Things Have Been Put Into Perspective

Tonight I had the privilege of meeting a friend/rapper/supporter (in that order) that I have been conversing with online for something like 5 years. We traded verses back and forth on hip hop forums over the years developing our own styles and voices in our genre while developing a friendship. We wound up chilling at Ruchi's (best value Mexican restaurant around) and staying there for over three hours talking. All of it put things back in frame mentally for me and it could not have come at a better time...really it couldn't have.

I am about to go back to college for my sophomore year and I'm quite ready for it. I'm also ready to jump headfirst back into music...but now I feel different about it in some ways. I think over the last year and a half I have let my love get away from me....actually I have generally let love get away from me. Music became more of a business...in fact just about everything in my life became a business. Even my social life became a task of meeting as many people as I could so I could network. Because of this it began to feel like a job to me and became less enjoyable. Even when I didn't want to socialize I would because I thought that I 'should' for the sake of maintaining many different relationships that may prove important career-wise. Music became less about music, friendship became less about friends, love became less about love. I have now stepped back and thank God for it.

I am tired of dealing with money issues being involved with music, it makes me dislike the people I work with and that is never good. I'm also tired of mixing friendships up with business, especially when I treat it so seriously. I am getting away from that. I want to make a mixtape out of my love for the music and do it purely for the enjoyment. I want to put it out for free just to show everyone my love, I don't wanna sell it; I want to get back to hanging out with friends when I want, how I want, cause I really want to; And I want to get back to love for the sake of love and no other reason...loving friends, loving romantically, loving music, loving family, loving life generally.

You only get to do this whole "life" thing once and I am restarting myself metaphorically speaking. I am going to love more and work less...finally. I'm going to breathe easy and have fun. I'm ready for the next school year and what is coming with it. I am ready to party hardest, love the most, write intelligently and with purpose, and not be afraid to say yes...or no. I want to go into this school year valuing honesty to myself and to you - my friends, family, and fans.

It's time. This is gonna be a good year.

Fuck ya.

And yes, that fuck ya is necessary.

Be good.

Love,

Tre

Maybe It Has Something to Do With Discount Tires

Because here I am again, sitting in the exact same chair as last time...or maybe just next to it...sitting here writing another blog. I was actually here last week too. One tire keeps going flat...great. So I'm here to have that fixxed and had to get three new tires last week. All of this money spending on things I don't care about it...semi-aggravating. And even the internet here is going in and out, the only thing on the Olympics right now is horse jumping, not my favorite sport and it spends more time buffering than actually playing.

So maybe it is time to reflect, sitting here with my empty Denver Starbucks mug hoping I don't forget it here, wondering if I should talk to a semi-acquaintance of mine that has just walked in. Right now I'm ready to move to my next project. I like a lot of the songs I have written for it. This is also the first project that I really feel like I have nothing to prove. I have managed to go from high school amusement to the masses to itunes to professionally reviewed...and I'm still only 19. I'm doing alright and I feel pretty comfortable where I am at spiritually, socially, economically, and musically. Now it is time to make an album for the pure love of making an album. That's how I wrote this album anyways...out of this feeling of reflection bred in my current state. I really can't wait to show yall what I have done.

Beyond all of this...I'm ready to get back to college. I love my Houston friends. They are probably my biggest supporters in many ways and even went so far as to give me my name in a sense. I have known some of those guys since before I was born - our parents getting together and hanging out while each of our mothers were pregnant. My mom may have had it bad, I'm a big dude, but I'm not twins big and I have some twin friends that I've known forever and then some. But I am ready to get back to Nashville. It maybe feels like home a little more than home actually does. I have so many great memories of my first year.

I remember cheering when Belmont beat Lipscomb (suck it), driving all the way down to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and getting pulled over and almost arrested on the way down (we KNEW we were going to jail), hanging out with B.G. and Choppa at the 'Mardi Gras Wobble' video shoot, and waking up in the morning with a chair and my friend explaining I had stolen it. I still don't remember that. Crazy. I remember cops busting parties so we had to camp out in the basement, getting pulled over the first night after a party, doing my first show in Nashville, going to parties, falling asleep at one after doing a show and waking up covered in Sharpee, man so much...

