Today we’d like to introduce you to DJ Trey Bills and his team. Him and his team share their story with us below.
Thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
If iconic was a southern event in the fabric of time, it’d be Freaknik. Freaknik ushered in an error that shifted black excellence from the dream of Martin Luther King to the reality we call and consider “Black Hollywood” today. The massive annual migration of blacks (and others) into the city of Atlanta and the Metropolitan area was created by six young black AUC college students who had no idea of what they had started nor how that brilliant conception would shift history and be the blueprint of inspiring African Americans to build wealth within their very own community in a weekend of fun. Who could imagine millions being created merely club-hopping, twerking and congregating in the streets of the city of Atlanta? One of those magnificent students was a hometown, city of Decatur jewel by the name of Tracy Billingsley. Tracy, who goes by the name Trey, was a young business major in his early twenties who later became known as the legend we know today as DJ Trey Bills.
Trey never fathomed the heights a mere campus conversation among homies would cultivate into one of the most sought after weekends this city has ever known. Motivating the world to make money, party and fill the streets of the city, shutting down major highways all weekend long. DJ Trey Bills, a business major, turned blend master and mixtape king, took his love of music that followed him from high school and used it as inspiration to become a DJ. Turning out parties throughout the city of Atlanta, as well as in surrounding cities in his home state of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and many others during a time when music, Miami Bass, shake dance (also known as “twerk”), Seeking and clubbing in Hotlanta was at an all-time high. The era of Freaknik developed a shift that formulated an equation of a musical sound that would place Atlanta at the forefront of the music scene. That era is when Atlanta became noticed and taken more seriously by the larger music markets like New York, LA, Houston, Miami etc—opening a lane that allowed artists from around the world a gateway into the industry. That gateway allowed others to see that they had an opportunity that was a lot more difficult in larger markets that dominated the music industry during that time than it was here in Atlanta. DJ Trey Bills can be credited as one of the amazing pioneers, an icon and legend of crediting the event that created that era, that gateway and that amazing opportunity.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Yes, there were challenges. Many dealt with issues getting proper permits that created restrictions on how gatherings were able to be held. Due to the growth of the weekend event, promoters joined in to cover the larger parties to help make Freaknik successful. But the officials still were on our backs heavily. Those restrictions, among others, was what weighed on Freaknik being shutdown.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I see the industry continuing to grow, as it has. But what I’d like to see is more training being done by OGs like myself and others that taught me the art of DJ-ing.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@djtreybills.com
- Website: djtreybills.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/djtreybills?igshid=lmwno3g3iuo6
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/officialdjtrey?s=21
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TracyBillingsley
Image Credits
Photographer: Silvio Suarez IG @ss35mm Flyer graphic: GFX DEF Graphics @gfxdef
