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.