As an independent artist Trust’N has amassed over 5 Million streams on Spotify alone, collaborated with Snoop Dogg, and most impressively charted at #12 on the iTunes hip hop charts. However, the rising hip hop star has an interesting story many people wouldn’t expect.
Christian Anderson, a 21 year old from Madison, Wisconsin chose the artist name Trust’N because he felt the name captured something that meant a lot to him. He said, “I picked the name Trust’N because I’ve always had a hard time trusting people. Just something I struggle with. I wanted this to be a new era in my life where I overcame that struggle.” Trust’N started his music career by freestyling to hip hop beats in car rides with his friends. From there the rest is history.
Growing up in Madison, Wisconsin made it hard for Trust’N to gain traction early on. Madison is not known at all for being a city home to hip hop. In fact hip hop is even said to be frowned upon in the city. However, that didn’t stop Trust’N from living out what was meant to be. Despite taking piano and trumpet lessons as a kid, it wasn’t until later that Trust’N started to take music seriously. After casually making songs since he was 16, he went all out after his ex girlfriend broke up with him. He said, “Like almost a year ago my ex broke up with me and I was really torn. It really took a toll on me and it was a long road to recovery. Especially because it was done so immaturely. But after that moment I decided to pursue my dream of making music with everything I have.”
That break up proved to be a monumental moment in Trust’Ns life. Just 6 months after the split, he released a collaborative project about the experience with fellow Madison artist BKWDS. The project took the world by storm garnering over 1 million streams on Spotify and charting at #12 on the iTunes hip/hop charts. A moment that changed Trust’N’s life forever. Trust’N says, “I’ll never forget those moments when the album took off. It made everything I went through worth it. So many people were sending us messages telling us about how they were relating to what we were going through. I wasn’t alone anymore.”
Despite all the success, Trust’N sees “Lapse” as only a stepping stone to what’s coming next. With a feature from Snoop Dogg and an album in the works the next step could be a huge one. Trust’N isn’t stopping just there either. Along with 3 other partners, Trust’N founded Lost Boy Entertainment, a company that helps independent artists get connected in ways they otherwise would never be able to. The company is already seeing early success and hopes to help thousands of artists by the end of 2020.
Trust’N is one of the many independent artists trying to make it without a label. In an industry where most fail, Trust’N seems to be on the right path to a sustainable future in music.
