“All Gold Everything” by Trinidad James is a timeless hip-hop classic. “Gold all in my chain, gold all in my ring, gold all in my watch / Don’t believe me, just watch!”
Trinidad James, real name Nicholaus Williams, has since grown tremendously since his 2012 smash, allowing him to expand into many pockets of creating beyond just music.
The Atlanta native arrives at Soho House in West Hollywood dripped out from head to toe, with the same fashion style and inspo as he entered the game with from day one.
Rocking a clean, fitted glitter suit with large gold rings on the majority of his fingers, a red headwrap, and matching metallic shoes, Trinidad James debuted his new alter ego: James Woo Woo.
With his new single “James Woo Woo” streaming successfully as planned, James is proud to unveil a new lane and a new sound.
Regardless, he stands as a strong, black male in society fighting for black love and justice.
He’s been posting himself eating out at a black-owned restaurant daily. His love and support for his people is not only respected, but appreciated.
Additionally, Trinidad has been enjoying the media side of things, serving as co-host to Complex’ Full Size Run — a Sole Collector’s weekly talk show.
AllHipHop caught up with Trinidad at Soho House in West Hollywood to discuss his new single and where the nickname “Dad” originated.
AllHipHop: “All Gold” came out in 2012, what’s been going on in the world?
Trinidad James: I’m a little bit of everything. Putting together an empire of creative greatness. From movies to TV to music to writing, you name it. Just putting my hands in it. Fashion of course.
AllHipHop: What’s the concept behind “James Woo Woo”?
Trinidad James: It’s incredible. It’s produced by Young Fyre. The short film video is incredible, it’s out now. It hit 300K spins on YouTube yesterday. It’s climbing pretty fast and I appreciate that people are taking the time to watch the full thing, that’s really dope. There’s no song out right now in the world that sounds like it and I bet everything on that. I bet the house on that. That’s the kind of music that I love to be a part of, things that don’t sound like anything else. This is one of those really strong singles for humanity.
AllHipHop: Why for humanity?
Trinidad James: Because it’s for everybody. I want everybody to dance, move your feet. Do the Woo Woo baby.
AllHipHop: Where did the Woo Woo originate?
Trinidad James: From me. I am the Woo. I am James Woo Woo. Artists always have different characters of themselves and about themselves, so James Woo Woo is one of my characters.
AllHipHop: When did the nickname Dad come about?
Trinidad James: Dad has been around for a long time, for many different reasons. I’ve birthed a lot of different things, a lot of different art styles. The confidence that I came into the game with is the confidence that planted a seed out there in the world to let people know that you didn’t have to look a certain type of way to be successful. It changed the whole spectrum of being conventional.
AllHipHop: What does Black Excellence mean to you?
Trinidad James: Black excellence, in general, is your perspective of black culture when it comes to whoever is looking at it. Not just a black person. In order to respect someone else’s culture, you have to respect yourself first. Black excellence is the term that people use for that representation of greatness in the black culture.
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AllHipHop: Talk about inserting that on your own platform, with the black-owned restaurants.
Trinidad James: For Black History Month, I decided to eat at a different a black-owned restaurant everyday, no matter where I’m at. I’ve done it every single day so far. Today, I ate at Comfort LA. It’s a legit spot, I’m going to post it on my IG soon. Tomorrow I’ll go to Simply Wholesome, off of Slauson. Then I leave to go to Chicago, I’m going to go some places in Chicago. Then back to New York, I’m going to go to more spots in New York. I’m going to keep it going. There’s so many more things that we could be doing, or I could be doing. That’s something that I know I could do, and I’m doing it. I don’t want to be talking about it, I want to be doing.
AllHipHop: Are people tagging you in restaurants like “you have to go here!” Yes!
Trinidad James: Not as much as I want them to. I want more tags. I want more recommendations. Because we need to support each other, that’s the whole point about it. If I could strike in everyone: “hey, maybe we should all try eating at a black-owned restaurant, one a day. We need to put more black dollars into the black community. That’s a simple way to do it because everybody likes to eat.
AllHipHop: What’s your favorite? Are you vegan or not vegan?
Trinidad James: I love food in general. I’d gone to vegan and non-vegan restaurants. I always try different things that jump out to me. I love, of course, the basic things. If that particular restaurant has something that’s special to them or special to the area/city, I like to try that.
AllHipHop: What’s it like being a Complex host?
Trinidad James: Complex is dope. Complex is clean. Complex is a big learning experience. Because from a media standpoint, that’s completely different. Media is per say what you’re doing right now. I’m also big in the artist world too, so it allows me to learn both sides. It’s great. I’m a year in, it’s awesome. We’re on Season 6 of my show Full Size Run, with my co-hosts Matt Welty and Brendan Dunne. I love those guys, they teach me so much because they’ve been working in it for years. I just learn from them: seasoned vets in the media game. Complex is one of the powerhouses of media in America.
AllHipHop: How’s the bag looking?
Trinidad James: Oh, it’s not bad. But more, you need to learn. For me, I’m in here for the knowledge. If you go into media company for money, have fun with that. Because in reality, they don’t really spend money. They do sponsorships. That’s something I love learning, to realize you don’t always have to spend your own money. You can spend other people’s money, but it’s not even taking advantage of that person. No, they have this money to get spent on promo, so use it.
AllHipHop: What can we expect from the new album?
Trinidad James: It’s incredible. It comes out very soon, the end of February. It’s a musical buffet of greatness, man. Me and Young Fyre did the whole thing together. Shout out to The Stereotypes, they also helped with “James Woo Woo.” They’re super dope. Shout out to my boy Darhyl Camper, he’s done a lot of things. If you know, you know. He plays keys on one of the records, actually “Black Excellence” remix. That’s really dope.
Because if you don’t give it a listen, I can’t listen to your opinion. Because it does not matter to me. I can’t, you haven’t listened to the music. With this project, when you give it a spin — an honest spin, just one spin — after that, however you would love to feel about me and my music, I’m all fine with that. Because we put that work into it. I understand the game completely now, so it’s a good time.
AllHipHop: Who is Trinidad James bumping?
Trinidad James: I’m always listening to something new. But lately, Pop Smoke, Brent Faiyaz, D Smoke, Duke Deuce. I like his music, he’s a very interesting kid. Memphis has a lot to say right now, they’re doing their thing. Key Glock’s new album is sick. Super sick.