They are calling  me. Gotta go. 

Be good.

Tre

Its Been a Month and a Day and I Guarantee to You I've Been Busy

Man oh man...it's been a while and a lot has happened since I last posted.

Probably most importantly, I was reviewed by mega-rap-reviews site www.rapreviews.com! A big shout out to them for the recognition and the constructive criticism. I've already taken it to heart. Other news...

I received a great promotional piece on PoeticsNoire.com thanks to the always wonderful Britany Rickett. Thank you very much to her for the kind words.

The rough version of the next CD (running under two tentative titles that I am going back and forth between - "_ _ _ _ An Image" and "Open Your Mind") has been completely written. While I was vacationing in the Caribbean inspiration flowed from everywhere and I managed to round out over 20 complete songs. I plan to continue writing, replacing, revising, and cutting until I have a CD of around 16 tracks (a bit longer than my previous two works). Also for this CD (which I'll just call "Open Your Mind" for now...because that's the title I like today) I have been working very closely with Houston musician Josh Lo on developing the sound I want for the next album. I will also be working with numerous producers and musicians that I will confirm within a month or so.

I will also be releasing a short free mixtape called "My People's Tape" or something along those lines. It will have between 6 and 10 songs including a few old songs and a few brand new ones made specifically for this CD. As soon as this mixtape is done I will be putting it up on my website as well as distributing it to many free mixtape websites so watch for that.

The music video is still underway and is still probably coming out around the end of September, God willing everything goes according to plan.

I am working on a series of photo shoots, some of which will happen in Houston while others will occur in Nashville. Check here for updates on that as well as on facebook and my main site.

One or two magazine/website reviews are still expected so I will keep yall up to date on that.

And me? I've been good. A bit stressed because there appears to be a small legal issue with the label that I hope to have resolved by the end of August so I can bring my attention back to the music, the video, and other endeavors. I've been watching a lot of the Olympics, supporting all of the US teams to the fullest. Today I had the joy of watching the US relay swimming team make the French competition eat their own fucking words. It was amazing.

I'll post up new stuff soon. I move back to Nashville on the 21st so after that I should be back to more music and more posts here.

Be good everyone.

Tre

I Hate Discount Tire

Fuck um. Seriously...I've been sitting in this discount tire for two hours right now...getting my tires rotated. Does it really take that long? And what's worse is they aren't even working on my car yet, I'm looking right at it...parked in the parking lot...tires still unrotated. But anyways I figured I'd take this time to update yall on some stuff. Fuck um though, seriously...2 hours...fuck um. Ok..

-The music video should be done by...eh, September ish? Give or take a month...its a long process and we have plenty of shooting to go.

-A promotional video done by local music promoter Cameron Cox will be done by this Sunday so I'll be posting that up as soon as I have it. I'm really excited about it...it covers a lot of the marketing campaign stuff and also includes Houston!

-Ringtones are available although I haven't really publicized that yet. I was really surprised when one of my friends randomly had a "Let's Go" ringtone...he was gonna surprise me but his girlfriend ruined that.. It was good though haha. So you can get those, the link is one of the stamp-links on my normal site (TreCD.com).

-First show of next school year is official and everyone in Nashville will be happy to know that it is at the notorious Elberta house on August 30th.

-Other shows are pending and I'll have um up when they are official...

-I'm already knee deep in writing the next CD and I must say I like how its coming...already got a song recorded for it (rough draft). 

All that aside, I'm about to have a great two weeks. 

This weekend I'm going Ghost Town hunting with one of my brothers. We have 6 cities mapped out to find and explore (and plunder...one has a bank with a safe no one has opened in something like 75 years so wish me luck). One of them is supposedly blocked off by a bunch of fallen trees from Hurricane Rita a few years back but we are ready to climb though...Another one of the cities has a legitimate horror-style mystery behind it. That town is Emporia, Texas (not on maps cause it is a ghost town of course). In 1906 it was a thriving east Texas saw-mill town (basically a lumber town full of saw mill workers) until the mill caught fire and burnt to the ground. 30 people were trapped inside and burnt alive. The bodies were burnt beyond recognition and because of poor race relations in the South during the early 1900s (putting it lightly), the workers (who were majority black) were buried in one large mass grave in town and the town was then abandoned by all. I have found it on a map and talked with some local people who have directed me to what remains - mostly building foundations and a graveyard. We are going to explore their very thoroughly.

