Young Preston artists release song with chart topping rapper Mic Righteous

Six young artists from Preston have released a song with chart topping rapper Mic Righteousness, after impressing him during a workshop at 'Soundskills', a creative community centre in the Brookfield estate.

Mic Righteous, who has previously worked with Charlie Sloth, Emeli Sande and Ed Sheeran, performed and wrote the track 'Wait in Line' with Preston based artists BLKY, Dec, Gizmo, Big General, Dabz, and Gandom Rhy, and it was recorded during a young person's urban music project called 'Urban Influence'.

Funded via the arts council, this 6-month project was for local artists aged 25 and under, and was ran by Jamie O'Connor, Daniel Squires, and Liam Blake, who are all volunteers with the charity Brookfield Spaceplace, which runs Soundskills.

The song was co-written by all the artists, whilst Jamie (aka WhiteLab Records) and Liam (aka BLKY) recorded the track, and Declan Connor (Dec) and Jamie produced the beat.

Liam, who helps run Soundskill's recording studio all year round, said: "A lot of the younger people in our community rap so we thought an urban music project would be fitting. The lyric writing masterclass with Mic Righteous was a one off special event, and we chose Mic Righteous because he’s such a prominent name in the rap community, he’s got millions of views, he did Fire in the Booth with Charlie Sloth and he’s performed all over the world, so we were lucky to be able to get him to our centre, and the lads were so happy with him coming up.

"I think it’s quite an amazing story because we were never supposed to do a song but during his masterclass Mic invited the young people to perform some of the songs and beats they were making, and he was so impressed, he said let’s all write a verse now, so within two hours we were in the recording booth, and all these young people, some of whom had never released a track up until this point, recorded the tune there and then, and it’s a one of a kind song because when does a beginner musician get the chance to showcase their talent with an established artist, it’s a fantastic opportunity for these young people on the project.

"Declan for example has never done a track, and it was actually his beat which really sparked Mac's interest, so for these young people to be able to get on this track and showcase their talent is such a big moment for them and I’m so proud of them all. I’m very proud that I’ve been able to be involved, and it’s a shame that we don’t see more notable people helping the community but it is a difficult task getting them involved in stuff like this, massive props to Mic Righteous because he came to our small community centre all the way from Margate in Kent!"

The song has nearly 1000 views on Youtube and is already getting picked up by radio, having been played on Amazing Radio in the UK and US, as well as on Preston's Beat 103's quick2menchon show yesterday (Wednesday 17).

One of the artists on the track, Gandom Rhy (aka Nathan Blake) said: "It was a great day meeting mic and being able to do a track with him is something special!"

Meanwhile, Big General (aka Liam Harris) added: "It's great to be on this tracking doing what I do best."

The track is exclusive to the Soundskills Social youtube channel and you can listen to it here.

Soundskills is a not-for-profit organisation which aims to create a sustainable, independent centre that is run by local people to improve the quality of life of everyone on the estate.

Its facilities include a music studio, utility activity room, maker space, kitchen area, photography studio, computer space and a newly refurbished ‘back yard’ outdoor space thanks to a National Lottery Awards for All grant.

To find out more about Soundskills visit their website or email [email protected].