Chingo Bling (Special Event)

Chingo Bling: Pedro Herrera III is a rapper, actor, comedian, and entrepreneur born to Mexican emigrants who came to the U.S. to achieve the American Dream for themselves and their children. A native to Houston,  Texas,   Herrera   entered   the   music   industry   in   the   early   2000’s   as   a   premier underground  rap  artist  under  the  Mexican/Chicano  self-parodying  alter  ego  ‘Chingo  Bling,’  a over-the-top  Mexican  cowboy  with  an  outrageous  personal  style  that  showed  a  juxtaposition between hip-hop and the Mexican/Tex-Mex culture. Known by a variety of punning nicknames––the  “Ghetto  Vaquero,”  the  “Tamale  Kingpin,”  the  “Versace  Mariachi”––Herrera  has,  over  the course of the last decade, produced an extraordinary body of parodic music. Through his clever yet  humorous  lyrical  wordplay  ability  and  a  satirical  eye,  Chingo  Bling  was  able  to  amplify  the stereotypes  of  Mexican American  border  culture  while  showcasing  and  exploring  the  Mexican American  identity  which  is  often  overlooked  and  therefore  becoming  a  true  voice  in  a  time  of turmoil.  Through  the  release  of  his  numerous  studio  albums,  Chingo  Bling  trespassed  all  the fences  and  borders  to  become  a  controversial  breakthrough  artist,  quickly  rising  him  to  fame and  achieving  a  level  of  independent  success  that  only  a  few  in  his  generation  have accomplished.  He has been featured  across  MTV, The  New  York  Times, The  Wall  Street Journal,  Saturday  Night  Live,  and  the  cover  of USA  Today,  just  to  name  a  few.  As  a  Trinity University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Business Administration, Herrera was  able  to  create  a  strategic  marketing  approach  to  his  brand,  focusing  on  creating  and distributing  valuable,  relevant,  and  consistent  content  to  attract  and  retain  a  clearly-defined audience––and,  ultimately,  to  drive  profitable  customer  action.  Upon  the  advent  of  the  digital era,  Herrera  utilized  social  media  sites  such  as  Facebook  and Youtube  to  represent  the  Latino millennial generation, creating comedic art independently with a true connection to his fans and his finger on the pulse of emerging digital markets. Despite the little, if any, actual commercial activity in television and radio, Chingo Bling has stayed relevant in the minds of Latinos as his aggregate social media boasts over one million followers and his Youtube channel has racked up  over  25  million  views.  After  building  a  strong  foundation  in  the  music  industry,  Herrera became  a  renaissance  artist  as  he  stepped  into  the  realm  of  acting  and  standup  comedy.  In 2012, he appeared in the independent indie film “Filly Brown” alongside Gina Rodriguez and the late   Jenni   Rivera.   From   uploading   online   viral   videos   to   currently   acting   live   comedic monologues on his “Chingo Bling: No Mames Comedy Tour,” Herrera has proven to constantly revolutionize the style of Latino hip-hop and satirical comedy as a humorist in the digital era.