Grammy-nominated pop/rap artist TYGA, challenged youth as part of his ROAR (Reach Out and Represent) Youth Empowerment campaign at Brashear High School Oct. 29.
“For me to come out here to Pittsburgh and talk to these kids is really important,” TYGA said. “They are excited at first, but then I think it really hits them when they go home and soak it in.
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| GIVING BACK—TYGA giving out Certification of Appreciation to the student in attendance.
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“I know if one of my favorite artists came to high school and talked to me, it would really impact me. It would motivate me in a whole other light. As a celebrity, you have to realize that you have a certain talent and gift for a reason, and that’s really to help other people. A lot of people don’t realize that until later on in life or their career. I want to acknowledge that from the beginning of my career. This is my first time performing in Pittsburgh and I heard they have a lot of love for me out here, so I’m really excited to perform tonight.”
TYGA, an acronym for Thank You God Always, had his first CD “No Introduction” debut in 2008. He partnered with Chris Brown and T-Pain for the highly anticipated FAME tour of 28 cities including the great performance at the Consol Energy Center. During the FAME tour, ROAR and BULU selects a school in each of the tour cities engaging at least 2,000 youth per city in school and over 7 million fans per city via his social media platforms.
As a part of the La Belle Vie foundation BULU (Be U Love U) program, TYGA spoke with and honored youth with “TYGA TEAM” VIP packages and waved college applications for 35 colleges. The students were nominated by the school staff for meeting criteria’s in three critical areas; attendance, grades and behavior.
Guest speakers included State Representative Jake Wheatley, Robert Wilson—vice president of Blazer Capital Management, Rodney Gill—vice president of BET Networks, Victor Saunders—CEO of Palmieri Jeans, and April Vance—White House Liason, Executive Office of the President Barack Obama.
Rep. Wheatley shared his story to the youth, letting them know that he was not always on the straight and narrow, and then he turned his life around.
“We are all here to show our children that although you have idols like TYGA who are in the music industry, it is very important for you to get yours. Sometimes getting yours means more than singing, dancing and rapping, but actually having other options like becoming a lawyer or a doctor. I’ve had people like TYGA who mentored me and showed me other options. I was able to go to college and hopefully my story will add on to TYGA’s story and help someone. These kids need to know that it is not where you start, but where you finish. No one determines your life path but you,” Wheatley said.
In an attempt to offset the high dropout rates among Black and Latino students and to bring attention to the importance of going to college, TYGA is sponsoring “TYGA Scholars” in each city the tour visits. A ROAR TYGA SCHOLARS will be senior high school students selected by their school to complete the sponsored EDU, Inc., Common Black College Application.
The EDU, Inc. application allows students to apply to 35 HBCUs at the same time and increase the education options of students by allowing them to receive acceptance letters, financial aid and scholarships offers from colleges. Developed and supported by the La Belle Vie Foundation, the collaborative BULU/ ROAR campaign, is designed to acknowledge and eradicate the damaging impact that media, violence, drug involvement, poor decision-making skills and a lack of education impose on the self-esteems of young people and ultimately their futures. Robert Mason is the president of the EDU, Inc. and he travels across the country to help student in need.
“You have a situation where many celebrities talk about the importance of giving back to the community, but TYGA is actually doing it. We’ve been in several different high schools throughout the country and TYGA will probably provide the opportunity for about 500 to 600 kids to utilize our application at no cost to them. What happens in that is it puts them in a position to receive scholarships, acceptance letters and financial packages. TYGA is providing a great opportunity for these kids to go to college and break the circle of poverty that exist within their families,” Mason said.
“Since I am a senior, a scholarship for me would be a great experience. Some parents can’t afford money for their kids to go to college, so a scholarship would be a great help,” said Trashawn Hayden of Perry High School.
TYGA’s program ROAR, in partnership with BULU, exemplifies a commitment to making a difference in the lives of under-privileged and economically challenged youth through education, mentoring and empowerment. To date, BULU has serviced over 10,000 youth nationwide.
Rob Wilson, vice president of Blazer Capital Management, was one of the sponsors for the event.
“I think it really means a lot to the kids to have someone like TYGA, who is only in town for less than 24 hours to take some time out of his day to come and recognize kids that are good in school. I think it’s important for the kids to hear that message from someone like him. I want them to follow their dreams. If they’re going to take away being the next TYGA or hip hop artist, that’s fantastic, but there are thousands of other things that they can do if they put their minds to it. If they walk away with that, then we’ve done our job.”
Other guest speakers April Vance, White House liaison—Executive Office of President Barack Obama; and Rodney Gill, vice president of BET Networks were also thrilled to be a part of this historic event.
“Since we are at Brashear High School, we want to encourage the motivation of education in this school. Brashear is doing well, but we want to continue their academics and self esteem. We also want them to have fun with the education they are receiving. With the FAME Tour we wanted to show the children that we could come out and be in the community and support them too,” said Vance.
“I love doing this for the kids. We do this across the country and it’s the best thing we can do to help our youth. This is my free time and I am glad to be here in Pittsburgh and then we will move on to the next city,” said Gill.
This was also a family affair as the James’ family came together to support Will James who is a Therapeutic Assistant for the Pittsburgh Public Schools and he helped coordinate the event. Cynthia James, director of Public Allies Pittsburgh and National Movement was there to show support and Actor, Director, Producer, Poet and Activist Nathan James did Spoken Word for the event.
“I really wanted to show my support especially on the South Side because a lot of things are normally done on the East Side of town,” said Nathan James. “Anything that I can do to get these children interested in college, I am definitely going to jump on board with that. Too many stars are influencing the wrong activity and I am glad to see that TYGA is doing something different.”
“I am glad that TYGA is here today to give out scholarships and let kids know that there is more to life than the streets. They are also here to keep them on the right path of going to college. The scholarships consisted of the waiving of the application fees of 35 different HBCU’s. TYGA is encouraging kids that there is something better out there for them and we are glad to have him here,” said Will James.
“Because of our momentum around building communities with the individuals that live in the community, it is very beneficial for us to be here to encourage the idea that everyone leads. The children need to understand that they have the potential in them to succeed if they just leverage it”, said Cynthia James.