About The Project

Using songwriting, recording and storytelling, the Life into Lyrics program empowers youth to reduce prejudice and promote cross-cultural understanding by contributing to discourse on racism. The program collaborates with youth to create pop songs and digital campaigns with social purpose, encouraging youth to lend their voices to the change they want to see in the world.

Life into Lyrics’ innovative methodology works. It combines intergenerational and multicultural experiential learning with the pervasive power of pop culture. Modeling cooperation, the Life into Lyrics team facilitates lessons and discussions on colonial history and culture with youth. Participants express on the issue, and with artists’ help, turn their messages into lyrics; then, record their songs with professional music producers. The process is filmed, and a short documentary is released digitally alongside lyric videos of completed songs. This content educates and impacts viewers globally on the issue of race and empowers youth as leaders in their communities and gatekeepers of their own stories. Music has a unique ability to open people’s hearts. Youth have this same power. When a young person can get their perspective into a powerful song, or digital story, their message can deeply impact those that witness it.