HIALEAH, FLA. (WSVN) - Ludacris surprised hundreds of students at a South Florida school with thousands of dollars worth of musical instruments, thanks in part to a foundation that’s helping the rapper “play it forward” ahead of the Super Bowl.
7News captured Ludacris as he made an unexpected visit to Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High School, Wednesday.
For students, this wasn’t something they experienced every day.
“I’m ecstatic. I have honestly no emotions. I can’t even put it into words. I’m just so excited, so grateful, so blessed,” said Michelle.
“Speechless. That is insane,” said Gabriel. “I was sitting in the crowd. Completely caught me off guard.”
One would think a visit from a renowned hip-hop artist and actor would be exciting enough, but that was before the surprise guest revealed why he was there: to give $75,000 in musical instruments.
“You can feel the energy. You can feel how much love there is in this room,” said Ludacris, “not only for their band director and their band teacher, but surprising them and giving them $75,000 worth of equipment, which is obviously something great to boost confidence. It feels phenomenal. It feels great.”
StubHub and Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation teamed up in 2015 to put millions of dollars in instruments into Title I schools with strong music programs, and they found the perfect partner in Luda.
“I have to pay it forward, man. I always have to lead by example,” said Ludacris. “I always say, with great power comes great responsibility, and I literally just landed about an hour ago, and this is the first place that I came to.”
But there’s more! Ludacris surprised Kevin Segura, the school’s band director, with two tickets to the big game.
“It’s a very happy day for us,” said Segura.
As for the generous donation, Segura said it means the world to the entire school and staff.
“This means, you know, that we’re actually going to have music education here at HML,” he said. “You know, because of budget cuts, we don’t have the instruments that we need for all the kids.”
Students could hardly contain their excitement.
“Honestly, it was crazy. Like, I’m sill speechless about it, especially with the instruments,” said Juan. “Just seeing Ludacris. I’m very excited.”
“It means so much to the program, so that we can expand, so we can grow, so we can do more, so I’m really, really happy about it all,” said Michelle.
For Ludacris, this is a personal endeavor. He brought along his mother, who heads the Ludacris Foundation. The foundation also supports children in Atlanta.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.