Ten years ago as a social worker I worked with
teenagers
who were in a therapeutic facility. I quickly learned
that there was a great deal of natural talent coming
out of
our unit in the form of rap, music, poetry and other
arts.
There were two guys on the unit, Tyrone and Adam,
who
were particularly talented. As a result of a few phone
calls following a meeting with a youth talent agent, I
arranged for Tyrone and Adam
to do a recording of three of their raps. While
working with all of the kids on their behavior problems
and helping them with their discharge plans I
discovered developing Tyrone and Adam's musical
skills was what
made coming into work so worth it!
Man were these youth excited to record semi-
professionally (and so was I)! They made it to a city
wide
talent show and excelled at it. The adults could see
their self-
esteem soar from the experience.
While we were pursuing different musical
activities
outside of the facility for Tyrone and Adam (which
was a big
deal to get to go off campus for events), both of
these boys
got into trouble both on the unit and in the
community. Not
only was I giving feedback to them about chord
changes - on
my cheesey Casio keyboard - I was teaching them
about
negotiation, how to talk to people to get what they
wanted,
and how to control their anger when someone either
pissed
them off or they didn't get their way.
Unfortunately, after being discharged from the
facility,
Tyrone did some jail time for drug selling. It was
disheartening to hear about that knowing that this
young man
had some serious talent.
FAST FOWARD
Recently I ran into Adam in Philly. He looked
great and my first question was "are you still doing
music?"
Heck yeah, has his own studio, doing some recording
and
recording others - he is also making a decent living in
the
music business!
Just last week I ran into Tyrone - he's also doing
rap,
working out of his studio and a Christian church. He
thanked
me for turning him on to music and helping him get
going,
despite the various setbacks he had. Running into
Tyrone
made my week - this is what its all about, giving
back even
while you're trying to make it for yourself.
Think about who you can give the gift of music
to - kids,
patients in your local hospital, and causes you
believe in.
Sharing your talent in a meaningful way will
contribute big time
to your own fulfillment!
