MC Tree G

Tremaine Johnson is a rapper and producer who is better known by his stage name Tree or MC Tree G. Tree grew up in the Cabrini-Green projects in downtown Chicago, Illinois. Tree is responsible for cultivating his own unique sound called “Soul Trap”. Soul Trap is the fusion of the soul music of the past with present-day rap.

Early career

Tree's music echoes his upbringing in the Cabrini-Green project, the second largest housing project in Chicago, Illinois. Tree would go to Chicago Salem Church with his Grandmother which is where he first developed an interest in music and started singing. Tree was later forced to move to a different end of the Cabrini- Green projects after his parents separated. Tree worked many odd jobs through the years such as at Shedd Aquarium, shining shoes, the Rock 'n' Roll McDonalds and lastly in 2001 for a printing company, Forslund Grabowski. Tree's time at Forslund Grabowski is when he started to rap, produce and record. Tree than started recording under the nickname his family had for him, Tree, short for Tremaine. He worked for 9 years in the Women's shoe department at Nordstrom before leaving to officially pursue his music career. Tree got his support from the producers of Project Mayhem and started writing music in the 1990s but didn't release any music until 2010. Tree didn't officially release an album until he was 27 years old. Tree has released three albums since 2012, Sunday School, Sunday School II: When Church Lets Out and The @MCTREEG EP. Since then Tree have been recognized by publications such as MTV, Spin, Fader, Complex and many more. Tree has collaborated with long-time friends, Project Mayhem as well as rapper Danny Brown.

Tree

In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, supporting branches and leaves in most species. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are usable as lumber or plants above a specified height. Trees are not a taxonomic group but include a variety of plant species that have independently evolved a woody trunk and branches as a way to tower above other plants to compete for sunlight. In looser senses, the taller palms, the tree ferns, bananas and bamboos are also trees. Trees tend to be long-lived, some reaching several thousand years old. The tallest known tree, a coast redwood named Hyperion, stands 115.6 m (379 ft) high. Trees have been in existence for 370 million years. It is estimated that there are just over 3 trillion mature trees in the world.

A tree typically has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground by the trunk. This trunk typically contains woody tissue for strength, and vascular tissue to carry materials from one part of the tree to another. For most trees it is surrounded by a layer of bark which serves as a protective barrier. Below the ground, the roots branch and spread out widely; they serve to anchor the tree and extract moisture and nutrients from the soil. Above ground, the branches divide into smaller branches and shoots. The shoots typically bear leaves, which capture light energy and convert it into sugars by photosynthesis, providing the food for the tree's growth and development. Flowers and fruit may also be present, but some trees, such as conifers, instead have pollen cones and seed cones; others, such as tree ferns, produce spores instead.

Trees in mythology

Trees are significant in many of the world's mythologies and religions, and have been given deep and sacred meanings throughout the ages. Human beings, observing the growth and death of trees, and the annual death and revival of their foliage, have often seen them as powerful symbols of growth, death and rebirth. Evergreen trees, which largely stay green throughout these cycles, are sometimes considered symbols of the eternal, immortality or fertility. The image of the Tree of life or world tree occurs in many mythologies.

Sacred or symbolic trees include the Banyan and the Peepal (Ficus religiosa) trees in Hinduism, the Yule Tree in Germanic mythology, the Tree of Knowledge of Judaism and Christianity, the Bodhi tree in Buddhism and Saglagar tree in Mongolian Tengriism. In folk religion and folklore, trees are often said to be the homes of tree spirits. Germanic paganism as well as Celtic polytheism both appear to have involved cultic practice in sacred groves, especially grove of oak. The term druid itself possibly derives from the Celtic word for oak. The Egyptian Book of the Dead mentions sycamores as part of the scenery where the soul of the deceased finds blissful repose.

Wood (Wu Xing)

Wood (Chinese: 木; pinyin: mù), sometimes translated as Tree, is the growing of the matter, or the matter's growing stage. Wood is the first phase of Wu Xing. Wood is yang in character. It stands for springtime, the east, the planet Jupiter, the color green, wind, and the Azure Dragon (Qing Long) in Four Symbols.

The Wu Xing are chiefly an ancient mnemonic device for systems with 5 stages; hence the preferred translation of "tree" over "wood".

Attributes

In Chinese Taoist thought, Wood attributes are considered to be strength and flexibility, as with bamboo. It is also associated with qualities of warmth, generosity, co-operation and idealism. The Wood person will be expansive, outgoing and socially conscious. The wood element is one that seeks ways to grow and expand. Wood heralds the beginning of life, springtime and buds, sensuality and fecundity. Wood needs moisture to thrive.

In Chinese medicine, wood is associated with negative feelings of anger, positive feelings of patience, and altruism.