The past year has seen quite a run of collab albums featuring local hip-hop stars. May 2025 featured the release of Step Brothers 4 Life, the latest entry in the long-running mixtape series from Nashville's Starlito and Memphis' Don Trip. In March, Starlito and producer Bandplay (a Columbia native) teamed up on the double album Not the Country You Know. And in April, Big Txp and Trapperman Dale joined forces on Txp Trapper.
Ahead of the pair’s show at Exit/In, a dive into the Southern-fried double LP from the veteran Nashville rapper and Columbia hitmaking producer
Trapperman Dale has long been one of Music City's most underrated MCs. His last release prior to Txp Trapper, 2024's Sharon's Baby, is one of the best Nashville rap albums in recent years. Whereas Sharon's Baby plays like a local all-star game — with features from all the aforementioned artists as well as up-and-comers like Six Street Lil Mac and legends like Young Buck — Txp Trapper is less generous with its guest slots, choosing instead to let Dale and Big Txp's interplay take center stage. The latter's syrupy, Houston-inspired flow (see "Golden Globe" for Txp's best Bun B impersonation) pairs well with the former's more energetic approach.
Aside from being collab albums, Step Brothers 4 Life, Not the Country You Know and Txp Trapper all have something else in common: They're all Grind Hard releases. Label boss 'Lito hops on "Same Shit Different Day" for one of just two guest verses on the album. It feels like a victory lap after a year full of Grind Hard triumphs. Starlito's Not the Country You Know teammate Bandplay is also on board with several beats on Big Txp. "Glad Bags" feels like an extension of the sound that duo crafted on their double album.
Titans fans should check out "Type Shit," which features, to my knowledge, the first reference by a local rapper to Tennessee's newest franchise QB/reason to believe Cam Ward. Maybe Txp can line up out wide for the Titans this fall.
There are no tour dates lined up for Txp Trapper as of yet, but the duo celebrated the album's release at Cë Studio in late April and got some much-deserved national exposure with a performance of "Brick Outside B.E.T." on the popular New York-based hip-hop radio show On the Radar. Find the project on your favorite streaming service, and stay tuned to Grind Hard for updates on any upcoming performances.
