Only 17-years-old, Charnae Samuels-Stevenson, has already taken to the stage at multiple big events performing in front of hundreds of people and writing her own songs.
Using her own life experiences and feelings to help her put words to paper the young rapper is now paving the way for a career in the music industry.
Her talents and dedication have now led her to be chosen as the winner of this year’s Young Performer of the Year award.
The award forms part of the Live Our Best Life Awards aimed at celebrating all of the amazing achievements of young people and their attitudes in overcoming any issues, rising above adversity, and helping others.
“When I was little, I used to watch my dad make his own music and write his own songs to instrumentals and I always wanted to be like him and do the same kind of things,” Charnae said.
“I’ve been singing and rapping since the age of nine and I just feel when I’m on stage it’s my comfort zone and it’s a way of releasing a lot of emotions and how I feel so I can let it all out.
“I find it hard speaking to people face to face about my problems so if I have any problems or anything going off I like to put it into music so I can express it on stage and get it all out.
“It’s because when I was younger about five, we lost our family home and since then we’ve never really had our own place.
“I’ve never really had what a normal kid or most kids should have or has had.
“I just want to be there for my family and make everything feel normal again.”
After taking to the stage for one of her first performances at a knife crime event last year, Charnae’s career has gone from strength to strength resulting in her being asked to play a main part in a film.
She added: “I wrote a rap and performed it at a knife crime event but when I made it, I was actually just out wandering around in town, and I heard the instrumental and really liked it.
“It just clicked with me, so I thought why not make a song about my life and what I’ve been through.
“It’s actually about my dad and my life from when I was a youth to how I’ve grown up and what it’s like now.
“We’ve been in and out of many situations to do with family and moving I just thought I’d put it into one song and let the world hear it.
“I’ve also recently got involved in acting because I got kicked out of mainstream school and ended up in Stone Soup Academy.
“I was in a lesson one day and got pulled out by two of my teachers and they spoke to me about it and asked me if I wanted to take part and be the main character of a film.
“I never really looked into acting as it wasn’t something I thought I wanted to do but it was new – so I just went with the flow and enjoyed it and it’s something I want to look into carrying on with and maybe do as a job.
“I want to do more songs and more collaborations with people in the future and just carry on with it because it’s what I enjoy and I’m pushing it to wherever it can go.
“I know I’ve got the ability to get where I want to be and if I know that then I can only make it happen and work on myself.
“I also want to do it a lot more because of my upbringing and how things are now so If I make it and push myself to be where I want to then hopefully I can make my family proud and look after everyone.”
The awards, launched by the force as part of its Stephen Lawrence Day celebrations, recognise the talents, achievements, and inspirational young people across Nottinghamshire.
Youth Outreach worker and founder of the Live Our Best Life Awards, Romel Davis, speaking on behalf of Charnae’s nominator explained how her song really hits home for a lot of listeners which makes it even more powerful.
Romel said: “I’ve had the privilege of seeing Charnae perform and the first time I saw her she performed at a stand-up to knife crime event by Stone Soup Academy, it was a great event and we were all there to tackle knife crime.
“I was absolutely blown away by her performance and we all really connected with the song and the meaning behind it.
“To fast forward to now and to hear she’s won the award is absolutely amazing.
“Her music does really connect and relate to the audience because she’s talking about things that she’s been through that other people can relate to as well.
“We have a young person here that’s got so much talent and can inspire other young people to think about a career in music or acting.
“I know that Stone Soup and Charnae’s family are so proud of the fact that she’s won this award – she’s worked incredibly hard and she’s very talented.
“The song is amazing and it really does tell a story and is a really good way of her expressing herself and talking about some difficult situations and to see how that’s played out in this quite beautiful song is amazing.
“We all think the future is incredibly bright for Charnae and I think that as well with her level of performance and her creativity – we have no doubt that she’s going to go really far in life and we all look forward to seeing what she’s going to do in the future.”
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