By harnessing the four elements of hip hop, local musician Kasp has been able to find clever ways of enticing youth to make good decisions for 15 years — and he’s launching a new venture to take his message a step further.
“Kasp Motivational Initiative is straight up motivational speaking workshops,” said the artist whose real name is Rob Sawan but he goes by the nickname Kasp. “I’ve been blessed, and now it’s about inspiring other people to get their lives on track.”
Growing up in East Vancouver, Kasp said his neighbourhood and family life posed many challenges which he persisted to overcome.
“I don’t focus on the negative, I focus on what I learned.”
Upon reflection, he realized that after he gained an appreciation for his Aboriginal identity, he was able to focus on what was important.
“There are a lot of youth not knowing who they are because they have no self-identity,” he said. “But once you know who you are, whether you’re Aboriginal, Chinese, anything — then you’ll be more grounded. You have to learn your roots, learn your history, know where you’re from.”
He then pondered the loaded statement of identifying as ‘Canadian’, because no single ethnic group appropriately generalizes the term.
“While you’re focusing on these things, you’ve got no time for these gangs. You have no time to get into trouble or do drugs. You’re focusing on school; focusing on knowing who you are.”
In addition to the history of his culture, Kasp shares his personal history, and the history of his favourite music to help others grow.
“I talk about how I grew up, then I talk about legends, then the history of hip hop music.”
Through the songs he’s written, Kasp has been able to fuse them all together. In a collaboration with Winston Wutunee, an Aboriginal elder musician from Winnipeg, Kasp recorded Language Revitalization — which is an entire rap song performed in Cree — a genre he calls Creehop.
“It’s all in Cree, talking about why we’re proud to be Cree.”
Also through Kasp Motivational Initiative, he’ll be encouraging audiences to push the boundaries of every project.
“Let’s say you’re playing Halo. When it came out (in 2001) kids thought it was the best game ever. But you can make it better. And now we have XBox One, and way better versions of the game – because there were people committed to make it that much better.”
That example of development is used metaphorically by telling his listeners to apply that progressive mindset to their own lives.
“You’ll be your own Halo; you’ll be your own epic adventure.”
At the same time as Kasp takes his business of motivational speaking off the ground, he continues to record music. Kasp currently has an album in the works with his new protege Kelvin Ternoir, whose goes by the title K-9, and he recently moved to Keremeos from Chicago.
To inquire about Kasp Motivational Initiative or to hear his work, visit his website www.kasp-entertainment.com, which also links to his social media pages.
“Be 100 per cent honest when you do anything ,” he said. “What’s the worst that can happen when you do something that’s right.”
