Photo Credit: Tre da Kid/Instagram
Things were looking on the up and up for Maryland rapper Tre Da Kid, who won Verizon’s 2016 #Freestyle50 rap contest winning the top prize of $10,000 and a 300 Entertainment recording contract. But he was headed to a performance in Baltimore at the The One Sports Bar & Lounge Friday night when a hail of bullets hit his car just an hour before he was set to take the stage. It isn’t clear what the motive was but he was pronounced dead on the scene. The sad part about it is that he rapped about how rap saved him.
Some of his lyrics included “I think about the days I could have died like 10 times,” and “Only thing that saved me was rap, I had to spit rhymes,” he rapped on the title track to his album TDK: Titles define Kings, which he released this past March.
The label head, Kevin Liles who used to be over Def Jam Records and was Executive Vice President of Island Def Jam Records spoke very highly of him saying after he won the #Freestyle50 contest “Tre impressed the judges with his delivery, showmanship and off-the-dome creativity,” which is a big deal considering who Liles is. Tre, whose real name is Edward Montre Seay is already having calls to the Mayor of Annapolis, Gavin Buckley, where he’s from to name a street after him.
A childhood friend of his Comacell Brown said “Any time there was any doubt, he was the one to make us a believer,” Brown said. “We’ve all just rallied behind him so we’re really appreciative of him continuing to follow the dream.” He also described him as being “father of the year” in everyone’s eyes. “His overall goal has always been to put the city of Annapolis at the forefront of music, and also to leave a great legacy behind for his parents,” Brown said.
So far about 20 businesses across the city of Annapolis have hung signs to protest gun violence. He’s going to be missed but not forgotten and his legacy is clearly being carried in the community where he was loved so much. The investigation into what happened as of now is still ongoing.