And next week I leave to Miami to go on a cruise. Thank god...a chance to relax. We'll be stopping in St. Thomas, Turks and Cacaos, San Juan Puerto Rico, and a couple other places. I'm ready to get away before August hits and I start gearing up for school and shows again.

Alright, well I have some Discount Tire employees to go bitch at so I'll post up soon - probably on Sunday when the video is supposed to be done.

Be good.

Tre

Music Videos and Ringtones

Tomorrow I shoot the first part of the music video for 'The City'!!! I'm completely excited....not many people have the opportunity to be animated and I'm thinking about how to take full advantage of it haha. I'm not gonna blow the concept for yall but its gonna be a bad ass video.

Also - in the next few days ringtones of every song from "Unorthodox" will be available so as soon as that's up I'll get word to yall via facebook, blog, website, etc.

I'll post soon about the music video experience.

Be good.

Tre

Just Answering a Few Questions

1.) People have asked what magazines currently have the CD for review. Here is the list...

Pitchfork Media

FEED Magazine

Spine Magazine

Unique Styles Magazine

Murder Dog Magazine

Ground Life Magazine

Big Smoke Magazine

Kotori Magazine

RR Reviews

Rapzilla

ALTRAP.com

HipHopHotSpot.com Inc.

CMJ New Music Monthly

SphereOfMusic.com

Mean Street Magazine

XLR8R Magazine

HHNLive.com

and AP.net (Absolute Punk...haha go figure. Hey, they reviewed The Cool Kids)

Alright...that's 18 magazines. If even half of them actually listen, review, and publish it will be a huge achievement. I'm really hoping that I get at least 4 reviews. Anything over that is just bonus.

2.) The CD doesn't have any songs out at radio stations yet. We are sending out to radio stations in something like 3 weeks to a month. 

3.) The first music video shoot is this weekend and yes, we may need a crowd but we really don't know yet.

If yall have any other questions feel free to contact me.

Be good.

Tre

2:30 AM at the Beach

There is no news or information in this blog. If you are here just for that, this post has no meaning to you.

Everyone is asleep but me.

The rough sea breeze is pushing in as I face out toward the Gulf of Mexico 5 stories up 100 feet away from the murkiest ocean water in America. It's around 84 degrees and I seem to be the only person to exist right now. No one is in the lobbies as I roam save for a tired looking pretty-lady and the front desk...she's hired to be pretty. No one by the pool or in the jacuzzi. No one on the paths or on the beach - not that I can see very far in any direction. The one thing that exists here that I don't see anywhere that I live (either Houston or Nashville) is darkness...real darkness. I don't think I've seen stars this bright in years minus a few camping trips I've managed to take.

No one reads these blogs anyway. I think I'm writing this for myself at this point. No one cares or comments. So hell, I'm just going to keep typing til I'm content.

This breeze is the best gotdamn thing I've felt in ages. Ive got this comfy Tommy-Bahama looking button-up on that's made out of...well the tag doesn't say...all it tells me is that it was made in India. I'm surrounded by darkness with a little bit of flashing light behind me from the TV I forgot to turn off outside. I got a cigar in my pocket that I won't smoke tonight because at this point it is too late for me to be able to enjoy the entire thing before feeling too tired. Tomorrow.

Humidity like this is unnatural. Its like living in a cloud. Even when the air is still, it is tangible. It smells like the sea - that not-so-perfume of the ocean, decaying matter, mud, living creatures, salt, and mounds of seaweed washed up on the shore to just sit there and smell. Its a danky yet comfortable smell. It brings back memories and thoughts and feelings that I rarely remember or explore.

The stars and the lights far off in the Gulf from oil rigs and traveling iron behemoths on the water remind me how small I am. In an infinite world I am but a dot that is infinitely small. The idea is a little crazy. Keeps me humble.

I'm not going to sleep, I'm not done thinking yet, but I'm done writing.

If anyone reads this, be good.

Tre