MARIO'S THE MAN

Roots employee uses music to teach “underserved” youth valuable life lessons

At first glance, Mario Murray may seem a little intimidating with his neck tattoos and confident manner. But this is a young man with a big heart who cares about his community. When he’s not busy helping customers at Roots Central in Toronto’s Eaton Centre, Mario organizes concerts for local artists to share their talents through positive music. In his most recent show last month at the Degrassi House, people listened to an eclectic mix of spoken word, rap, R&B, reggae, pop, soul and folk music.

“I put the show on to showcase Toronto’s real rising stars,” says Mario, 25, whose stage name is The Voyce. “The focus was on the artists and their relationship with the community, and through it I got to see who was really about the community and who was all about themselves.”

Being a community man himself, Mario spends his Tuesdays volunteering as a staff leader at Beatz to Da Streetz, a Toronto-based non-profit arts program. There, he helps “underserved youth” develop their creative talents through urban music to promote positive social change. According to Mario, these youth might live in shelters or be in bad situations with drug dealers or gangs, but they can’t seem to get out of such a negative reality.

“There are many kids out there in the world who are on their last hope,” says Mario. “No one believes in or cares about them anymore, so they won’t really rise to their fullest potential. Through the music, we bring out how they really feel first and then teach them valuable life lessons.” These include teaching humility and discipline, and increasing self-esteem, building life skills and opening opportunities for education and finding jobs.

Long before he was involved with Beatz to Da Streetz, Mario himself was a troubled kid growing up in the small Caribbean island of Saint Lucia. When he was eight years old, his mother moved to Canada to work and prepare a comfortable life for him and his siblings, leaving them to fend for themselves.

“I know what it’s like to survive on five dollars a week, to have nothing to eat and not to know how long you’re going to be living where you are,” says Mario of his childhood in St. Lucia and Canada. “I moved from house to house because no one wants to deal with a troubled kid. I did whatever I wanted, came home whenever I wanted, and didn’t really listen to anyone.”

Memories of his past led Mario to help others through Beatz to Da Streetz. “These things made me who I am today,” he says. “My upbringing helped me to understand heir situations better and since it didn’t get the best of me, because of God and those who were around to strengthen me, I wanted to be that same person for others.”

Now in his second year of involvement with the program, Mario says it has taught him a few things as well. “I’ve learned that everyone can change and become better people,” says Mario. “There’s no reason not to give someone a chance, even if they’ve screwed up before. Those are called mistakes.”

Beatz to Da Streetz runs a 15-week series of workshops for 15 youth led by industry professionals and run out of Centennial College. Through these sessions, youth learn about urban music and culture, and hip hop literacy. At the end of the program, they promote, produce and perform their own music in a live concert.

- To get involved with the Beatz to Da Streetz program, visit their website at: http://www.b2ds.ca/.