Bobby Herring is Tre9. For the past 12 years, Tre9 has represented a new side of the Hip-Hop culture; and he is still pressing forward to bigger things.
Bobby is a native of Houston. His parents, Glenn and Karen still live in Houston. Like many caring mothers, Karen took Bobby to church regularly. As the only boy, and youngest child of two, Bobby relished a great deal of latitude. It wasn't that he could do no wrong; but, he had a long leash.
When he was 17, Bobby and a friend started a sound system service. The company, Sound-T.R.E.K. Systems, was hired to provide sound for Royal People Bible Fellowship on Sunday mornings. As the pastor was preaching, Bobby was in the booth tweaking the system. He was hearing what the pastor was saying...more deeply than casual. That experience was the climax of a learning curve. Bobby began attending Seeker-Sensitive Bible Studies at the church. What he heard through Pastor Ronald Thomas at Royal People Bible Fellowship brought it all together, and he committed his life to Jesus Christ.
Hip-Hop had a strong influence on Bobby's early life. Many of the moral values he practiced were influenced by the music he loved. As a new Christian, Bobby found a conflict between what his music was espousing and what his new life expected. Therefore he began paving a new way of doing Hip-Hop with the foundation based on Biblical principles. In counsel with his pastor, Bobby came to the decision that he would end his promiscuous living and marry Maria, whom he had been dating. He was 18 and she was a young 17.
Bobby couldn't get away from his love for hardcore Hip-Hop music. 'Why can't Christians use this powerful media to share the reality of possibilities in Jesus?'. As that thought was developing, Bobby started a janitorial service, Cleaning Critters. His entrepurnial spirit and faith in God caused the company to grow rapidly. As his business was growing, so was his desire to use Hip-Hop as an effective communication to transform lives. Tre9 was emerging. By the way, 'Tre9' represents the 39 stripes Jesus endured to make Bobby's salvation (and all of ours) possible.
In 1998, Tre9 started Much Luvv Records to produce records for other artists as well as his own. Several years later, 4930 Studios was formed to house Much Luvv and provide graphic, audio and video services to outside customers. Eyes On Me Inc. is a non-profit organization he founded this year which is committed to creating a positive environment using biblical principles and standards, to shape youth culture, for life long success and stability in the world. It serves the Houston community with an entertainment mentor-ship program for at-risk youth, a 'Youth Are Listening' campaign aimed to monitor and ban songs that are too explicit for children, as well as organizing youth concerts and conferences, and taking local and international missions trips to share The Gospel. In 2002, Tre9 co-founded the 'All Eyes on Me Youth Conference. For the past eight years, Tre9 has spearheaded the All Eyes On Me Achievement Awards (formerly known as THHHAA, The Houston Holy Hip-Hop Achievement Awards, founded in 2002); a ceremony with over 1000 attendees that honors over 30 artists, retailers, media companies, and ministries supporting Christian hip-hop music. And with All Eyes On Me TV, Tre9 aims to expose the optimistic side of urban culture that visual media outlets often ignore.
In addition to these creative avenues of exposure, Tre9 co-owns a community mega-site located at www.DaSouth.com, which provides an on line presence for Christian Hip-Hop culture.
In the community, Tre9 co-founded URGEWORKS; an organization that brings uplifting messages through hip-hop performance arts to schools, churches, juvenile correctional facilities, and community centers. The organization promotes positive character development and aims to instill self-confidence to their audiences.
Tre9's third album is 'The Farmer'.
After a missionary trip to Rotherham, England in 2007, Tre9 was touched by the need to carry his message beyond the borders of his homeland. Tre9 answered his calling to international missions, thus spreading his inspirational poetry and culture into the U.K. These missions trips are annual events. His goals are to visit Brazil, Mexico, and Africa before 2011.
Music Career Highlights
* 1999-2001 Released two solo albums 'Thy Will Be Done' & 'Marooned'.
* 2002 Holy Hip Hop Award Honoree (Atlanta, GA).
* 2003 THHHAA Certificate of Recognition by U.S. House of Representatives.
* 2002-2006 Multiple Holy Hip Hop Achievement Award Winner (Houston, TX).
* 2007 Real Talk Ministries Holy Hip Hop for Hunger 'Hunger for More' Award.
* 2007-2008 Multiple All Eyes On Me Achievement Award Winner (Houston, TX).
* 2007 Written and performed on the upcoming release of Bushwick Bill's Testimony of Redemption, gospel album.
* 2008 Real Talk Ministries Holy Hip Hop for Hunger 'Video of the Year' Award.
* 2002-2008 Label Released Five Christian Rap Artists & Seven Albums.
* 2008 Ordained to be a Minister by Copperfield Church.
* 2008 Launched DaSouth.com, the largest Christian hip hop on line community site.
Houston's Much Luvv Fam (Tre9, S.O.M., Von Won, Gifted) was included on the venue of South by Southwest (SXSW), which is the premier Austin-based company dedicated to building and delivering conference and festival events for entertainment and related media industry professionals. Each March SXSW draws nearly 12,000 registrants from all over the globe.
Tre9's blog is www.hiphopmissions.blogspot.com. For more information, log on to www.dasouth.com.
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