Young Edmontonians are celebrating the release of their own music. Twenty-one songs by 22 artists make up the album, titled Pointz of View, which was released on streaming platforms in September. All were produced at the iHuman Youth Society, a community space for marginalized youth to develop their creative interests. Those involved with the project say it is a realization of some of their dreams, and inspiration to achieve others. “It was just shocking. Like, wow. This is released. This is out. That’s me on it,” said one singer, 20-year-old Sisi. She and her twin sister were adopted as babies and came into contact with iHuman when it was at her school handing out bus passes. She started singing when she was three years old, but iHuman is really where her talents developed. “It means the world to me because if I hadn’t known about this, I probably wouldn’t have started writing music at all,” Sisi told CTV News Edmonton in a recent interview. “Music helped me get through very hard times,” added another artist, Indigenous rapper Russecetta4Real. The 21-year-old survived a dangerous adoptive home and abusive boyfriend when she was a teenager. “I never thought I would be here, but I’m here,” she told CTV News Edmonton. Her musical interest developed from poetry and is still taking form, as she learns new skills like beatboxing. “That’s the nice thing. We all get to learn together and grow together – like little flowers,” she joked of the iHuman community. Pointz of View is not the first album iHuman has helped produce, but it is one of the largest collaborative works, according to one of its registered social workers, Sean Paul Arceta. “A lot of that trust builds symbiotically between the young people and the staff to be able to want to take a risk, to want to create,” Arceta said. “What entices me as a staff member here at iHuman is just seeing the interest and them wanting to explore further and get deeper into their artistic passion…. Maybe it’s something they want to do in the future, but know that it’s possible to do something with this gift that they have.” Edmonton Arts Council funded the project, which consisted not just of the digital album, but also a sold-out cassette, single releases, and music video. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nahreman Issa
