Born in Detroit in 1973, Christian Mathis was given the nickname "Trick" in his teenage years, but changed it to Trick Trick when he began his foray into a rap career. The reasons for the name were manifold; particularly, he wanted to shy away from associations with British trip-hop champion Tricky and also pay homage to Detroit underground rap figurehead Click Click, who signed Trick Trick to his Click Boom Records label in 1992. Trick Trick worked closely with many Detroit rappers throughout the '90s, mostly as a supporting player in the Goon Sqwad, who scored some minor radio hits by the end of the decade. His debut album, The People Vs., landed on Motown Records in 2005, and by that time he had cemented relationships with such successful MCs as Obie Trice, Paradime, and Eminem, who had a guest spot on Trick's wildly popular single "Welcome 2 Detroit." Eminem would also produce Trick Trick's 2008 follow-up album, The Villain. Without ever rising to the level of fame of some of his contemporaries, Trick stayed furiously active in Detroit's hip-hop community, as well as infiltrating more widespread hip-hop circles. He spent the 2010s releasing singles and mixtapes and working with everyone from Black Milk to Ice Cube. The standout 2014 single "Detroit Vs. Everybody" featured cameos from Danny Brown, DeJ Loaf, Big Sean, and Eminem, and paved the way for the 2016 mixtape Outlaw. ~ Fred Thomas