Tray Chaney Tray Chaney

TRAY CHANEY TRAY CHANEY

6 CHAPTER 7 I meet Tray Chaney on a Sunday night in the He is present in our conversation, but a part of [OL^H`P[KPK¹OL[LSSZTL¸;OL[Y\[OPZ0^HZU»[ BeTray – a story of his life in Forestville and his 0OHK[VYLL]HS\H[LT`SPML¹ consisting of Chaney rapping center-frame, deserted lounge of the Yotel on 57th Street OPTPZLUNHNLKLSZLÔLYLSPRLHWYPaLÄNO[LY prepared for that kind of fame. I didn’t know L_WLYPLUJLZVUThe Wire – often selling copies 0UOLNV[HJHSSMYVT+VU*V_[OH[^V\SK Q\_[HWVZLK^P[OMVV[HNLVMOPT[LUKPUN[VOPZ and 10th Avenue in Manhattan. It’s February, running through combinations on the night what to do with it. Once it ended, it ended, and out of the trunk of his car. change his career. They were old friends, and young son: zipping up his jacket, pouring him so the massive terrace is closed, and we’re before a title bout. I thought: my identity is kind of messed up now, *V_OHKHML^T\ZPJWYVQLJ[ZOL^HZ^VYRPUN a bowl of cereal. consigned to the bar, which is decorated with you know? I hadn’t come into myself. I didn’t “It’s all about getting out there and getting in on. ¸>LZOV[[OPZ]PKLVV\[VMV\YVÛWVJRL[Z¹ the chintzy futurism of a nightclub on Star Tomorrow he will appear on BET’s 106 & know what else to do. WLVWSL»ZMHJLZ¹ OL ZH`Z ¸,]LU PM `V\»YL UV[ he says. “We did this on our own. I took Trek: irregularly shaped molded plastic panels Park, a daily video countdown show and the NL[[PUN^VYR`V\NL[V\[[OLYL¹ “It’s hard for actors to transition into the music my career into my own hands. And for it to tile the ceiling above us, a beaded orange and channel’s top-rated program. He has heard ¸0U[OLTPKZ[VM[OH[UPUL[VÄ]L[OV\NO0^HZ NHTL¹*OHUL`HKTP[Z¸(UK0KLJPKLK[OH[PM blow up the way it did is one of the greatest purple curtain snakes across the room, and somewhere that as many as 20 million people still working at my dream. The whole time I was When the job at Howrey ended he moved to I’m going to be in the hip hop game, I’ve got L_WLYPLUJLZVMT`SPML0[^HZU»[WSHUULKSPRL [OL SPNO[PUN Ä_[\YLZ ZSV^S` JVU]\SZL [OYV\NO might be watching. building a fan base. I wrote a book, I wrote ([SHU[HHUKH\KP[PVULKMVYÄSTYVSLZL]LU[\HSS` to be saying something. The Wire was such a [OH[¹ endless navigations of the color wheel. Chaney music, and things started happening. People IVVRPUN H WHY[ PU H ÄST JHSSLK Masterminds, reality check for people – one of those shows and I settle on small leather cubes around a “You know, I was on The WireMVYÄ]L`LHYZ started responding. It was like a reality check: partially on the basis of the director’s familiarity where we gave you the reality of life that people The idea that making his musical debut to the shin-high plastic table. HUK0UL]LYNV[HJHSS[VILVU),;¹OLZH`Z I’ve got all this talent, I come from one of the with his work on HBO. ignored. So if I was going to make music, why world with a potentially controversial message “Right now I’m just trying to get my head biggest shows of all time, I just need to take UV[NP]LWLVWSL[OH[ZHTLYLHSP[`&¹ could be risky doesn’t seem to faze Chaney at I’d spoken with him on the phone a few days HYV\UK[OLPKLHVMTPSSPVUWLVWSL¹ HZOV[¹ “That kind of opened my eyes. He liked my all. earlier, so I’d had a chance to get over the work, and I thought, ‘Why don’t I start using *V_HUK*OHUL`LUSPZ[LKKPYLJ[VY3HTHY;`SLY surreal idea of sitting down with Poot from 106 & Park is doing a special episode Chaney grew up in Forestville, Maryland, just that?’ I’ve got a resume. After that I got MVY[OL¸-H[OLYOVVK¹]PKLVHSVUN^P[OHWHPY “The way I see it is, I’m not trying to criticize The Wire. Being one of those people who’ve dedicated to parenting, and Chaney will be minutes from downtown Washington, D.C., but another job on a movie called Streets. I re- of guest stars: Tray’s father, Sam Chaney Jr., fathers who aren’t there for their kids. I’m just watched the entire show more than once, WYVTV[PUN OPZ UL^ ZPUNSL ¸-H[OLYOVVK¹ H unlike his Baltimore doppelganger he had the introduced my book because all of a sudden I HUK OPZ Ä]L`LHYVSK ZVU 4HSHJOP ;OL ]PKLV [Y`PUN[VILHUPUZWPYH[PVU¹ I’d tripped