Multiple artists are sharing their memories of Tirrell Thomas after it was announced that the young rapper died on July 2.
"It's been a sad few days after finding out about the passing of Tirrell," says Robert Wilson, aka Fresh IE. "He was such an amazing young man, so talented and gifted. He was going through a lot in his life."
He met Thomas in 2007 or 2008 and says, "He started coming to a lot of my concerts with a couple of others from Altona. He started saying how he wanted to get involved with what I was doing with music and ministry. Slowly through the years, we built a relationship."
Wilson says he wanted to ensure that Thomas was growing in his faith. "For me, I was like, 'I want to make sure that you're a part of your local church and your relationship with God is intact.' So I eventually started bringing him on the road with me on tour across the country doing shows and giving him different songs, slowly mentoring him and walking with him through life."
Wilson would go on to mentor Thomas right up until the time of his death and says, "Every time I would see him, he would have so much passion when he performed. He had such a heart to help his family and do music and make his family proud. He always had the heart to want to be a part of something and have someone be proud of him. I've always seen that in him for sure."
Speaking about Thomas' passing, Wilson says, "I'm still in disbelief at times.
Larry Abrams from The Color says he met Tirrell Thomas in 2008 while at work in Altona.
"I was working at Youth For Christ in Altona and one of my first experiences with Tirrell, he was one of the first drop-in kids that I met with his cousin. He and I ended up connecting pretty quickly over music and sports."
When Abrams thinks of Thomas, he says that Thomas will be remembered as, "Incredibly encouraging. He had a significant amount of gusto. The guy never lacked energy when it came to anything in general. When it came to music, he just wanted to constantly create."
Abrams says "Back in the day in Altona, a bunch of us started AMU, Altona's Most Underrated, it was a rap crew. We created a recording studio in the basement of the recording studio and he would always want to be there and make beats."
New album to be released
Thomas had been passionately working on new music and had almost completed a new album, Wilson says.
"Right now, I'm actually in the studio. Me and him were working on his album which was almost done before he passed. So I've been mixing down his music and trying to have it released the day after his funeral. Me and his sister are going back and forth planning that."
Abrams said that he was shocked to hear that Thomas had died. "It wasn't long ago that we connected online, we haven't been super close the last couple of years, but there's been times that we comment back and forth and encourage each other. He's a staple in our community, not just the music community. I don't live in Altona anymore but the reality and the things that he did for that little town are things that we can't comprehend."
Wilson says that along with Thomas' sister, "We're also planning a benefit concert on July 16 at the Park Theatre to help with the funeral costs."
There has also been a fundraiser set up by Darlene Enns-Dyck to help cover the funeral and travel expense costs for the family.
In Memory of Tirrell Thomas concert
Fresh IE has been working with Thomas' sister to organize a concert in Tirrell's memory.
Doors to Park Theatre open at 7 p.m. with the music set to start at 7:30.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased here.