World’s oldest rapper brings Joy to gangs

IF you think rap music is only about violence, bling and lust, you obviously haven’t heard this lady from Bromley.

Joy Philippou is an extraordinary woman, the world’s oldest rapper and friend to the rich and famous, including many in the House of Lords.

And she also grabs kids who could be headed for a life of trouble, and with the help of rap turns them into young people with so much to live for.

Her marvellous work has even earned her an MBE, and it all started for Joy in her schoolteacher days, as she explains.

“I was teaching English literature, art and religion, but I had a bunch of hooligans, 30 of them!” she recalls.

“They were so rowdy, they weren’t afraid of the headmaster, and they had been put in a Nissan hut at the end of a field, away from the school.

“Before this, I’d taught in a convent, where the girls were well-behaved, even carried your bag for you. No problem at all, and then from that Heaven I moved to Hell.

“These hooligans sat there, smoking, even jumping in and out where the window was missing. I didn’t know what to do, because they just didn’t want to know about anything.

“But then I wrote something in rhyme and rhythm, set it to music, and sang it to them, and they loved it! In the end, I had a whole collection of these songs.

“Before long, I was being invited to go around schools, and sing at assemblies. When rap came in, I started using a jungle drums CD as an accompaniment and doing that style.

“Since then, I’ve been doing rap with my own lyrics for about 30 years.”

A Cypriot philosopher, teacher and writer, Joy is also President of the STAR Foundation — for Sociable, Trustworthy And Responsible — and wowed judges on The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent.

“I’m approaching my 90th birthday now, and I’m having a show at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley on August 6,” says Joy proudly.

“I usually do my rap shows in council halls and places like that, but they only hold a couple of hundred people.

“This place holds about 1,000 and I wanted to do this and pass on what I do to someone else before I snuff it!

“I’d like someone younger, whether a group or a singer, to take it on after me.”

The rap is about much more than just performing for an audience — through her unique musical approach and the STAR Foundation, Joy has improved countless young lives.

Each year, she runs Rap Recitals in a most unexpected location — The House of Lords — encouraging youngsters to write their own raps.

Everyone who takes part gets a STAR Foundation certificate signed by a member of the House of Lords, a STAR medal and a copy of Joy’s Rap Revolution book.

“I take youngsters, who are getting into trouble, writing graffiti on the walls and things like that, and encourage them to paint,” she explains.

“We have a competition, and then their paintings can be seen downstairs in the halls, when you come to see our shows.

“Upstairs, the performers are also youngsters who rap and dance. I used to be a ballet dancer, and I have to say these youngsters’ dance style is really good!

“They rap, dance, sing, play instruments, and it’s really good.

“Taking them to the House of Lords is another branch of what I do. There, it’s the same age group I work with, young adults aged 18 to 25.

“To me, when they are younger than that, their own parents and the schools can look after them, so that is why I deal with this age group.

“Sadly, many join gangs and spend their time on the street. It gets worse and worse for them, so I did a rap competition for them at the House of Lords, with the hope that I could get them away from all that anti-social, racist, angry rap they liked.

“For one thing, that kind of rap is too quick for me to understand the words, and when I do understand them, they are really scary words!

“The first competition I did was at a town hall, thanks to the council there,” reveals Joy.

“I got 22 youngsters signed up and I ordered 200 Chinese meals for everyone, rappers and their relatives — and then nobody turned up!

“It turned out that another gang had threatened them, saying that if they turned up at the hall they would show up and there would be a shoot-out.

“That is why I transferred it to the House of Lords, where there are body searches and metal detectors.

“Every year now, I have it there. It’s a really happy occasion, with families getting involved. It also attracts more youngsters, who want to see inside the House of Lords.”

Nobody is quite sure how many youngsters Joy has steered away from a potential life of gang involvement, crime and desperation.

Modest woman that she is, she says she’d never try to work out the number.

Her STAR Foundation gives awards to any deserving person who has made an outstanding contribution to society, with the condition that they have had a clean police record for at least three years.

Joy has also branched out with other types of award.

“Someone asked me why I just concentrated on youngsters and didn’t do anything with older people,” she recalls.

“So from there, I started a Lifetime Achievement Award, too.

“I’ve had titled people come, and I’ve had a guru from India who travels the world, bringing in money to help poverty-stricken children living on the streets of Calcutta.

“He feeds them, clothes them, gets them to school.”

Sounds like another version of Joy, without the rap. If only the world had more like her, it would be a much better place.