Drop the beat
Rappers make video in Westville
Two Westville rappers make a music video about and in their hometown
In Westvilladelphia, born and raised. There’s where Andrew Johnson and Jordan Mackie spent most of their days.
The two hip-hop artists paid tribute to their hometown this week by making a music video in locations throughout Westville for Johnson’s song Westvilladelphia, a nod to the theme song of the 1990s TV show Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Johnson, who goes by the stage name Anewbis and has been making music for a little over a year, said he considers the song a shared effort, noting when he heard Mackie was also from Westville, he wanted to work with her. Johnson sent Mackie – who recently released her first full-length album No Joke and has been rapping for a few years – a message, showing her what he had already written, and she said she thought it was great.
“Nothing like this has ever really been done for Pictou County. I’d love to get involved. That’s where I’m from.”
The pair, both in their 20s, asked people from Pictou County to join their video shoot through social media, attracting approximately 100 people over two days.
“We’ve been all over the map, and I’m telling you, when all this is said and done, I’m probably going to sleep for three days straight. This has been … exhausting but exciting,” Johnson, who recently moved back to Pictou County from Halifax, said, adding people involved have been expressing their excitement and hometown pride to him. “It’s incredible. It’s humbling, too. It feels great to know that people are appreciative of what we’re doing.”
They contacted Westville businesses and asked them to sponsor the video, collecting prizes for a contest they intend to hold on Facebook when the video is released.
“It’s our way as artists to almost give back to the community a little bit and get the community involved in what we’re doing as well. Coming from a small tightknit community, you can always expect a lot of community support,” Mackie said.
Johnson joked, “this is the biggest unification of people since Hinchey’s amusement fair rides down at the track there,” adding that it’s been great to see people supporting the endeavor.
The song references their experiences growing up in Westville, mentioning places like Acropole, Acadia Park and Kustom Kaos tattoo studio. There’s even a line about the Ballot Box Bandit, who is known for stealing ballot boxes in several elections. Johnson said he wanted to have a balance of “keeping people laughing” and seriousness.
“…If people can laugh about it, but still say this song is dope, it’s a win-win.”
Johnson and Mackie hope to be able to post the video on Facebook and YouTube in June, with Johnson planning to put out his first full-length release after that. He notes the mixtape, Fresh Prince of Wel-Fair, will be free for download.