SIX Aranmore Catholic College students from diverse ethnic backgrounds have created a multilingual hip-hop track to break down stereotypes.
The three-minute song titled Same Drum about peace and happiness was written and sung by Juk Yuang (17), Rita Yousif (13), Sota Kikuyama (14), Frank Mucho (17), Kalungila Lutombo (17) and Ahmed Shihab (14) and will be launched online during Harmony Week.
The students were guided by filmmaker Poppy van Oorde-Grainger.
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READ NOWRita came to Australia from Iraq 18 months ago and provided vocals on the track.
“I sang the chorus and I would like to do more singing in the future,” she said.
“It was the first time I’d recorded a song and I felt excited and nervous at first but I wanted to see what I could do, for myself.”
“I want people to see the video, especially migrants so they feel belonging and they don’t feel they are strange when they come to a new country.”
Frank was about 10 years old when he came from Rwanda and makes his rap debut in English and Kinyarwanda.
“I do listen to rap but I wouldn’t consider myself a rapper, this was for fun,” he said.
“It was a good experience to learn how to write lyrical rap, it taught me more about how it is made.”
Frank said the song was empowering for people for whom English is not their first language.
“Sometimes people look down on people that don’t speak English but this project gives those kids an opportunity to explore their ideas and talents and break stereotypes,” he said.
Congo-born Kalungila said the group was “very proud” of their song.
Ms van Oorde-Grainger, who migrated to Australia as a teenager, said she wanted the project to help increase diversity on screen.
Harmony Week is from March 15 – 21.
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