We Sing for Ukraine

An alumnus of the Explosonic Rockers Street Jazz Theatrical Troupe (currently MWAH! Performing Arts Troupe) is featured in a rap segment of a special song by the Soul Children of Chicago focusing on the people of Ukraine.  

The rapper, Andre Locke, now from the Minneapolis, Minnesota area who spent his younger years on Chicago’s West Side when he became a key part of the traveling troupe, has collaborated with videographer Andrew Tyler of Tylerman Films LLC in the production of the inspirational video.  Andre Locke, well known for his rap music business in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, in turn has collaborated with Steve Brewster, another Explosonic Rockers alumnus who now lives in Wichita, Kansas, in the design of Andre’s rap album covers. 

Steve and his partner, Kenda Chairs, have developed a thriving air brush business in Wichita, but also are devoting much of their time in addressing the needs of victims of such local tragedies as homicides and suicides.

Andre Locke’s son, Amir, on February 2, 2022, was a homicide victim when shot by Minneapolis SWAT Officer Mark Hanneman during a no-knock early morning raid on the apartment where Amir was sleeping.  No warrant had been issued for Amir’s arrest, and, following weeks of protests, charges against Officer Hanneman were dismissed.

Andrew Tyler, the video producer, was born in North Lawndale, the Chicago neighborhood near where Andre Locke lived, and later became well known as a Twin-Cities ‘Bad Boy’ on the Paris Tyler Show.  His film company has taught inner-city youth and college film students and has sponsored an annual film festival at Cantigny Park in Wheaton, a western suburb of Chicago.