Today NCS (National Citizen Service) launched Mixtape 22 – a six-minute journey through music and opinions that has seen three up and coming artists collaborate with young people across the UK, to create a song whose lyrics represent the real thoughts and feelings of a generation, and the world around them.
Mixtape ‘22 includes original music inspired by and featuring the opinions of British teenagers. Rising stars Saidu, Victoria Jane, Emma Cannon, producers Star.One and NCS have joined forces with a selection of young people to develop this audio-visual representation of a generation that symbolises the organisation’s ‘No We Can’ attitude – a push back to society that is often guilty of tarnishing Gen Z as lazy and mobile gazers.
The young people participating in this process were amongst NCS’ networks. Through social media, online forums, and physical workshops the young people were asked their views on life, global issues, and their support networks, that could be highlighted and openly discussed in this piece of music. Top themes identified were ‘ourselves’, ‘our world’ and ‘our community’. Priority concerns included self-doubt and self-belief, mental health, discrimination and acceptance, and support networks.
The campaign’s aim is to drive awareness of NCS as a brand that facilitates and amplifies youth voice to encourage young people to sign up for its programme of activities and actively participate.
Each artist was selected to take on a topic in their specialist genre of music to create an empowering masterpiece that echoes the battle that young people in the UK are constantly fighting in a bid to rise from the ashes of the pandemic – something that has arguably, been felt by young people the most.
Emma Cannon is an up-and-coming singer and producer from Bath who is a huge talent on the UK Garage scene, having amassed a loyal monthly following of 32k on Spotify and gathering support from BBC Radio 1 Dance, BBC Introducing and Kiss FM. She is one of three artists involved in the Mixtape project and has been working in the studio with teenagers and young people, turning their ideas about the world around them into lyrics for the track that premiers today.
“When I was a teenager – from 15-16 years, honestly I felt like those were the hardest years of my life. Everything is changing so quickly. This Mixtape is a great way of allowing young people to express their emotions about these tough years”
Emma Cannon
Joining Emma is Saidu, a 19-year-old rapper from South East London and a rising star, having won BBC 3’s Rap Game UK last summer. Judges Krept & Konan and DJ Target were so impressed with him they crowned him the winner despite being the youngest contestant on the show. He is a practicing Muslim and drew on his faith during the show, especially poignant as filming ran over Ramadan and he was fasting at the time. Saidu has been working with teenagers and young people to write lyrics for Mixtape, finding out what matters to them and putting their words to music.
“Community used to be where you’re from, what your background is, but now we can decide where we belong. There’s so many people just like you out there in the world and you can all come into one. This Mixtape allows that to happen, young people from different walks of life coming together to express what’s important”
Saidu
Completing the trio is Victoria Jane. A 23-year-old artist and radio presenter making waves in Manchester and London who has propelled her music career through a combination of her talent and love for the UK-urban scene. Having applied to cover the Radio 1 Christmas shows in December 2020, Victoria impressed Radio 1 bosses so much that she now hosts her own show ‘Future Soul’ on Sunday evenings, showcasing the UK’s hottest R’n’B and soul.
“When I was that age, I was so scared to even talk about certain things. It’s so hard for young people now because there’s just constant judgment – online, offline, wherever you go there’s judgment. That’s why this project and the work NCS does is so important, it’s providing the younger generation with a platform to speak on these things”
Victoria Jane
“Music is an incredibly powerful tool to not only share your own feelings but also spark emotion and discussion amongst others, and that was our real motivation behind Mixtape 22. Working with such inspirational young, rising artists in the music industry whilst recording this campaign continues our commitment to giving the next generation who have arguably suffered the most during these past two years, a platform to not only get their voices heard but also to use that voice to comment on the world around them and bring people together.”
Miriam Jordan Keane, Chief Brand Officer NCS
Find out more here.
