August 4, 1999
Move over "Mormon Rap" and make room for "Down Wit' M.T.C."
That's the title of a new hip-hop song encouraging LDS youth to go on missions.
But, as Central Utah Correspondent Amy Westerby shows us, the man who wrote the song is not your typical returned missionary.
The LDS Church's Missionary Training Center sits quietly on the east side of Provo.
Though thousands of missionaries call this place home for several months, it's unassuming, peaceful, and this guy wants you to go there.
Song: "MTC, CAN I EXPLAIN IT, THINK I'LL FRAME BY FRAME IT."
This returned missionary, who wants to be known as Simone, has discovered a play on "letters" can go a long way.
His song, "Down wit' MTC", is a parody of "Down Wit' O.P.P.," a risque song from the late 80's.
Simone's version is cleaned up, but when he wrote and performed it at the M.T.C...
Simone: "THE BRANCH PRESIDENT WALKED IN AND HE LOOKED AT US, AND THEY-- THIS THING CALLED QUIET DIGNITY. AND HE LOOKED AT US AND SAID, 'ELDERS, IS THIS QUIET DIGNITY?' AND I JUST LIKE, 'OOPS! I GUESS NOT.'"
Simone went on to serve a mission in New Jersey.
He says he loved it and knew when he got back, he had to record his song to help the indecisive.
Simone: "I THINK THE SONG, WHEN YOU LISTEN TO THE WHOLE THING, ALSO HELP YOU REALIZE IT'S WORTH IT. IT'S NOT LIKE YOU'RE JUST GIVING UP 2 YEARS. IT'S AN INVESTMENT."
Simone is now working on another single...another rap riddled with positive messages.
Simone: "'SAVE IT TILL YOU'RE MARRIED,' THAT'S HOW IT GOES."
Amy Westerby/Eyewitness News: "SIMONE SAYS HE WOULDN'T HAVE HAD THE M.T.C. EXPERIENCE WITHOUT FINANCIAL HELP FROM LD-S CHURCH MEMBERS. SO HE SAYS THIS C.D. IS A WAY TO GIVE BACK THAT GENEROSITY. ALL OF THE C.D.'S PROFITS FROM SALES AT THE OREM MEDIA PLAY WILL GO INTO THE GENERAL MISSIONARY FUND."
Wiz Productions, out of Cedar Hills, produced the c.d. It sells for $6.
