Fun

Lansana Mansaray, aka Barmmy Boy, a rapper from Freetown in Sierra Leone,  has been in Hull for four weeks, working with secondary pupils in exploring their creativity through music. 

Recently he taught students at St. Mary’s College on their BTEC Radio Media course and helped them to produce their own radio programmes. 

This has involved Barmmy Boy in encouraging these young people to compose and sing their own songs about what is important to them in their lives.

Barmmy Boy uses rap to make young people aware of the issues facing them in Sierra Leone.  The spread of the HIV/AIDS virus and the civil war that ravaged the country for a decade are some of the topics he raps about.  He says his style is different to American rappers. “My songs are about issues, if I can say positive things. I see them as a voice for the young people in my own country.”

The pupils at St Mary’s seem impressed by the sessions. One of them, Barbara, says the training has inspired her. “I want to carry on, it’s been great. I want to be a musician and make my own music and distribute it worldwide.”

The training is a two-way street with Barmmy Boy learning media production skills,  to pass on to other young people back in Freetown.