Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age was a Public Enemy album released in the mid-1990s calling out the lyricists behind gangsta rap. NRL legend Preston Campbell is certainly no Chuck D, but he too has leant his voice to address the negative messages permeating modern music.
Campbell and the Titans 4 Tomorrow team have put their considerable talents to a new music video called 4 Tomorrow that they hope will not only embolden Indigenous children to make positive choices but to help shape their attitudes and behaviours for the better.
On the track Campbell is joined by Titans 4 Tomorrow employees Kyel Dancey and Morgan Kingi – a graduate of the T4T program – and the words of the song speak of being leaders of a generation, achieving goals and aspirations. Campbell hopes that it will complement the seven T4T programs designed to inspire and empower Indigenous children in Queensland and northern New South Wales.
"We wanted to do something a little bit different. Rather than typing out words and giving messages in words, actually do a song," Campbell told NRL.com.
"Kids love music and they see all the messages. They don't just listen to the beat and rhythm, they actually listen to the words of the music and you see a lot of them, they emulate the songs that they hear. If we could get a positive song out there hopefully they can emulate the words that we're saying.
"A lot of songs out there now don't send out a lot of good messages so it's just a message that we want to send across that's a little bit different from the norm at the moment.
"When we talk about changes and the differences that we're making, we're not talking about the big things; it's the small things like attitude, behaviour, boost in confidence in these young ones.
"We've been in it for three years now and we're already seeing changes in young ones. If they improve their attitude and their confidence then you're going to see a result at school.
"If we can reach more and spend more time with them we can make a big difference to what goes on in society."
For more information on the Titans 4 Tomorrow program click here.
