Song featured on the WYEP Reimagination 2021 Compilation Album. Produced and written by Taneiya Young and Armstead Brown.

Progression (feat. Professa T with Brea Sanger)

Song featured on the WYEP Reimagination 2021 Compilation Album. Produced by DJ Thermos and Cameron Suzensky. Guitar by Robert Thompson. Recorded at Lighthouse Studios.

Lost (feat. Cameron Suzensky)

This is a beat tape produced by youth in the Lighthouse Audio Arts Club during Back History Month. All the tracks use samples from great black musicians from Pittsburgh.

Tracklist:
Sam Benning - Our People
DJ Ghost - The Mecca
IVthePeople - HATE
DJ Thermos - WhatDoUSee?
King Key - LOVE

YMCA Lighthouse - Black History Beat Tape

Featuring Prince G., Surreal, Omneye and Prophet. Also featuring saxophone by Winston Bell. Produced by Amstead Brown. Mixed by Giordan Dixon and Winston Bell.

Season Of Love (Song of the Month - February)

Featuring Prince G., Surreal, Omneye, Prophet, Kamari Young, and Na'Chelle Simone. Produced by Montana Howard. Mixed by Giordan Dixon.

Keep Your Head Up (Song Of The Month - March)

"Falling Forward" (feat. Jeremiah Marcel & Bochi) - Ethan Ziegler

YMCA Lighthouse Project is proud to present our first compilation album that spans our program's 11 year history. Through careful selection, History & Hits showcases the talent and evolution of Pittsburgh East End youth's sound and style. We hope you enjoy reliving some of our community's work and discovering gems that you never knew existed!

History & Hits

“I’ve Got You” - Nisa Saud & Joshua Pennybaker

“Lights On” - Blow Ya Mynd

“If You’re Really Feeling Me” - State of Minds

“In Good Time” - Kielle Deanda

“Fun Nights” - Ace Money & Haze

“Ride” - Exclusive

“Blue & Gold” - State of Minds

“All In (YMCA Tribute)” - Blow Ya Mynd

"Washed Away" is our song of the week for the second week of October.  The song is the eighth track on Prince G's debut album, #Storyteller. Prince G, whose real name is Giordan Dixon, is a 18-year-old R&B/Pop singer from Pittsburgh's Highland Park. Dixon says the song is really about letting go of the love that you had for someone and realizing there's no more love in the relationship.

Washed Away (feat. Prophet)

Our third Song of the Week in our SOTW series! With an incredible guest verse from Royce, this song premiered on our System Overload: Startable Music 2018 album that we created in collaboration with Startable Pittsburgh. Professor T, whose real name is Taneiya Young, is a 15-year-old music artist from Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood. Royce is a Pittsburgh band headed by featured vocalist and Lighthouse Project artist-in-residence James Robertson. Young says that she has a lot of enemies and that she decided to turn them into “monsters” with the help of Robertson. “I feel as though if I write music, one day my enemies will listen to it, change themselves, and be inspired by me,” she says. Robertson says that his verse was built around the question, “What are monsters to adults?” For Robertson, these monsters are bills, haters, and our current political environment.

"Monsters" - Professor T (feat. Royce)

For this week’s Song of the Week, we are proud to present Castle of Ink’s “Taking Over” from their Find Yourself album. Castle of Ink is a Pittsburgh rock trio that includes vocalists Destinee McCallister and Raynard Lucas as well as guitarist Robert Rose Thompson. Lucas said that the band tries to make each song impactful with a story, and that “Taking Over” is no exception. “We wanted a song for the underdogs,” Lucas, who is a 19-year-old Lincoln/Homewood native, said.

"Taking Over" - Castle of Ink

For our Song of the Week, we are proud to present Controlled Chaos’ “Stop Procrastinating.” Controlled Chaos is a duo composed of Lighthouse MCs Lucid and Prophet who started making music together in 2016. The duo’s name was given to them by Lighthouse peers and staff based upon how their personalities mesh together. They created the song two years ago as a fitting follow-up to their first song, “Always On My Grind.” Both Allie and Holt say that the song’s hook comes from their own experience creating music. “The only thing stopping us from getting on our grind is procrastinating,” Holt says.

