Dive Brief:

• Rapper Drake built a $75,000 recording studio at a struggling Philadelphia public high school this past summer, and it will finally open for use now that multiple months of searching have helped find the right teacher to run it. 
• The decision to build the studio at Strawberry Mansion High School came after the musician watched an ABC News special on the challenges, such as tight budgets and violence, that students within the school faced.  
• Drake gave a private concert to the school in October, at which the Huffington Post reports that he said, "This is about you. This is about your principal. This is about your future. I love you. I care about you. I want to see you succeed."

Dive Insight:

According to the Huffington Post, none of the equipment is super fancy, but rather "offers basic music technology and guidance to a population that might not otherwise have access to it." Arts education has long been diminished within the cash-strapped Philadelphia Public Schools, so this gift does more than just give students the opportunity to record their music or learn about music production—it brings a creative energy back to the campus. 

Reportedly, when the production class began last month with new teacher Ben Diamond, there weren't many students signed up. However, when the principal played a class-created song on the campus PA system, students realized what they could do and the principal said "about 50 teens signed up."