WESTFIELD—A Westfield Technical Academy (WTA) student rapped his way to $5,000 for his school, as part of the Hampden District Attorney’s #StoptheSwerve campaign to bring awareness to the dangers of impaired driving.
Elijah White, 17, a junior carpentry student at WTA and aspiring rapper, won the money for his school after placing second in District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni’s competition to create a public service announcement (PSA) for the #StoptheSwerve campaign. The money will be used to upgrade the school’s technological capabilities according to a press release from Gulluni’s office.
“Elijah’s video really stuck with us, he was oozing with talent,” Gulluni said. “We can get PSAs out from adults but Elijah’s video is much more effective communicating with his peers.”
Elijah White accepts the $5,000 check from District Attorney Anthony Gulluni. From left to right: WTA Principal Joseph Langone, District Attorney Anthony Gulluni, Elijah White, Starlet Moore
Other winners were not named in the press release provided by Gulluni’s office but their schools were. The first place winner, which was awarded $10,000 for their school, was from Agawam High School, and the third place winner, who won $2,500 for their school, was from Chicopee Comprehensive High School.
For White, the inspiration for his video and lyrics came from his own personal experience.
In October 2016, while White was riding his longboard to school, he was struck by a car in a head-on collision, according to his mother, Starlet Moore. According to Moore and White, the injuries he suffered were to his knee, and the day he received the award he was on the crutches for the injury.
“That was the inspiration, but I also wanted to help people,” White said.
White said that the creative process for the song was simple.
“I just put on a beat and just start thinking,” White said. “Wait for two rhymes and that’s how I begin.”
White, whose inspirations range from Kendrick Lamar to J. Cole to Logic to Nas, aspires to build on this experience and one day reach fame.
And according to Moore, her son is so dedicated to the craft that he spends six to eight hours a day writing, creating and editing.
“Sometimes we don’t see him all day,” she said.
“Rap is my passion, I love it,” White said. “There is never a day where I don’t want to rap.”
However, White still has his priorities straight.
“[Rap] is all I do,” he said. “If I’m not doing homework, I’m writing.”
