One young Bermudian has made his rapping debut not through a manager or a music company, but by teaming-up with an anti-drink driving advocacy group. Richard Zuill is only 17 years old, but he has already been touched by tragedy on the roads when a friend died in an accident last year. When he was asked to rap at the funeral, he composed 'She Cryz' which will now be part of a campaign for the Centre for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention (CADA).

Richard, who records under the name RRZ, aka Ricky Z, said while he writes a lot, the rap for the funeral just "exploded" after he started thinking about who was affected by road fatalities.

"One day someone asked me to rap at the funeral of a friend of mine. I didn't have any material so I started to think about how he died and how it affected everyone," he said. "The three people I thought of was the mother, daughter and wife and from there the song just exploded."

Richard not only raps the message, which is not to drink and drive, but also lives it. Though he is 17, Richard has never desired a bike and will wait until he turns 18 years old in September for a car.

"I refuse to ride a bike because it's not always your fault," he said. "While I follow the rules of the road, I don't know what the person behind me will. I take the bus, which means I just have to wake up 15 minutes earlier or 30 minutes earlier now with all of the traffic."

Working nights at the Paraquet as a bus boy, with writing as a hobby on the side, Richard is also studying at Bermuda College to become a chef and hopes to be leaving for Johnson and Wales University next year to pursue this ambition. His three-minute and 55-second track, 'She Cryz' will be the first he has ever released. Timid about his talents, the teenager attributes the release of the song to his mother who encouraged him to contact CADA.

Anthony Santucci, the chairman of CADA, said by working with Richard and using his song, the advocacy group will be able to reach young people in a language they understand. "We just started airing the song (last week) on the radio and it will be aired in the run-up to Cup Match and for the two days of the holiday," Mr. Santucci said, "We have limited funds because we are a charity, but we have put it on as much as possible. "