St Albans.
Members of St. Alban’s Boys and Girls Club, Freeway Freddy, left, and Jaek Delarge, perform at St. Alban's during the launch of CD compilations titled “A Team” which feature tracks laid down by the talented young performers who have come through the club’s music programs.
Photo/COURTESY
For aspiring musicians, opportunities to actually record and be heard are few and far between.
The St. Alban's Boys and Girls Club is helping to bridge that gap through a series of programs designed to help teens and young adults hone their skills and work alongside established DJs and other artists to get a glimpse into the world of professional hip hop, pop and other musical styles.
The Palmerston and Weston-Mount Dennis branches of the St. Alban's Boys and Girls Club contributed to a pair of CD compilations titled "A Team" which feature tracks laid down by the talented young performers who have come through the club's music programs.
Young people ranging in age from 16 to 22 are featured on the compilations, showcasing their mic skills.
For some performers, such as 21-year-old Rashid Akeem, the chance to learn the ins and outs of the recording world and to actually record some tracks have helped in more ways than one.
"I was a street youth, working on the street selling drugs," he said. "(St. Alban's) really set me on the right path and gave me a chance."
Akeem contributed a track to the compilation and is working on an album of his own detailing life in the city through St. Alban's.
"They really had open arms to me," he said. "I don't know where I would have got a chance if I didn't come here."
Kimberlee Joubert, who hosted the launch party, said the programs at St. Alban's helped the performers work collaboratively while also highlighting their own individual talents.
"The CDs are a great collaboration with DJs and artists doing mainly rap, hip hop and poppish kinds of music," she said.
Toronto performer DJ L'Oquenz serves as a mentor to youngsters coming through the St. Alban's DJ program. She said she is always taken aback by the quality of the music created by the talented performers involved in the program.
"The first time I heard the music, I was thoroughly impressed," she said. "A lot of times you hear about youth making music and you think it's great that they're doing that, but the quality's not great. This is actually something you can play and listen to in its entirety."
DJ L'Oquenz plans to bring some A Team CDs on an upcoming trip to Asia to help spread the word about the burgeoning young talent being fostered at St. Alban's.
"People need to hear what these guys are doing," she said. "Hearing what's coming out of here, it's 'oh my gosh!'"
The A Team CDs, which launched May 11, are available for $5 at the St. Alban's Boys and Girls Club, with all proceeds going toward the organization's programs.