Pupils from Lourdes Secondary School in Glasgow were treated to a masterclass from professional rap artist, Darren McGarvey, aka Rapper MC Loki.

The children were the winners of ScottishPower’s Power Rap competition, which aimed to encourage a greater use of music and language to explore important themes and aspects of today’s society.

It was launched by the energy provider in association with the National Theatre of Scotland to support their latest production, Glasgow Girls, which is running at the Citizen’s Theatre from 31 October – 17 November.
To enter the competition, schools and community groups were asked to compose a poem or a rap on a topic which they were passionate about, such as friendship or multiculturalism.

The winning school, Lourdes Secondary School composed raps on a variety of subjects inlcuding violence, love, music, sport, life and death. In addition to winning the masterclass from Rapper MC Loki, which took place on Thursday 25 October, the raps have also been recorded by the National Theatre of Scotland’s in-house film crew and will appear on the National Theatre of Scotland’s website.

The pupils will also get the chance to watch a special performance of Glasgow Girls, which is based on a true story of the powerful pro-asylum seeker campaign which was led by the real-life Glasgow Girls who, driven by a fierce sense of justice, came together to fight for the life of their friend.

Madelaine Baker, Principal Teacher of English and Literacy at Lourdes Secondary School said: “The ScottishPower Power Rap competition was a fun and interactive way of engaging the pupils to think about important issues facing today’s society.

“The masterclass from Rapper MC Loki inspired the pupils to use rapping as a medium for discussion, and we are very much looking forward to the production of Glasgow Girls.”

Ann Loughrey, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at ScottishPower, said: “ScottishPower’s support of the National Theatre of Scotland aims to bring the arts to communities in which we operate.

“The initiative has been a good way to stimulate discussion in schools, and is a great platform for the Glasgow Girls production which brings some keys topics, such as multiculturalism, to the forefront of debate in Scotland today.”

Elly Rothnie, Director of Development at National Theatre of Scotland, added: “Glasgow Girls is a fantastic and thought-provoking production which we hope will be enjoyed by all those who come to see it.
“We would like to give our sincere thanks to ScottishPower for their support, as well as congratulate the winning pupils from Lourdes Secondary School for their excellent entry. “