"Stop Procrastinating" - Controlled Chaos

For our Song of the Week, we are proud to present “Erase,” a collaboration by multiple Lighthouse Project participants. Featuring Surreal, Na’chelle Simone, Destinee McCallister, Prince G, Omneye, Price Tag, and Prophet, “Erase” fuses RnB and Hip-Hop while talking about moving on from a relationship. Omneye, whose real name is Brea Deanda, says her inspiration for the song came from a person neglecting her. Calling her writing process “relieving,” Omneye hopes people can connect with the song. “There’s not something specific I want them to take away; I want them to feel their own emotions for it,” she says.

"Erase" - YMCA Lighthouse Project

For our Song of the Week, we are proud to present “Make Me Wanna Holler.” The song was created as part of an intergenerational collaboration between Lighthouse youth and the Homewood Y Silver Sneakers. Featured on the song are youth artists Surreal and Yusef Shelton alongside community elders Ms. Paula, and Ms. Carroll. “Make Me Wanna Holler” is a soulful song about social change. Singing about “rising from the ashes”, Surreal wants listeners to know “that it's okay even if things don't go your way, shake it off and try again!”

Make Me Wanna Holler

This past February we discussed the legacy of MLK Jr. and it's relationship to our ideas about freedom. Subsequently, we recorded a podcast conversation and a collection of poems, reflecting on what freedom means to us. This is the edit of our podcast that we are submitting to NPR's Student Podcast Challenge.

Featuring:
Jah'liyah Smith
Taneiya Young
Azadiel Watts
D'Nico Perryellis
Tyree Allie

Poems by:
Lynque Holt
Keimoni Wesley
Cornel Collins

Recorded at the Lighthouse Studio at the Homewood-Brushton YMCA, Pittsburgh

Lighthouse Freedom Project Podcast

For our Song of the Week, we are proud to present Time Flies by Anomaly ft. Brea Deanda. Anomaly a.k.a. Jory Strothers is a 18-year-old who lives in the Hill District and attends Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy. Jory joined Lighthouse earlier this year and brought with him a passion for music, drive and a catalog of songs ready to record. Speaking on a past relationship, he says about Time Flies “I wrote the song for a special person in my life, during a time when a lot of negative things were happening in my life… she was the main thing that kept me going. When I was with her, time didn’t feel like it was real.”. Speaking on collaborating with Omneye, “The first day I came here I heard Brea sing and all I was thinking was Time Flies. Once I let her hear the song it was like magic.” You can stream the song for free below!

Time Flies - Anomaly (ft. Omneye)

Homewood Revolution, commissioned for the Homewood Experience campaign. Written and performed by Brea Deanda, Manny Deanda, Taneiya Young. Produced by Armstead Brown. Mixed by Herman Pearl. Trumpet by Dave Gardner.

HOMEWOOD REVOLUTION feat. Brea Sanger, Professa T and Manny Deanda

Written and Performed by Jordan Montgomery and Live from the City
Produced by DJ Thermos and Jay Card.  Bass guitar by Anthony Molinaro.  Mixed by Herman Pearl

UPLIFT feat. Jordan Montgomery X LiveFromTheCity

HOME - INEZ X NaChelle Simone X Yusef Shelton Da First (prod. by INEZ)

The YMCA Lighthouse mission is to develop young people that are creative, connected and ready for college and career. Based inside the Homewood-Brushton YMCA in Pittsburgh, the Lighthouse Project is a safe and exciting place for young people to explore their interests in music, film, photography, art and fashion. In each of our arts programs, experienced teaching artists empower young people to find their voice while building technical and transferable skills that position them for success after high school. Each arts program combines project-based learning, critical analysis and creative expression in ways that stimulate curiosity, build community and transform youth in confident, creative leaders.

Popular tracks by YMCA Lighthouse