A RAPPER and influencer helped mentor at-risk kids in Dudley, discouraging them from making the same mistakes he did that landed him in prison.
RA (Real Artillery) spent his young adult life in 13 different jails, but always wanted to give back when he got out to "show young people the right way to live.’
The 39-year-old, who is also an actor and film director as well as being a popular face on the internet, has now worked on a music project with the Community Skills and Knowledge Network (CSKN), in a three-week project at the Meadow Road Youth Centre in Dudley.
RA said: “I always said when I come out of prison, I wanted to give back and show them the right way to live, and they will listen to someone like me, because I’ve been through it and I’m in the industry.
“It feels good that they’re using music to express themselves and then speaking to me, because when I was that young, if I had someone like me that I could go to and say certain things to, it might have helped me sway a different way in life.”
He added: “I think sometimes the government is sponsoring things that the kids don’t want to go to, but with something like this, they are on us to come. They are ringing us up.”
17-year-old Zaidaan Abdin, from Dudley, attends the youth centre and says he recorded his original song ‘Went Legit’ through the programme to tell the story of his life.
“It is from personal things, what’s happened in my life, things that I’ve overcome, because I grew up in a rough area, so I’m just trying to make it out,” he said.
“Everyone enjoys it here. It’s different and in here, everyone is cool with each other. It obviously helps young people get off the streets and it helps people show their talent in music and so I just came to showcase my talent.”
The project was among five in Dudley, which received a share of £25,000 of annual funding from the West Midlands Violence Reduction Partnership (VRP), for activities and programmes which supported at risk young people during the six-week summer holidays in August.
Throughout the programme, the young people in attendance received a free dinner at the youth club and learned how to monetise the songs they produce by creating an online fanbase.
Chris Clacken, one of the mentors who worked on the project, said: “So often young people find it hard to have a conversation with a professional or a trusted adult about how they are feeling and what’s going on with them.
“We put some music to it, and they will rap about it.
“We’ll talk about the track, we will try to unpick the track, talk about some of the issues going on. That forms a bond between us and the young person and we can start to mentor and to deal with some of the issues they are dealing with.”
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