MC_Trey Knowpia

MC Trey
MC Trey
Birth name	Thelma Thomas
Also known as	MC Trey
Born	Suva, Fiji
Origin	Australia
Genres	Hip hop
Occupation(s)	Hip-hop Artists, Singer, Creative Producer
Labels	Tapastry

MC Trey, also known as Trey (born Thelma Thomas in Lami, Fiji), is a Fijian Samoan Australian vocalist, and hip-hop activist. She was nominated as one of Sydney's Top 10 Creative Innovators in the field of music^[1] and is a member of ARIA-nominated band Foreign Heights.

Career edit

Over the past 15 years, Trey has established herself as an artist within hip-hop and urban music in Australia and released albums and singles with artists in Australia, Fiji, Aotearoa, USA and the UK.

She collaborated with Maya Jupiter (Channel V) and DJ Nick Toth as hip-hop trio, Foreign Heights. The second single off the Foreign Heights album, "Get Yours", earned them an ARIA nomination in 2007.^[2]

Off mic, MC Trey (Thelma Thomas) is a Western-Sydney based Fijian/ Samoan/ Australian, with over 20 years’ experience in community engagement and hip-hop music. Awards include NSW Council for Pacific communities and NSW Police Crime Prevention for her work with young people, utilizing hip-hop music and cultural knowledge and material. Musically, her nominations include ARIA, Urban Music, 3D and Jack Music Awards, and released several solo and collaborative albums, performing locally and internationally. She is a creative producer, storyteller, writer, events curator and digital creator. She has hosted a Foxtel TV hip-hop/ soul music show, written and performed hip-hop theatre and curated Festivals. Her qualifications include Social Work, Mental Health, Youth Work, Music and Business. Her entity, Tapastry, activates at intersections of wellbeing, sports, diversity, youth culture, music, arts, technology and the humanities, underpinned by Pacific practice.

MC Trey is a creative producer with experience in Pacific community projects, youth arts work and facilitating hip-hop music workshops for young people around Australia for over 10 years. Her work in this area was awarded a Vodafone Australia Foundation "World of Difference" grant, enabling her to co-ordinate music programs for marginalised young people at Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE) and Street University in Western Sydney. These programs aim to further-develop participant's writing, communication and performance skills and encourage young people to tell their stories through hip-hop music.^[3]