It’s hardly the first time Trel has allowed his flow to get fully melodic over a piano loop — the long-ago “Benning Road” remains a touchstone. The two-minute “Broccoli” takeout follows his SDMG 2 mixtape from the summer, and he’s been ramping up to an album on major-label Maybach Music Group, allegedly titled Global Gleetchi.

Warning: explicit lyrics

Fat Trel (Anne Arundel County Police)

The rapper signed to Maybach Music Group — the Atlantic Records subsidiary run by Rick Ross — was caught attempting to exchange $450 in fake bills for chips at Maryland Live Casino.

The 25-year-old emcee — real name Martrel Reeves — told investigators he acquired the counterfeit bills at 7-11 ATM in D.C., a police report says. But Trel told a different story on Twitter the next day, posting, “An ATM? I don’t even own a bank card. Picture Big Gleetchie [a nickname] at a ATM.”

In a tweet that’s since been deleted, Fat Trel said he got the counterfeit bills from a promoter.

The rapper, a native of Northeast D.C., first rose to prominence in 2011 with street hits like “Respect With the Teck.” He signed to Maybach Music Group in 2013.

Trel was charged with a misdemeanor in Anne Arundel County. He’s now back on the street, posting regularly on Instagram and Twitter.

Bandwidth could not reach the rapper’s attorney, who is on vacation.

Some of this year’s most unforgettable local songs didn’t come from comfortable experiences. They sounded fed up, and particularly urgent in a year marked by growing inequity at home and multiple slayings by police in places that didn’t feel far away.

In one of the year’s rawest rock songs, Thaylobleu cranked up its guitars to tell a personal story of police harassment. Chain and the Gang and Jack On Fire assailed gentrification with wit and hyperbole. Punk band Priests declared everything right wing. Two remarkable hip-hop works channeled frustration and fatalism among young black Americans: Diamond District’s Oddisee cried, “What’s a black supposed to do — sell some crack and entertain?”, while Virginia MC GoldLink rapped about all the glorious things he imagines happening to him — when he dies.

Not that peace and love felt impossible in 2014: In a touching song released two years after his death, Chuck Brown sang of a “beautiful life” enriched by the warmth of community. Promising newcomer Kali Uchis made us kick back with a soulful number steeped in giddy infatuation. Experimentation thrived in D.C. music: Young artists built on the region’s strong punk pedigree and expanded its boundaries. Mary Timony’s band Ex Hex embraced a classic sound and made one of the country’s best rock ‘n’ roll records. Local bands with shorter but distinctive resumes — like Laughing Man, Two Inch Astronaut and Deleted Scenes — sounded better and more creative than ever before. A Sound of Thunder and Gloom reminded us that the D.C. area is still a reliable producer of top-notch metal.

As expected, Bandwidth contributors faced hard choices while making this list of the year’s best local songs, and not only because it’s our first one. Up until deadline, we were still hearing new D.C. songs we wanted to include. But in a place where mounting wealth has created a challenging environment for art, that’s not a problem, really. It’s a testament to a music scene that perseveres despite long odds. —Ally Schweitzer

Warning: Many of these songs contain explicit lyrics.

This year’s Trillectro headliners are rapper Big Sean and “Harlem Shake” producer Baauer, with significant hometown support from Fat Trel, Goldlink, Oddisee, Lightshow, Redline Graffiti and festival opener Ras Nebyu. Other acts on the extremely trendy lineup include Georgia hip-hop group Migos, R&B vocalist SZA, and Hudson Mohawke collaborator Lunice, among numerous others (see the full sked below).

Let’s hope the bigger venue cuts back on the long waits and epic lines that dogged last year’s Trillectro, which took place at the Half Street Fairgrounds.

Early tickets are for sale now at dctobc.com.

Photo by Flickr user Dj Teck 16 used under a Creative Commons license.