Engineer first. Artist always. In your corner for real.

Meet Tarcea

Tarcea Renee has spent more than 15 years behind the board recording, mixing, and mastering records in St. Louis. She's a voting member of the Recording Academy, and she still treats every vocal like it's going on her own album.

That's because she's an artist too. She's been releasing Christian hip-hop since 2012, bringing street storytelling and faith into the same room, and she produces, writes, mixes, and masters most of her own catalog.

She founded and runs Vivid Core Music, a St. Louis label and studio built to develop artists, not just rent them a room.

The work

Behind the board

• 15+ years recording, mixing, and mastering
• Voting member of the Recording Academy
• Recorded a 2025 session with BabyTron at the Vivid Core studio
• Mastering engineer on "Saints Out" feat. FLAME

On the mic

• Lead artist, co-writer, co-producer, and mastering engineer on "Saints Out" feat. Grammy-nominated rapper FLAME
• Co-artist and co-writer on FLAME's "Extra Nos Music"
• "Godly Ambition": 120K+ plays on Spotify

In the producer's chair

• Produced multiple albums, for herself and for other artists
• Sync placements on NBC, the NFL, Bravo, BET, MTV, and TV One
• Wrote records submitted for Chris Brown's 2026 album BROWN

From the booth to the business

Making the record is half the job. Tarcea handles the other half too.

• Label: Under Vivid Core Music, she signed and developed St. Louis artists Reuben Jones and Gully Mark, helping them build their brands, make money from their music, and collect what they were owed.
• Mentor: She founded Indie Artist Journey, a mentorship platform that teaches independent artists to market their music, build their brand, and get paid.
• Educator: She wrote Royalty Collection Rundown, her straight-talk guide to registering and collecting your music royalties.
• Distributor: She owns Illustrate Music Distribution, which gets independent releases onto streaming services worldwide.

Some people call that a music mogul. Tarcea calls it doing the whole job, so her artists don't get lost between the booth and the bank.

How Vivid Core works now

Vivid Core isn't an hourly studio anymore. We walked away from a leased space to build a studio of our own in North County, and we're rebuilding the right way.

Now Tarcea works personally with a small group of artists at a time: recording, producing, shaping the sound, and building the plan around the release. It's hands-on artist development, the way the best producers in the game do it.

That means it's selective. We're looking for artists who show up prepared, take notes without ego, and are serious about putting music out. If that's you, apply. Every application gets reviewed, and approved artists get a quick call before anything is booked.

Rooted in St. Louis

Vivid Core Music is a St. Louis 501(c)(3), serving artists since 2015, built on faith and community. Artist development is how we serve artists who are ready to move. Music education and opportunities for young St. Louis artists are still part of the mission.