Hi. I'm Lyrickal and I'm a rapper, vocalist, beatboxer, songwriter, composer and educator. I also play keyboards.

I'm currently working on my debut EP and album. It's taken me while to create music that is both innovative and to a very high standard but I think that the end result will be worth the wait.

Watch this space for further info.

For the last 4 years I've been working for my musical edutainment project, Wax Lyrickal. I deliver workshops that use music to address issues like bullying prevention, gangs and carrying weapons, smoking prevention and cessation, drug education and good citizenship. Sometimes I work on my own, sometimes with one or more of our vocal coaches.

I was bullied myself throughout my childhood and as a young adult and I understand how painful it can be to be on the receiving end of bullying. This is the main reason I got involved in bullying prevention work.

I was the target of racist bullies. It always seemed ridiculous to me that people could be so ignorant as to attack someone because of the colour of their skin, but this is exactly what happened to me and it went on for a very long time even after I left school.

I was also bullied because I am partially sighted and, as a child, wore glasses with very thick lenses. The bullies used to taunt me and were always breaking my glasses so for a lot of the time I went to school with my glasses stuck together with bits of tape.

One time Princess Margaret visited my school and I’d just been in a fight and I didn’t look too good. One of the lenses of my glasses was in place but I couldn’t get the other one to fit into the frames so it was on my desk in front of me, next to a drawing I was working on. Princess Margaret came right over to me and sat down with me and talked to me for a long time about my art. I’ll always remember that. Some people are sensitive to what’s going on and they do care. That meant a lot to me.

I also received encouragement from some teachers, my music teacher especially helped me and I’ll always be grateful for that.

When I moved from the ordinary school to a school for blind and partially sighted children the bullying stopped while I was there, which was great as I could concentrate on my work and my music.

I have always loved words and language, but being partially sighted writing was never my strong point. I could never write down my thoughts as quickly as my brain produced them so I got into freestyle rap and singing as a way of expressing myself without having to write things down.

My love of rap and of all kinds of music helped me to overcome being bullied and helped me to express my feelings. I am passionate about using music to help others overcome bullying and to send out a message that bullying is unacceptable.

I really enjoy delivering workshops and performing at community events and I feel humbled and inspired by the young people who I meet, many of whom have excellent musical skills.

I'm just starting on myspace so please check back regularly as I'll be updating the content from time to time.

IMPORTANT: Nobody from Wax Lyrickal will ever arrange to meet with a child or young person through the internet. All Wax Lyrickal staff work with young people only in schools, PRUs, youth clubs and charities, never in private or through the internet.

If you are a child or young person and someone tries to get you to meet up with them and says that they are me or from Wax Lyrickal you should tell your parent or guardian straight away. You can also report the person at this website http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/ where you can also find out more about using the internet safely.