Beats Bus ‘elated’ after KCOM caravan competition win

The youth music-making group came top in a public vote as part of a competition organised by KCOM to create new versions of the classic Housemartins hit.

Beats Bus, whose mission is to raise the aspirations of children from disadvantaged backgrounds and give them a brighter future through music, polled more than 700 votes after recording their own hip-hop style version of the song.

Beats Bus founder Steve Arnott said it was a hugely enjoyable experience taking part in the competition and breathing new life into the classic track.

He said: “We felt elated and proud when we found out we’d won. We knew we’d done a great version of the song. We were hoping we would do it justice - and we feel we definitely did.

“We loved adding our own hip-hop twist to a pop song, even more so because the Housemartins are a famous band from Hull that we like.”

Steve said the £1,000 prize money would now go towards helping the Beats Bus on the road and building for the future with a range of initiatives to help inspire local youngsters.

He said: “We will put some aside to pay for our Beats Bus youth outing for when it’s safe to do so. We’ll also purchase equipment and Beats Bus merchandise t-shirts or hoodies for the tutors and youths.  

“Our plans for the future include mentoring more young people and building more partnerships with local and national organisations.

“After the success with our No More Knives music video in 2019 we’re looking forward to making our new "County Lines" educational music video in partnership with and funded by the Humberside Police and Crime Commissioners Office. The release date for that is planned around beginning of 2021.

“We’re also looking at piloting our Hip-hop School of Excellence in 2021 which will create alternative education provision for young people that have been excluded from school.”

Also taking part in the competition alongside Beats Bus was Freedom Road Creative Arts, Humberside Police Brass Band and Hull Community Voices who all created their own unique version of the Isley Brothers-penned chart topper.

The three runners-up will all receive between £250 and £750 for taking part to go towards their own groups’ community initiatives.

To listen to all four groups’ distinctive versions of the Caravan of Love click here.