PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Eight-year-old Gideon Ansah, who goes by the stage name “Star Jr.,” has been DJing for most of his life and recently brought his talents to the polls.
Though he’s not old enough to vote yet, he fulfilled his civic duty this past Election Day by using his love for music–particularly, afrobeats.
Ansah braved the cold for several hours, bringing beats to the ballot box at a West Philly polling location.
“It was fun, hard and cold,” Ansah said.
DJ Neeek Nyce, Ansah’s mentor and founder of the International Kids DJ program, got word from a friend who was in need of 50 DJs to come out and perform for Election Day and opened up the opportunity to her students.
“Since they were out of school, you know, it's paying 200 bucks, they have their own equipment, they can go out and work, the music is a good feel, and it just brings energy to the voting sites,” Nyce said.
Nyce was happy young people like Ansah were able to partake in this so they could see the importance of voting and elections.
“I think it's a great thing, especially with them being so young to encourage young people to get out and vote,” Nyce added.
While it was a paid gig, Ansah noted it was about way more than just that, it was about bringing people to the polls.
“Because Election Day is important,” Ansah said. “Because if we need a good leader, if we don't have a good leader, we're basically doomed as a society.”