out when I got a voicemail from spry hip-hop ode to paternal responsibility, fortune of a strong family network to help him was popping up on people’s radar, and I knew has an indie appeal, with much of the run time Chaney a few nights before: and its accompanying video. It will be a ÄUKKPYLJ[PVULHYS`PUOPZSPML coming-out party for Chaney and Firedrop “Yo, Gavin, what’s up. It’s Tray Chaney, Poot 9LJVYKZ[OLYLJVYKSHILSOLMVYTLK^P[O*V_ “My family is what inspired me to want to do from The Wire. I want to invite you to be my Their operation is fully grassroots, and thus far this. We would have big parties, and I always guest at BET’s 106 and ParkUL_[4VUKH`¹ the song has spread through word of mouth had to perform for everyone. No ifs, ands or and social networking, the buzz building buts, if there was a party, Tray was going to Even in his 30’s, a decade after the premiere of from a combination of the accessibility of the KHUJL¹ HBO’s groundbreaking drama about crime and message and the curiosity factor of a former punishment in the wastelands of Baltimore, Wire ensemble man making a play for post- /L^VUH[HSLU[ZOV^H[[OLHNLVMZP_HUKOPZ Chaney looks not far removed from the cocky, Wire recognition. uncle James started entering him in contests, VD-prone Poot Carr: sly, charming enough to eventually getting him an audition at the famous own a room even though he’s never in danger One of the few street-level characters to Apollo Theater. of being the tallest person in it. HWWLHY PU HSS Ä]L ZLHZVUZ VM [OL ZOV^ Chaney’s run was longer than most, but “We went to New York, competed on the His wife and a handful of other women occupy when it was over he faced many of the same Apollo, and I won. We went back three more a table not far from us, while his son, Malachi, struggles as his cast-mates. There were times and I kept winning, so we decided to go WSH`Z]PKLVNHTLZVUHULHYI`ZVMH+VU*V_ no agents knocking down his door, and for it. I traveled with my uncle all over – L.A., the sole member of the one-man professional Hollywood – with its notorious paucity of roles everywhere, all of it on our own dime. Just entourage Chaney’s brought from Maryland, for young black actors – did not come calling. O\Z[SPUNKVPUNÔH[L]LY^LOHK[VKV¹ brings me a glass of Hennessy. Chaney took a job in the mailroom at Howrey, [OL UV^KLM\UJ[ >HZOPUN[VU +* SH^ ÄYT Chaney’s approach to life after The Wire was We talk about New York for a little while, and where he worked for four years. LX\HSS` NYHZZYVV[Z /L YLSLHZLK TP_ [HWLZ a mutual friend in Baltimore, and before long I online. He booked speaking engagements begin to get the sense that Chaney is nervous. “No one was prepared for the show to kick off in support of his book, The Truth You Can’t

8 CHAPTER 9 A half hour before call, the producer, Terry, minutes later the show begins. in a triptych before the monitor, watching I will hear him use this line several times over slacks, buy a bottle of hair gel. I practice my comes in and gives him the rundown: he will through their cell phone cameras and worrying [OLUL_[ML^KH`ZIV[OWYP]H[LS`HUKVUHPYHUK ¸(IZVS\[LS`¹*OHUL`HNYLLZ¸-VYYLHS¹ winning agent-smile in the mirror and rehearse have nine and a half minutes, including the We gather around the monitor as hosts Rocsi that the Trip disaster will affect the main event, each time it sounds more like an artful dodge a few vaguely credible lines in case I’m pressed. time it takes to play the video, and does he Diaz and Terrence Jenkins come out to wild though it turns out to be a blessing: when the – even Chaney’s positive message bears an We’re all silent for a moment as he looks 0Z[VWH[;14H__VUT`^H`[V),;HUK[Y` know what he’s going to say? They talk about applause from the audience, and immediately show resumes, it is obvious the audience is implicit criticism, and history has shown that across the room at Malachi, scaling the back on a few ten-dollar ties before deciding I’d be the iTunes bump, and she urges him to “hit strike meaningful poses as they introduce cheerfully relieved to see Chaney come out THRPUN[OVZLJYP[PJPZTZL_WSPJP[PZKHUNLYV\ZS` of a