The MusiCares and GRAMMY Foundation’s Teen Substance Abuse Awareness through Music Contest will give four teens a backstage experience at the big show.
Three original music compositions that focus on personal experience living around drugs were the winners of the MusiCares and GRAMMY Foundation’s Teen Substance Abuse Awareness through Music Contest. The contest was created to celebrate National Drug Facts Week, a seven-day observance in November launched this week by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
GRAMMY Contest Details
The contest was open to teens 14-18, and entrants were asked to compose or create an original song or music video that explores, encourages and celebrates a healthy lifestyle or accurately depicts a story about drug abuse. Composers of all three winning entries will have the opportunity to attend a 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards “Backstage Experience,” a special backstage tour while artists rehearse for the live GRAMMY Awards show on Feb. 13, 2011 in Los Angeles.
First place winners Daevion Caves, 18, and Jordan Atkins, 16, both from Alton, Ill, entered a video entitled “Drug Free State of Mind.” Their entry showed the boys living daily around drug use, but having the courage to stay drug-free. Their rap-flavored entry included the lyrics: “We all shootin’ stars/patiently waiting to be seen/remember what you do/you got the power to … determine your future.” Caves and Atkins enlisted the help of their friends too, using them in front of the camera ad behind the scenes
Second place went to Markeist “Ghost” Jones, a 15-year-old sophomore from Plantation High School in Plantation, Fla. His entry was a musical composition called “A Clearer View.” He describes his original rap track as a “cautionary tale about what happens when you decide to take drugs,” something Jones has experienced through a family member who struggled with addiction.
Vera Marquardt, a 17-year-old in recovery at the Phoenix House Academy in Los Angeles, took third place honors. The Hawaii native used a ukulele to tell the story of her path to sobriety, with an original musical composition called “Take It to the Days.”
“This innovative contest has been an ideal opportunity to bring some of the music education mission of the GRAMMY Foundation and the addiction recovery mission of MusiCares to a young audience,” said Neil Portnow, president/CEO of the GRAMMY Foundation, MusiCares and The Recording Academy. “The entries we received were excellent, and the winning songs and videos are a moving testament about the ravages of drug addiction and the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.”
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Tags: Addiction, Drug Abuse Prevention, Drug Use, Substance Abuse
