Southampton schools are “Proud To Be” part of Unity 101 radio awards ceremony
During Black History month in October 2021 the Music Hub launched our Proud To Be project which saw us working with local rapper Larry Kazingizi and children and young people in schools across the city of all ages. During those workshops we were able to support and guide pupils to write and perform their own lyrics for a song (written by Jo Downs) covering a wide variety of themes such as; school, heritage, family, city, friends or achievements.
After working with 1000+ young people and collecting some incredible lyrics from them Larry put together a definitive version of the song using a portion of lyrics from all the schools we worked with to make a final version which is fun, inspiring and moving.
Excitingly, Unity 101 radio were so impressed by this they invited a group of pupils to come and perform this inspiring song at their annual awards ceremony on Friday 7th January 2022 which Hollybrook Junior School bravely stepped in to do at short notice. Although the live in-person event was pulled due to Covid concerns a film crew organised by Unity 101 were able to come to Hollybrook during the week to record them and broadcasted this as part of their awards ceremony live stream on YouTube instead!
You can see their incredible performance (with very little rehearsal time given!) below plus the lyrics from the final version of our song and the resources that go with this in our songbank below.
This project will continue with the hub’s Proud To Be History of Hip Hop in Southampton schools event at MAST Mayflower Studio on Tuesday 29th March.
Nia Collins, Programmes and Events Manager for Southampton Music Hub, says:
“The complexity and depth of the lyrics that our young people have come up with as part of this project has been nothing short of incredible and we are so thrilled to be able to bring them all together into one track performed by young people. The students at Hollybrook Junior worked so hard to get this recorded in time for the awards ceremony and we are delighted that they were able to be included in Unity 101’s event celebrating the city’s diversity and talent”
Proud To Be Lyrics
CHORUS
Proud to be, proud to be, everything that makes me me
Proud to be, proud to be, all that I aspire to be
Proud of the place I come from, Proud of the people I know
Those who came before me, and those who help me grow
Proud of the things I’m learning, proud of the strength in me
As I claim my story and my identity
Proud to be, proud to be, everything that makes me, me
Proud to be, proud to be, all that I aspire to be
Verse 1
I’m proud of how I achieved my goals
Surrounded by love and support
Proud of how we play our sports
Cricket, football, give it our all
From a young age I was a brilliant baller,
Superstar sportsman I’m a serious scorer
proud of creating the best drawing ever
Me give up on my art, never!!
Proud of everything I learnt at school
Even though it wasn't always cool
I needed to keep pushing through
For all the things i would soon do
I want to finish school so i can sleep late
That’s what you get when you graduate
I’m proud of doing well in maths
And yes i really like wearing hats
Chorus
Proud to be, proud to be, everything that makes me, me
Proud to be, proud to be, all that I aspire to be
Verse 2
proud of all my diverse friends
different religions, countries, ends.
Mom and Dad we are so proud of ya
You came all the way from Somalia
To a place of better opportunities
people who care, and a good community
All the way from the war they came
Through the oceans and rain, the mud and flames
proud to be a Sikh, helping others
Happiness is key, show bright colours
I’M…Proud to speak Arabic
I’m proud of the colour of my skin
I am glad I have a good place of learning,
A future so bright it’s basically burning
Yes, basically burning
A future so bright it’s basically burning
CHORUS
Proud to be, proud to be, everything that makes me me
Proud to be, proud to be, all that I aspire to be
Proud of the place I come from, Proud of the people I know
Those who came before me, and those who help me grow
Proud of the things I’m learning, proud of the strength in me
As I claim my story and my identity
Proud to be, proud to be, everything that makes me, me
Proud to be, proud to be, all that I aspire to be