Essex County Teens Compete in Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey's Statewide Drug Prevention Music Competition

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ – Three Essex County musicians has been named a finalists in the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey's (PDFNJ) New Jersey Shout Down Drugs competition.

Kalib K. Adams of Elizabeth, Jamari Hall of West Orange, and Rahmele K.S. Mincey of Newark, students at Essex Campus Academy are three of 30 students who were selected as finalists in the statewide New Jersey Shout Down Drugs music competition. The initiative challenges high school students to create original music with lyrics that contain powerful peer-to-peer substance abuse prevention messages. Adams, Hall and Mincey’s original song, “Don’t Do Drugs” was selected as the Essex County finalist out of numerous entries from across the state.

The finalists, selected through an online vote and judging panel, represent 14 New Jersey counties and will compete for $10,000 in music contracts.

The public can vote for Adams, Hall, and Mincey’s song on www.shoutdowndrugs.com. This site features profiles of this year’s finalists and allows the public to cast votes for their favorite songs. These results will be factored into the finalists’ scores on the night of the concert.

Kalib K. Adams, Jamari Hall, and Rahmele K.S. Mincey will perform their original song “Don’t Do Drugs” at the 12th Annual New Jersey Shout Down Drugs music concert presented by the New Jersey Broadcaster’s Association, on May 25, 2016, at the Rutgers University Nicholas Music Center in New Brunswick. Master of Ceremonies will be 1450 WCTC radio talk show host, Bert Barron.

Tickets are free of charge, but must be reserved at www.ShoutDownDrugs.com or 973-467-2100 x19. FINALISTS’ PHOTO AND INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.

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Best known for its statewide anti-drug advertising campaign, the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey is a private not-for-profit coalition of professionals from the communications, corporate and government communities whose collective mission is to reduce demand for illicit drugs in New Jersey through media communication. To date, more than $70 million in broadcast time and print space has been donated to the Partnership’s New Jersey campaign, making it the largest public service advertising campaign in New Jersey’s history. Since its inception the Partnership has garnered 127 Advertising and Public Relations Awards from National, Regional & Statewide Media Organizations.