We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Antoine Mapp a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Antoine , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?

I can not tell you the full story of West Powelton by starting where I started cause that was not the beginning. It began in 1991 with My Grandmother Elsie Wise known to everyone as Nana. She wanted to help the youth in the neighborhood by putting an end to all of the fights and trouble that they were getting in, so she asked them what they wanted. Eventually they came back and told her that they wanted to start a drill team, with the help a broken down drum set from the neighbor boys, and someone who was already running their own drill team. That was when the West Powelton Steppers and Drum Squad was born.

We traveled, won numerous competitions, became the first Drill team to enter Battle of the Bands, performed at the Apollo, She would the organization on trips including Disney World. She took kids that would normally not get these opportunities and show them that there is more to life than the street life. The kids grew up to become leaders in the community, teachers, Deputy Sheriffs, Business owners and advocates.

The organization was not about making money more so changing lives and giving the youth hope and a chance for a better future.

Antoine , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started with the organization at the age of 11,during that time it was not so much an option as an obligation to family. Being a drummer was not cool during those times and I could think of 100 other things that I would rather be doing. But during that time I learned discipline. I learned that it was about more than what people think about you, it was more than running the streets. The squad became a family, life long relationships were created. I met my wife through the program and the obligation a passion and carried over into the decisions I made in my life. I got a degree in accounting from Chaney University, after I was still apart of the squad and working in the accounting industry until Nana began to get older and it was harder for her to keep up with the day to day. I left my job to take over the program.

In 2014 we became the official drumline of the Philadelphia 76ers, we have been featured on Nickelodeon, ESPN. we have won 2 Emmy’s, We have performed everywhere from birthday parties to opening for Grammy winning artists, performing for the President of the United States.

In 2020 we took a hit not only with the pandemic but we lost our founder and the heartbeat of the organization.

That was the first time that I was unsure what the future held, it was a hard time but then we began to get calls for performances and people telling us how much it would mean for their loved one to have us perform at their birthday party. It reminded me of the reason the organization to give hope and that meant to more than just those in the program. We were providing hope to those that were stuck indoors, That lost love ones themselves and we were doing it to honor Nana.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

As we have grown and adapted over time we saw the need for change and that was when The Wise Way was birthed as an idea for the future though the name has changed many times the mission has not. We want to create an afterschool program for the youth that has little to no cost so those that are not fortunate enough to afford some programs will be able to learn a trade, learn about financial literacy. They can join the squad if they want but will not have to. We will highlight mental health to fight the violence in the city.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

The funding for our organization comes from performances, we run like a non profit all of our staff are volunteers and all of the money earned goes into the program and the youth, We work hard to keep everything running, it is hard sometimes but we remember what we do it for and keep going.

Contact Info:

• Website: westpoweltondrummers.com
• Instagram: @westpowelton @sixersstixers @livinglegends.sts
• Facebook: west Powelton
• Linkedin: Antoine Mapp