DENVER — A young girl from Denver is using her music to help share an important message.
At just 9 years old, London Monroe Smith is using her new song, "Dance and Live," to help raise awareness about gun violence.
"It's important because we want to change the world and have peace and have fun," she said.
It's something London and her father, Marcus, witnessed firsthand when they were inside a Thornton Walmart back in 2017, when a deadly shooting broke out and three people were killed.
"I remember that we were in the back of the store, we heard really loud shooting and I looked at my dad and he looked worried. It was really scary, I didn’t really know what was happening but once I started hearing screaming I was scared," she said.
Her father, Marcus, who also used to be a rapper, said that traumatic event inspired him to write the song.
"To be shopping at a Walmart and have something like that happen was impactful on my life and London's as well. She didn’t wanna go into stores after that, she was scared. It was tough but we got through it," he said.
Marcus said he's currently working with the nonprofit Colorado CeaseFire to try to partner with schools and educate them about gun violence while also performing shows.
"I think its important that we continue to spread the message and positivity through the music," he said.
London's song, "Dance and Live" will be released on Dec. 14 on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes and YouTube. She said she hopes her message will go a long way.
"I wanna finish it and make it really good and put it out to the world and maybe change the world," she added.
More of Monroe's music can be found on her YouTube Page.
