Ryan's hip hop salute to troops
A FESTIVE tribute to British troops has been penned by a city hip hop ace in the hope it will raise money for charity.
A FESTIVE tribute to British troops has been penned by a city hip hop ace in the hope it will raise money for charity.Eighteen-year-old Ryan Roberts - also known as D-Mindz - has recorded his own heartfelt message to troops fighting in the Middle East this Christmas called: "Coming Home to You (The Soldier Song)".
He has teamed up with producer Rayan Gee, of former chart act Shades of Rhythm, to put the track together and it is now available to listen to on YouTube and MySpace.
Ryan, of Hyholmes in Bretton, does not have a record or distribution deal yet, though he has interest from a company in America.
However, he is keen for any labels interested to take up the song as a charity single.
If that happened, he has pledged all the money he makes from downloads will be given to charity Help for Heroes. He was inspired by the exploits of some of his friends, who are currently serving with British forces in Afghanistan.
He said: "A lot of people my age are out there fighting at the moment as are some of my good friends, so the Soldier Song is purely about the love and respect I have for them.
"It all started off when my producer started humming this tune.
"It wasn't originally going to be a soldier song but, as we structured it, it began to sound like a song for soldiers coming home for Christmas.
"It's just relevant at the moment as people with husbands and wives in the armed forces are alone this Christmas."
Ryan's star has been on the rise since 2007, when he finished fourth in the hip hop section of the John Lennon Songwriting Competition, out of 20,000 entrants from across the world.
When not laying down tracks at the studio, Ryan volunteers at Heltwate Special School, where his mum Pauline works.
But his ultimate goal is securing a record deal - and one may not be far off with his MySpace page having had more than 850,000 views so far.
He is managed by his dad Simon, who said the song has met with a good response from people with relatives in the forces.
He said: "One lady we've played it to has a husband going to Afghanistan and it made her cry, but she's organising a charity event and has asked Ryan to perform.
"There's been nothing but good response to it on the internet. People are asking others to pass it on, so I hope it takes off. If anybody wants to back it and turn it into a charity single that would be great."
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Thursday 18 March 2010
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