Travis Alan Hanna (Tre Thomas) was born on March 9th, 1995, and was raised in the average rural town of Goshen, IN. But, Tre Thomas is not your average emcee. Paving a new path in the hip-hop community, his exceptional lyricism and technical flows blend together to create a very unique Midwest sound. His early days rapping leaned towards an East Coast style, but as Thomas developed, he began doing more with a Midwest cadence. Although Thomas started releasing his music to the public in 2014, he has already made a big splash in his local scene. In 2015 and 2016, Thomas had performed in various locations including Indianapolis (Emerson Theater), Cleveland (Phantasy Nightclub), and even his hometown of Goshen. He then received large amounts of recognition from fellow local artists as well as music industry professionals such as DJ Lil Fats (Coast2Coast). That same year, Thomas signed a management deal with HSE Management. Thomas later released two projects in just 5 weeks time, one of which included Project 5, a five song EP, on October 7th, 2016. Only weeks later did he announce the second of the two projects, Branches, a longer 15-track mixtape, to be released on November 11th, 2016. This, although a much more lengthy project, is still amongst his best work and even the most revealing at times. With topics such as love, depression, and the journey that he is pursuing, this project is a great representation of Thomas's ability as an artist. Although Thomas has already started paving a new path in hip-hop, he doesn't plan to stop there. He declares that, despite many believing he will run out of steam, he has only scraped the surface of his loose-leaf notebook. Tre Thomas is not your average emcee, and is not only paving his own path in the hip-hop game, but is also paving the way for many others. Written Review by: Martin Zapatero (zapateromusic.blogspot.com) Fighting to Become Legendary: Project 5 by Tre Thomas Reviewed Project 5, the new EP from Midwest hip-hop artist Tre Thomas, begins like something out of a TED talk. You don’t choose to become legendary, he intones before the music kicks in. You fight to become legendary. Thomas then goes on to offer his formula for success—not just in the entertainment world, but at the game of life itself. Given the genre, it’s a little surprising that the advice the rapper doles out has less to do with accumulating wealth than basically being a good person and caring for others. One of his best pieces of advice: Say I love you the very next time you see your mom, 'cause you never know the day that she can be gone. Ask your dad about his day. Take a walk with him. You never know when it’s the last time that you’ll talk with him. Maybe it’s a far cry from “Fight for Your Right” by the Beastie Boys, but it’s good advice nonetheless. Lyrically, the rest of the EP follows in kind, with Thomas exhorting everyone to go against the grain and stay positive despite all of the setbacks life has to offer. At the moment, the EP is available for free at BandCamp, so if you’re in the market for some up-with-people hip-hop, give it a listen. And if you like it, pay the guy for his work.