Chris Harris, aka Trendsetter, has his mind set on the music, and at 22, he has been involved in hip-hop for five years.

“The music took my attention as I was a sophomore in high school,” Harris said.

He did not waste much time searching for an inspiration to help him with lyrics and beats, and admits that for the first three months, the outcomes were not working out as planned.

With few resources to get him on the right track, Harris began to lose hope in the music industry.

“I was very disappointed to put a lot of time into something that I was not exceeding at,” he said.

Trendsetter began plotting ways to improve himself lyrically, by listening to his favorite artists.

“J.Cole, Future, Rich Homie, and Big Krit are the first names that come to my head anytime someone asks about the best artists,” he said.

These lyricists helped him realize exactly what style of hip-hop would sound better for him.

As he began writing more songs, it was time to reveal some of the work he had come up with.

“How could I make music without a microphone or studio?” he said.

He then knew he was in need of a recording booth to actually put the music into effect.

Harris’s uncle was a recording artist in Mesquite several years ago, so finding a studio was just a call away.

To his friends, Trendsetter was a diamond in the rough that had not been found yet, and they were amazed by the hooks he wrote without any help from a fellow rapper or writer.

“My friends teased me about having a ghostwriter to write down the thing I had cooked up,” he said.

In that case, Harris knew that his music would reach out to a variety of people. As high school went by, he was known around campus as Trendsetter.

Attending Texas A&M University-Commerce, his name has grown on many of the students who listen to hip-hop around campus. Still as an underground rapper, Trendsetter believes that his first opportunity will be the only necessary. As an undergraduate, he majors in business management with a minor in media.

As of now, Trendsetter is being booked for local shows in Dallas, Mesquite, and the DFW area.