A YOUNG rapper is turning tragedy into something positive, using his burgeoning music career to help others.
Ben Ide was devastated when his beloved father Patrick was killed in a car accident on Eastern Road, Portsmouth, in 2006.
He found it difficult to cope with his emotions and retreated into himself until a good friend urged him to put pen to paper to write about his experiences.
Since that moment, Ben, now a father himself, has dedicated himself to music and written an album of rap and songs which he hopes will raise awareness of the problem of bullying in schools.
The 25-year-old support worker, from Waterlooville, has agreed to go into his old school, Crookhorn College of Technology, to do an assembly and music workshop around bullying later this month.
He said: ‘I’ve been doing music for about two years now and have been trying to get people interested.
‘Six months ago I wrote some songs and put them out for free and they were downloaded 700 times.
‘Bullying is a massive issue and it doesn’t get as much attention as it should.
‘As Anti-Bullying Week is coming up I thought it would be the right time to release this album – Say No To Bullying by the DS Project.
‘Other artists feature on it but I have written most of the songs. I tend not to swear in my songs so all of the songs on the album are suitable for all ages. All the songs on there are about people’s experiences. Some of them speak directly to the bullies and I’m hoping it will give people hope, it will make people stop and talk about the issue.’
The death of 53-year-old Mr Ide, a train driver, hit his son hard. He said: ‘My son was only six month’s old when my dad died. I bottled it up for ages and ages and couldn’t talk to anybody.
‘It got bad and I moved in with a friend who is a nurse. She suggested I write down what I was feeling and ever since then I’ve not been able to put my pen down. When I first started I had no idea how to write songs but I’ve taught myself as I’ve gone along.’
To hear more from Ben go facebook.com/DrobeStudio where you will be able to download the album from Monday, the start of Anti-Bullying Week.
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