This past week while I was in California, I had the extraordinary pleasure of being the first to ever interview Tre Dizzle of Flatline Enterprise. Tre is a longtime friend and being asked to interview him was on its own a challenge, for how do you think of questions he hasn't already answered? So I dug down and found a few questions that even I didn't know how he was going to answer.

We sat down to do the interview Wednesday May 11th, 2005 at Tre's own home in California. We hid in one of the back rooms of the house trying to avoid the sounds of our families having fun together. As a longtime friends, Tre and I had a comfortable atmosphere as if it hadn't been nearly nine months since the last time I saw him. Tre is the father of a 6 year old girl named Alize, and soon to be step-dad (though long time father figure) of an 8 year old boy named Aaron. For many family is a powerful thing that enables you to reach incredible heights so I wanted to know what Tre's family really means to him. More than that I wanted the people who want to know Tre, to know what it is that is just too enthralling for words. A creative mind that is always spinning something, whether it be writing lyrics, laying tracks, or helping a friend.

"I was born in Anaheim California, but I was raised in Texas. My family is originally from Texas, Beaumont/Houston area." Tre begins telling his story in response to my probing questions. "My family is a real close family, a really close knit family you know. We always stick together." As the son of a Firefighter and a very spirited and loving mother, Tre has the makings to accomplish great things. Raised to treat elders with respect and to always use his manners, Tre grew into a gentleman. "Who is the most influential person in your life?" I ask Tre. "My Grandfather. He was always the smoothest, coolest dude. He always handled his business, very independent. That's who I want to be. I want to be a very smart, independent businessman just like my Grandfather." He answers, his brown eyes going straight through my gray-blue eyes. Tre is downright electrifying. Here is a man who has the power to be great.

However, many rappers to date have come under harsh criticism for teaching youths to be "thugs", "gangsters" and "substance abusers"; which is why I asked Tre to give us his opinion on the matter. "I think lack of home responsibility and lack of parents sitting down with their children makes the difference between "Gangbangers" and "Anything". Kids are going to see it, going to hear it. You know they are going to go to school and "Little Timmy" is going to say it. Rap is no more an influence than television or Elementary School these days." Tre, as father, has had to make decisions concerning how best to raise his family, like many parents do when trying to do the right thing. However for many parents it's easy to shuffle the blame and deal it out as if they were playing poker.

Tre, wearing an old yellow sweatshirt, is opening up his reality for us. So, in order to really get to know how Tre thinks of himself, I ask one simple thing. "If you were a beverage, what would you be?" to which he responds " A cool drink of Water, No Additives, No Preservatives just the stuff you want and need."