Song of the Week Collection

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

“Lights On” - Blow Ya Mynd

This is the first song chosen for YMCA Lighthouse Project's Song of the Week series.

"Jump City (Radio Version)" - Ether the Infinite

"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 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)

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.