'Norristown Anthem' Debuts on YouTube, Seeks to Uplift Community

The beat may sound familiar, but this isn't Jay-Z and Alicia Keys.

Instead, it's Norristown's Dante "Da Don" Walker and Malika "Skyy Starr" Hall on the mic, looking to inspire and motivate the community via the "Norristown Anthem."

The project began in the fall of 2011, when Norristown Men of Excellence's Tre Hadrick grew weary of the negativity sweeping the streets of the borough. Seeing a community in need of some uplifting and inspiration, Hadrick contacted Walker to see if he could write something to "help bring back the pride in Norristown."

Using JayZ's "Empire State of Mind" as a backdrop, Walker and Hall recorded a rough copy of the song, but due to conflicting schedules, it sat on Hadrick's computer for more than a year. Then, earlier this year, the trio decided it was time to shoot a video and make a professional recording of the anthem.

Hadrick enlisted the help of Josh Payne, an audio engineer with Megabuck Entertainment, to record and master the song, and a short time later, Walker contacted videographer Vince Wallace to film the video, which took place throughout Norristown on April 22.

The end result of their efforts made it's debut on YouTube last Thursday, much to the delight of the nearly 6,000 people who have already viewed the video. 

Asked for the inspiration behind the track, Walker noted that he felt Norristown needed an anthem to remind residents of their sense of community. 

"I think it needs an anthem because we forgot us," Walker said. "Theres' a lot of people comin' from all over and people got problems... but we've got to remember who we are." 

The quality of the audio and video recordings is on par with any other professional video you may see, and there's something cool about seeing the local neighborhoods, parks, and people in this light.

Rather than try to describe it in words, just take a few minutes and see for yourself.

Sometimes words are not enough. Sometimes they need a beat behind them.

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