ST PAUL, Minn. — At High School for Recording Arts, talent is celebrated. Every day, teens like Stone Williams have the opportunity to hone their crafts.
"I produce beats, I practice music theory, I play the piano but mainly I'm a vocalist," the junior said.
Every so often, the students get a special chance to learn – and show off – when celebrities visit their school. Employees say, over the years, big names have included Chingy, Ice Cube, and Master P. On Thursday, it was rapper NLE Choppa.
"We have plenty of great, small artists in this school who are just trying to make it big and to have somebody who really knows what they're doing give you some props, just give you some ideas on what to do? It's important," Williams said.
Choppa began his visit by standing on the school's stage and watching two students perform their own songs before a crowd of enthusiastic peers. He applauded their use of samples and stage presence before getting into the reason for his visit. The rapper is challenging students nationwide to read.
His mother and manager, Angeleta Potts, says her son has toured dozens of schools this year, mostly in his hometown of Memphis, but also Madison right before coming to St. Paul and New York later this month.
After touring the building and posing for pics, the 20-year-old sat down in one of the school's studios for a heart-to-heart with a smaller group of students. One of his messages? Image isn't everything.
"The things that God rewards you with for just doing things that better you, yourself as a human, is what really matters," Choppa said.
Choppa rose to fame in 2019, reaching the Billboard Hot 100.
"I wasn't good at expressing myself or talking to people about my problems so I started to use [music] as my escape," he said.
One of the students who performed, senior Cuauhtli Day, also had the opportunity to interview the professional artist.
"He's just challenging students all around to become more involved in their education," Day said. "He does a lot of 'gangster rap' you could say but his persona, his person, just the fact that he's coming to a school and setting reading challenges, that just puts him in a whole different type of category. You can't just say he's this street artist. Like, he's also involved in the community."
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