Boys and Girls Clubs of America Blake McGuire raps about I.R.A.s and 401(k)s.
“My future’s holding a job
Working hard all day
Throwing money in the bank
Toward my 401(k).”
Those are the words to a rap by Blake McGuire, a 15-year-old high school freshman from Indianapolis who was the winner of this year’s Money Matters Music Mogul contest.
The contest is sponsored by the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the Charles Schwab Foundation, which supports “Money Matters: Make it Count,” a financial literacy program for teenagers, at 2,900 clubs nationally.
Mr. McGuire said that before he took the six-week class last fall at a local Boys and Girls Club, he didn’t think much about finances. He said he had done some work for his stepfather but hasn’t held a job yet. “I didn’t know the importance of financial issues,” he said. But in the class, he said, “They taught us about everyday budgeting, spending money, college savings, loans, 401(k)s, C.D.’s, I.R.A.s.”
So when he received an e-mail inviting class participants to submit a rap about money, he decided to enter. He had to act quickly, he said, because he only had two days to meet the deadline.
Fortunately, he had some experience. The young Mr. McGuire said he began writing poetry at age 9 and later began turning his work into raps, set to beats his brother helped him create on a computer. He turned out “Money All That Matters!” and the entry received more than 100,000 votes from his peers on myclublife.com, the Boys Girls Clubs’ Web site for teenagers.
As the grand prize winner, he traveled to Atlanta — taking his first trip on an airplane — to record a song and a related hip-hop video with the music producer Kevin Cates. Mr. Cates, who is known as Khao, is the founder of the Bridge DA Gap movement, which aims to communicate with and motivate young people using music.
The song will also be included on a financial literacy-themed album, produced by Mr. Cates. (Proceeds will support scholarships for those who perform on the album.)
As this year’s winner, Mr. McGuire receives a $1,000 scholarship as well as a matching donation for his club from the Schwab foundation. He’d like to go to college, perhaps to study music production, he said. “I just want to thank everyone for giving me this opportunity,” he said.
“Money’s all that matters
Money about the world
I’m throwing 20s up
Like my pocket just hurled”
What would you say in a rap about money?
Article source: http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/learning-and-rapping-about-401ks/?partner=rss&emc=rss