or not,
I’m just a very loving person.
So I saw how you
moved around that question.
Skirt. I’m skirting.
Skirt-Skirt.
I’ll let you skirt on that one.
All right, let’s get
into this tour.
You’re going to be going
on tour with Justine Skye,
- Yes
- The Ultraviolet Tour.
You know, you guys have gone
on a tour before,
so did that make it
a little bit easier
for you to want to
hit the road with Justine?
Yeah. I think she’s
super talented
and I’m excited
to get back out there.
Yeah, we went on tour
when I was like, 16,
17 and it was cool.
They hit me up and asked me.
And of course I’m in,
it was just perfect timing.
I have an album coming out.
Why not?
- Go touch the fans...
- Right.
Get to kick it with her
and have a good time.
All right, well let’s
switch gears since SuperFly --
- SuperFly!
- a movie that you
are starring in.
And you have some big names
attached to it.
We got Jason Mitchell,
21 Savage, Future, Director X,
- And of course you.
- Yes.
When you looked at that script,
what made you say,
“I have to be a part
of this project?”
It wasn’t even the script.
It was the name, SuperFly .
My dad made me watch it
when I was younger.
- Nice.
- I was like, “Dad, why?”
I was like seven.
Why am I watching this guy
do massive amounts of cocaine?
But, you know...
But as I got older
and became a man, a black man,
I realized how impactful
it was on black culture.
- Right.
- And so I definitely
wanted to be a part of it
anyway that I could.
And this was one of those roles
where when I first read it,
I really, really wanted to do.
I auditioned like twice
and they kept saying,
“Oh, he’s too young.
We want a bigger name.
- We want blah-blah-blah.”
- Right.
But, Joel Silver really fought
for me to the producer
And the last time
they were like,
“Hey, come to Joel’s house.”
And I’m thinking,
I’m reading again.
- Yeah.
- He walks out of the room
and is like, “Yeah so, you want
to do this movie with us?”
I was like, “Yeah, that’s all.”
And so basically he’s like,
I got it. I was crying
on the way home.
- I was just like, wow.
- Tears of joy.
Yeah it’s just like, crazy,
you know.
You think about something
your whole life,
what you want to do and you keep
working until it happens.
No matter how many times
I’ve been told “no”,
I was like,
I’m going to keep pushing.
So, it’s just crazy that it’s
finally coming full circle.
And I’m able to do something
that I’m proud of.
Well last, but not least,
you know,
whenever you have like,
some down time,
Which is probably not often--
This year I haven’t seen
any light
at the end of the tunnel.
This year has been very...
Tunnel’s very dark right now.
When you have time
to kind of chill out,
you know, who are the,
like the top five artists
that are in heavy rotation
on your playlist right now?
I’m going to be honest with you,
I don’t have a playlist.
But, the thing that I listen to
the most is country music.
- Really?
- It’s all I listen to,
all day every day.
My friends hate me for it.
Because we’ll be
in the car, like,
“Yeah we’re about to go
turn up,” and I’ll be like...
Are you turning on like,
Carrie Underwood or something?
No no no! It’s basically
whatever they’re playing,
- like the number one hits.
- Right.
So like, there’s Dustin Lynch,
there’s Hunter Hayes,
Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw.
They just have great songs.
- Florida Georgia Line?
- Florida Georgia Line...
They’re a little poppy for me
but I still like them.
- Okay, a little poppy.
- But...
Yeah just great great music
and I’m like,
who is writing this and why
didn’t I think of that line?
It’s just good for writing
purposes and just feeling.
I feel like music kind of now
I don’t really feel it as much.
- Gotcha. Okay, cool.
- So I like to feel, yeah.
- That’s an interesting tidbit.
- Yeah.
- Thank you so much
-Thank you!
for stopping bye
and chatting with us Trevor.
You guys make sure
to check out his new project,
- Rough Drafts, Pt. 1 .
- Yes.
And also make sure
you check out those tour dates
- For you and Justine Skye.
- Tour dates and the movie
comes out June 15, SuperFly .
All right guys,
I’m your host Amina Smith.
And this is Trevor Jackson
and he just pulled up.
Skirt.
