“Rap Your Town “
LOCKDOWN 2020: WE RESPONDED TO THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC
Britain was locked down and young people were left stranded – branded by the media as ‘the lost generation’
- Schools closed – teachers unprepared for remote delivery
- Youth provision – all but cancelled
- Mental health services – completely overrun
We took our feet to the street and asked young people what they needed.
In partnership with Dataspire Solutions, we developed a fully interactive and educational, mobile-friendly online workshop and competition, encouraging young people to learn about the history of rap – right back to its West African origins.
The young people then wrote a rap of their own and submitted it through the website.
‘RapYourTown’ was open to all young people aged 11-19, living in England.
The website proved so popular that we ran a second round through schools, as soon as they opened again.
All participants in the school round received a certificate and both winners received a pair of the latest Beats headphones.
The project even received a personal seal of approval from Mr. Stevie Wonder.
QUOTES FROM YOUNG PEOPLE:
Our Winner:
“Thank you very much. I’m so happy to have received this. It makes me motivated to keep writing to help share inspiration during these tough times. Music is my outlet and I appreciate that my work has been noticed and rewarded. Thank you so much.”
Nimi, 17
“Because we’re not allowed in college, I can’t do my music, so this has been a good opportunity during ‘rona.”
L, 19
“I’ve always been in to rap music and wanted to learn more about it, so I thought I’d give this a try.”
J, 13
“My teacher put it on google classroom and it was something different to do.”
O, 14
“This inspired me to write and record a rap song.”
K, 15
(Please click on the image above)