modish brown leather couch with his better served spending the money on whiskey. [OH[;^P[[LYHJJV\U[¹ today’s special episode – “Young, Single and with his high-wattage grin and Jean-Michel impolitic. glasses hanging off of one ear. 7HYLU[PUN¹ ;OL` PU[YVK\JL +Y 4PJOLSSL HUK Basquiat T-shirt. *OHUL`[L_[ZHOHSMKVaLU[PTLZV]LY[OLUL_[ (M[LYZOLSLH]LZ*V_JVUZ\S[Z*OHUL`VUÔH[ Dr. Alduan Tarrt, a pair of trained relationship One need only look to Bill Cosby’s controversial ¸+HTU¹ *OHUL` ZH`Z ZOHRPUN OPZ OLHK hour to make sure I’m near the studio and he’s going to say. “We got to get as much out therapists who will be weighing in throughout He opens up with a few pro forma comments ¸7V\UK *HRL¹ ZWLLJO HU VYH[PVU VU ¸;^LU[`TPSSPVUWLVWSL¹ ready. An hour before the broadcast he arrives [OLYL PU Ä]L HUK H OHSM TPU\[LZ HZ WVZZPISL¹ the hour. on his Wire alter ego before launching into the 50th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of ^P[O OPZ MHTPS` HUK *V_ 0 PUZPU\H[L T`ZLSM Chaney says. He runs through his talking points: his message: that too often in the media Education in which into the middle of the Family values. Positivity. Inspiration not criticism. ;OLÄYZ[N\LZ[PZ+VU;YPW[OLYL[VWYVTV[L people see a negative depiction of fathers and Cosby implored African group, hoping to blend OPZZPUNSL¸3L[[LY[VT`:VU¹/LPZ^LHYPUNH fatherhood, and he feels his story can be an American parents to in as we’re escorted 6]LY [OL UL_[ [^LU[` TPU\[LZ H WHYHKL VM T-shirt with an image of his own face screened inspiration. Behind him, audience members place less emphasis on THE TRUTH IS, I WASN’T through the security producers cycle through the room. Nobody HJYVZZ [OL MYVU[ *SVZLY L_HTPUH[PVU YL]LHSZ NYPU[OLQ\_[HWVZP[PVUUV[SVZ[VU[OLT materialism and athletics turnstile and the metal asks me what agency I work for. Nobody asks that the face is a mosaic composed of pistols, In the green room, his wife nods along as he and more emphasis detectors. A production to see a card. NYLUHKLZHUK2HSHZOUPRV]YPÅLZ>OLU[OL` sticks the landing on his talking points: men on parenting and PREPARED FOR THAT assistant leads us down play the video, it becomes apparent that his need to step up and be fathers. Children are LK\JH[PVU TP_LK ^P[O a few narrow arteries to First it’s the backstage web footage. A appearance is entirely dissonant with the day’s [OLM\[\YL¸-H[OLYOVVK¹PZHIV\[PUZWPYH[PVU a brand of tough talk a nondescript door that WYVK\JLYZP[ZOPTPUHIHYILYJOHPYHMÄ_LKPU [OLTL:HTWSLS`YPJZMYVT¸:VU¹PUJS\KL! not criticism. When they cut to the video, at which many bristled. KIND OF FAME. I DIDN’T opens onto the green the middle of the room and trains an iPhone Malachi dives into the couch and buries his The speech triggered room. on him while he answers questions about the But I’m selling dope to help my family get face in the cushions as soon as he comes a backlash against the song. After that it’s photos. Chaney poses farther / Cause no 9 to 5 is gonna prevent us onscreen. comedian, including a KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH It’s nowhere near as against the wall, holding his grin for several from starving book-length response by WVZO HZ 0»T L_WLJ[PUN long moments, while Malachi giggles at him. After a quick wrap-up, the screen cuts back Georgetown sociologist Framed photographs of This is what I get for going raw when I piped [V[OL),;NYHWOPJHUK[OLYLHYLL_OHSH[PVUZ Michael Dyson that IT. ONCE IT ENDED, IT black musicians – from Tony Anderson shows up with a cameraman her / Thinkin that I loved her when I shouldn’t VMYLSPLMPU[OLNYLLUYVVTHUKL_JP[LKJOH[[LY accused Cosby of being Stevie Wonder to Kanye a few minutes later and Chaney goes around of even liked her about the success of the appearance. We all elitist and out of touch West – ring the room, the room with introductions. It’s around this give Chaney a wide berth when he returns with the reality of black ENDED, AND I THOUGHT: and several others time I realize he has been introducing me as I know she enjoys so I suck it up and smile a few minutes later, his face drawn with the America. rest against the wall his