Islington Tribune - by PETER GRUNER Published: 07 November 2008
It ain’t right: Schoolgirl rapper’s message after knife killings of teens on streets
SCHOOLGIRL Leah Williams decided she had to do something after a series of knife killings on the streets of Islington.
So the 11-year-old from Hazellville Road, Upper Holloway, took up her guitar and penned the lyrics to a rap song, It ain’t right.
The former St Mark’s primary schoolgirl, pictured right, performed her anthem against street crime at the auditions for ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent at the Birmingham NEC last month.
Leah, who attends Hornsey School for Girls, will find out early next year if she has become a finalist on the show. If so, her rap could find national recognition.
The murders of Islington schoolboys Nassirudeen Osawe, 16, and Martin Dinnegan, 15, have made knife crime the single biggest fear for young people locally.
Leah’s determination to protest about it surprised and delighted her mother, Hillrise ward Lib Dem councillor Julia Williams.
Cllr Williams, a member of the council’s commission on young people and safety, which is investigating knife crime, said: “My older son and daughter both know someone who has been affected by these killings. “Leah is representing the kind of fears felt by many children these days. Our streets are reasonably safe but there is always the odd incident that creates this terrible fear.”
Leah, who wants to be a singer-songwriter, was inspired by singer MC Lyte and gospel rap artist SOE (Son of Encouragement) to write the rap song, which begins: “Sitting at home/ talking on my phone/ thinking about what in the world is going on/ people getting killed every minute of the day/ but why they getting killed is what I got to say.”