By Kathryn Reed

Rap music is coming from the classroom and teacher Bob Grant is smiling.

After all, these are the sounds one of his former students has created. Andre Tyson, better known as rapper Dreda Dre, was at South Tahoe High School on Nov. 17 giving away more than $10,000 in clothes.

Dreda Dre tags an article of clothing Nov. 17 for a STHS student. Photos/Kathryn Reed

Dressed in a black hoodie and baggie pants, he looks every bit the rapper he is.

He brought in boxes of clothes and shoes to Grant’s room to give away – mostly to students who don’t have much. Some of the garb he wore a time or two in video shoots. All of it looked new.

Dre just decided it was time to give back. He asked others in the business for donations, too, that’s how so much was available to the nearly 600 students who came through the doors.

The room smelled like spray paint because Dre was tagging shirts for his fans. Using a stencil with his stage name he imprinted Dreda Dre onto shirts – the 2010 version of an autograph.

Sandra Tyson, his mom who lives on the West Shore, was surprised her son came up with the idea. Giving hasn’t been big on Dre’s to-do list, she said.

“He finally got it,” Tyson said of her son. “He isn’t doing this to promote himself. The tagging is for the kids.”

Dre attended STHS between 2000-03. The 25-year-old keeps revisiting his roots, even though the bulk of his time is spent in the Bay Area where the music scene is much larger.

His message to students is, “The world is bigger than Tahoe. Get out there. There are a lot of opportunities in cities for colleges and careers.”

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