personal assistant. / But fuck this stupid bitch, I just wanna see L_OH\Z[PVUHUKULNV[PH[PVUZVMHUH[OSL[LÔV as though BET never my child knows he’s left everything in the ring but wants Chaney dismisses the got around to hanging After the second interview, Anderson asks if desperately to re-set the clock and do it again. idea that he should fear MY IDENTITY IS KIND OF them after they moved he can get some footage for their Valentine’s The subsequent interview is the television He sits with his wife and watches her grainy a backlash on spec: “I’m in. Cables dangle from Day web content. When Chaney’s asked to LX\P]HSLU[VMÅH[\SLUJLPUHJYV^KLKLSL]H[VY cell-phone recording, nodding gently as if a man who stands up for the klieg lights that recite a fact for the black history month web Diaz grimaces through it, her face a rictus of receiving a string of whispered reassurances. ÔH[ OL ILSPL]LZ PU¹ OL MESSED UP NOW, YOU KNOW? illuminate the room, and content, I can see his patience wearing thin. accommodating discomfort, and the young says. “I’m not afraid of ÔPZRLYZ VM Z[\MÄUN HYL So many people have been coming in and out people in the audience behind her are silent, >L»YLLZJVY[LKV\[HML^TPU\[LZSH[LYHUKÄUK what might come after it. growing from the seams that they’ve just propped open the door to the like a gym full of chastened high schoolers. our way through the corridors back out onto 0HS^H`Z\ZL[OLL_HTWSL of the leather couch that green room, and Chaney is throwing discrete When Diaz throws it to the relationship [OL^PUK`5L^@VYRZ[YLL[-VY[OLÄYZ[[PTL that it’s like The Wire: people were pissed off ;OLUL_[KH`0NL[T`ZLJVUK]VPJLTHPSMYVT faces our stage monitor. glances toward it, sensing call time drawing L_WLY[Z [OLPY YLZWVUZL PZ ZVTL[OPUN SPRL HU Chaney appears unguarded – introspective, about The Wire, but it was reality. It was the truth. Chaney: “Hey Gavin, how are you man? It’s near. PU[LY]LU[PVU(Z[OL+YZL_WSHPUOV^KP]PZP]L pushing into the center of his moving family (SV[VMWLVWSLHYLZJHYLKVM[OL[Y\[O¹ Tray Chaney. Poot. From The Wire. I just We spend several minutes posing for parenting takes an inevitable toll on a child, huddle. NV[HJVUÄYTH[PVUMYVT),;HUK[OL`KPKU»[ photographs, trading cameras, repositioning, Terry steps into the room and tells him it’s time. ;YPWW»ZL_WYLZZPVUNYV^ZNYPT ¸;OH[»ZÔH[[VTVYYVÛPNO[»ZHSSHIV\[¹*V_ HWWYV]LT`N\LZ[SPZ[¹ HUK HM[LY L_OH\Z[PUN L]LY` WVZZPISL ¸0[»ZHSSSP]L¹ZOLZH`Z¸>OH[L]LYNVLZKVÛ I split off several blocks short of my subway weighs in, nudging the conversation back on permutation, the giddiness evaporates and NVLZ KVÛ ZV ^H[JO [OL Z^LHYPUN¹ :OL Jenkins and Diaz hustle the segment to a stop and say my goodbyes, suppressing a message. “We’ve got a positive image we’re My backstage pass at BET has been revoked. we do our best to make space for Chaney to stops and considers a moment before adding, close and our monitor cuts to a 106 & Park NYPUÔLU*OHUL`HUK0I\TWÄZ[Z!OLPZHM[LY trying to get out there to the people, and They want management and family only. prepare. Malachi and I take up a spot on the ¸)\[^LKVU»[ULLK[V[LSS`V\[OH[¹*OHUL` graphic – there are no commercials in the all, still Poot from The Wire, though tonight there are going to be a lot of people watching Chaney, however, has a plan. He sends me a couch, where he teaches me how to play his HUK *V_ KPZHWWLHY KVÛ [OL OHSS HUK H ML^ green room. The women arrange themselves THÒH]LILLUHÄYZ[Z[LW[V^HYKSLH]PUN[OL tomorrow. But as far as we’re concerned, it’s [L_[TLZZHNLHMLÔV\YZSH[LY!¸0»TJOLJRPU» video game while his father walks tight circles epithet behind. All he can do now is wait to really about the one person. We have this song to see, it may be a go. May have to put u PU H JVYULY VM [OL YVVT HUK ZOHKVÎV_LZ see what kind of impact the appearance has and this message, and if we can change just KVÛHZT`HNLU[SVS¹ through imaginary conversations. OHKHUKÔH[OHWWLUZUL_[¶PM[OLWOVULZ one person’s point of view, we’ll have done our are going to ring, if the sales are going to jump, QVI¹ :V[OLUL_[TVYUPUN0ZOH]LW\[VUHWHPYVM if the word is going to spread.

-- Gavin Broady

10 CHAPTER 11