Tirell McEntire, better known by his stage name, Relly Rell, has been working hard for the past decade to make a name for himself in the music business. The Western New York native is currently filming music videos and performing in various parts of the country. Submitted photo

Tirell McEntire is still giving his everything in his ongoing effort to put Jamestown and Western New York on the hip hop map.

After nearly a decade and a half writing and recording his own music, the 27-year-old Olean native, former Jamestown resident and rising hip-hop artist is still putting his best foot forward; having previously been signed to a record label and now in the midst of putting in several appearances at concerts and video shoots across the nation.

Upon his return from his most recent video shoot in Miami, Fla., McEntire, better known by his stage name, Relly Rell, paid a visit to The Post-Journal to discuss the upward trajectory his career has taken over the past decade. The following is a brief transcription of this conversation attempting to highlight Relly Rell’s achievements and aspirations in his professional music career.

P-J: How and when were you first introduced to music, and what prompted you into considering music as a career path?

Relly Rell: Growing up I was introduced to a bunch of different kinds of music. My grandma used to listen to a lot of old school guys like Luther Vandross and a bunch of Motown acts, and that was a huge influence that really contributed to my interest in music from a young age. As far as specific artists that had an impact, I’d say Nas was a big one. Jay-Z and Eminem are right up there, too. But I was also really influenced by R&B artists growing up, as well. Guys like Usher and Ginuwine. Listening to all that stuff really got me into music and wanting to make my own. My mom and my grandma would always have that stuff playing and that helped me develop the style I have now, which is to do some singing and harmonizing as well as rapping. And by going all of those different routes at once, rather than just sticking in one line, I feel like that makes me more marketable.

P-J: At what age did you start to take your interests and own original work seriously?

Rell: I’d say when I was 14 I really started to take it seriously on a different level than just freestyling at parties and things like that. I professionally recorded my first song when I was 15, so I’ve really been developing and focusing on my craft. I used to just sit there with an instrumental and work on it over and over again. I started remixing a lot of songs by mainstream industry artists, and then one of my buddies told me I should start working on an original song and start developing verses around it. And I thought that sounded like a good idea because I thought it would test my skills out a little more rather than doing what we used to call “cookie cutter” songs.

In high school I was more of a sports guy and always had the idea in my head that I was going to go pro. I used to have a lot of letters coming in to different colleges but then I tore my ACL in my senior year and the letters stopped coming, so at that point I had to start considering other options and from there on out I started to really crack down on the music thing. I saw all these guys in the industry making millions of dollars and I felt I was just as talented as a lot of them, so I just decided then to go for it. Also during that time I used to do freestyle battles in high school, and I would win every time. And that’s when I kind of felt like I had an edge on the competition and had a talent for developing rhyme schemes and metaphors.

P-J: How did you go about developing a following for yourself, and at which point did things start to take a big turn for your career?

Rell: I started out by making a couple mixtapes. My first mixtape was “Business Before Pleasure” and the other one was “Best of Both Worlds,” and I would hand them out in front of car washes and different stores and businesses up in the Buffalo area. And that’s really how it all started. Also, I’m originally from Olean but went to high school in Jamestown and at Kenmore East, so I had the benefit of knowing a lot of people from those three counties — Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Erie — and all that bouncing around helped to mold a following for me. Also my music touches on topics that are relatable to a lot of people; things like depression, drug addiction, bullying, suicide and domestic violence.

I was trying to develop a local following for the first couple years after high school and then I decided I wanted to go bigger with it. I did a couple shows up in Buffalo and at the Northwest Arena here in Jamestown. Some of the bigger ones were the Ash Bash and a show where I opened for Machine Gun Kelly, who’s famous now and is signed to Puff Daddy’s label. But a lot of my strategies weren’t working; a lot of the greatest artists get told “no” so many times before they get their break and that’s what happened to me. I would Google a bunch of labels and send emails out and get no response.

But things changed when Facebook allowed people to start uploading videos, I began to get a bigger and bigger following. Then I started this series called “Tirell Tuesday,” where I would put out a new song every single Tuesday for a whole year, and that’s when I got the attention of Robert Ross and Mission Control Recordings. I found him on Facebook and started sending him videos and messages but after a couple of weeks he replied, and so I started tagging him in all my videos so he could see I wasn’t just a one-hit wonder. He called me down to Washington, D.C., and met with him and then we did a (contract) signing party in Pittsburgh. And it’s been a roller coaster ride ever since.

P-J: Everybody has their ups and downs in the music business. Where would you place yourself at this stage?

Rell: Well I’ve definitely had both. There are some times when I feel like just nothing is going my way and there’s other times where I get this feeling like this is my time. But right now I’d have to say that I’m at the highest point in my career, with all the connections I’ve made and the progress I’ve gone through. I’m very appreciative of the fanbase I’ve developed not only in Jamestown but all throughout Western New York. Now I have my own Pandora station at RellyRell Radio, I’m at all the FYE music stores across the country, and I have my own clothing line, RoseWear. So things are going great.

P-J: Sounds like you’re definitely on the right track and moving forward. What’s coming up next for Relly Rell?

Rell: I recently shot two videos at Hollywood in California, that will be coming out in the next couple weeks. And this week I just returned from Miami, where I shot two other videos. The video director for those goes by the name “Spiff TV” and he’s worked with a bunch of high-profile artists like Pitbull, Trina and Travis Scott. So he’s doing the editing with a guy named “Space,” and that’s awesome because everything they put out goes viral and having their names attached to my music is incredible.

I’ll be doing an assembly with my partner Jack Preacher at Holy Oak, Mass. Our song that we just put out, called “Good Enough,” is doing really well on YouTube; it’s got about 195,000 views.

I’ve also got an album set to be released on July 4 called “Too Close for Comfort.” I’ll also be resigning with Mission Control Recordings under Warner Music Group. I’ll also be shooting another video in New York City, and I’m now in the process of getting a feature with an artist named Fabolous, who’s pretty big name in the hip-hop game.

So I’ve just been working hard and being patient, waiting for that big breakthrough. I just gotta keep pushing.

P-J: Where can people find you online to keep updated on all your various projects?

Rell: If you want to keep updated, I’d say visit rellyrellrosegang.com. You can purchase CDs and clothing there, and any new videos will be on there when they come out.