A high school sophomore living in Orlando, Florida, Robert Pierre plays basketball, just joined the lacrosse team and is overloaded with honors chemistry homework. He's got intense eyes and a charming smile that make girls swoon, but behind his boyish good looks, there's much more to Robert than school and sports. For starters, he's in the midst of the release of his second CD. As if that wasn't enough, the CD has already helped raise over $800,000 for charity. All that, and he still manages to make the honor roll.
Edgy and piercing, Robert's new CD Identity, released April 28, has a unique rock sound that remains upbeat. Most noticeable, though, is the honesty in Robert's voice. The message of his music is more than meandering thoughts or wonderings. Instead, Robert's lyrics convey a much deeper message.
"I really wanted this CD to speak to the issues of kids my age, so I began by listing as many things as I could think of that my friends and I are going through," Robert explains. "Some were good thingsbut what I really wanted to focus on were a lot of the tough things kids my age were dealing with, everything from academic stress to peer pressure to alcohol and drugs to purity. The list went on and on, and when I finished and looked at it, I realized that almost everything I wrote dealt with identity. Where is your identity? What is it that you think makes you important? What are you willing to do to become important to someone else? It seemed like kids were only listening to what the world had to say to them and it was right then that I realized my generation was having a serious identity crisis."
From there, the CD Identity began to take shape. The album urges young listeners to live lives of purpose and find their identity in something greater than the latest trends or what they see in the media.
Robert says, "I want kids to know that they don't have to believe what the world is screaming at them, that they need to be cool or thin or athletic or smart to be important or loved. I want them to know that they don't need to act a certain way for their friends, give in to their boyfriend's requests, or look like the magazine covers to feel good or have worth."
From the lyrics of his CD, Robert passionately sings about what he has come to know about identity.
"I really wanted every song to focus in one way or another on our identity, Jesus Christ, and how that changes our life," Robert says. "I want to tell [listeners] that because of what Christ has already done for them, they can be forgiven and set free. They can be loved and accepted by God and their lives have value and worth no matter how athletic they are or what grades they get!"
Robert got a front row look at the issues impacting teens shortly after releasing his first album, Inside Out. After the release Robert, in eighth grade at the time, joined a tour for junior high students called "Believe." The tour impacted him both personally and professionally. He gained experience onstage and learned the specifics of performing as well as leading worship. Even more compelling, Robert says, were the people he met on the tour.
"I got to meet and interact with thousands of kids my age. They were amazing kids, but many of them had so many problems. The Lord used this time to just soften my heart toward kids and to become more aware of the fact that each one of them is important to Him," he says. "It's really what the Lord used to give me a heart for people."
The impact of Robert's CD is reaching even beyond listeners. Before its retail release, Robert gave away 100,000 copies of Identity at Family Christian Stores with a $10 donation to the James Fund. From mid-September to December, the promotion raised over $800,000 for the James Fund, a nonprofit that benefits orphans and widows around the world.
"I have three cousins who used to be orphans in other countries. Also, I have a grandma who is a widow. So, a foundation that gives to widows and orphans made a lot of sense to me," he explains.
"What a great partner Family Christian Stores and the James Fund have in Robert Pierre," says Family Christian Stores James Fund President Steve Biondo. "Robert is a gifted young artist who has a heart for the orphan. His contribution to our Family Christian Stores' James Fund promotion allowed us to set a new fund raising record for the event. Robert's partnership will allow us to dramatically increase our impact in orphan care, adoption assistance, and widow care."
Robert was raised in a Christian home, and his parents instilled in him the importance of giving. He grew up going to church and hearing about God, but didn't develop a relationship with Christ until the beginning of seventh grade. That's also when his music career began to take shape.
"I was asked to write out my testimony for a Bible class I was in. The teacher read that I was saved at a young age, he asked me a question that changed my life, if you died tonight and met God at the gates of heaven, and He asked you "Why should I let you into My heaven?" What would you say?' I didn't know how to answer that, but I knew in my heart that God wouldn't let me in," Robert remembers. "That night I talked to my Dad and told him all of this. It was then that I repented of my sin and gave my life to Christ. I turned thirteen a few months later and that's when doors began to open for me to use the talents God gave me to sing for Jesus."
Since then, Robert has been using his talents to spread the message of Christ through music.
"I think kids my age get so caught up in what's going on around them that they forget what we're really here to do, glorify God," he says. "And changing from what the world tells you to be to what God tells you you are, starts with changing how you think. Music is such a huge part of kids' lives. I'm pumped about the fact that my music has a sound that kids like and lyrics that will help them think about stuff that's good not the crap that's in a lot of secular music out there that kids listen to!"
After the release of Identity, Robert isn't planning on slowing down. He says he's not exactly sure what the future holds, except that he wants to honor God with his talents and trust God's plan. For now, he's looking forward to the radio release of his song "Jesus" and filming a music video over Spring break. Days after his birthday, though, Robert's sites are singularly focused. He's anxiously awaiting the coveted prize due every sixteen year old: his driver's license.