Philly artist KUR visits Saul High School to encourage attendance

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Philadelphia hip hop artist KUR returned to his alma mater, Saul High School, Monday to encourage students to show up every day.

KUR surprised the school's more than 450 students with backpacks, T-shirts and school supplies to encourage students to start the year on time and continue the effort throughout the year.

"You never know how your words touch somebody," said KUR.

Philadelphia-area lifestyle brand retailer Snipes USA, KUR and the School District of Philadelphia launched the ongoing commitment.

In Saul High School's cafeteria, KUR surprised students like senior Carmelo Fortye.

"My hope for my senior year is I want to pass with great success. I'm hoping to shoot for all As," Fortye said. "His music, it kind of touches you in some way, he has inspirational music."

The idea follows a spring 2023 visit to Saul when KUR distributed free tickets to students to the third of his three shows at the Theater of Arts, which had sold out in two weeks.

The ticket giveaway was an incentive for students taking the state-required Keystone Exam standardized assessments, resulting in an increased percentage of students who passed the exam.

KUR's independently released album THURL, which came out in February, reached 14th on the Billboard charts.

"There was one lady here that used to work here and told me, 'You got it. You got something.' And that's all I really needed to hear for real for real, and that pushed me to do music," KUR said.

KUR graduated in 2012.

"This year he's working with us on attendance, so having KUR here on the first day of school is huge. It gets the kids excited. It gets kids in the door and realize we're gonna have an amazing year together," said Gabriel Tuffs, vice principal at Saul High School. "My goal will be to have 75% of the kids here 95% of days or more."

The surprise was inspiring to students like senior Cameron Santesse.

"It gives you a feeling in your body; it really motivates you to just be better, and whether you listen to his music or not, someone came out of the school and achieved greatness," said Santesse. "They achieve something good, so if I come out of the school, I should be able to achieve something like that and do good in my life."

For KUR, Monday was about using his music to inspire the next generation inside and outside of the classroom.

"I just wanna push the needle forward. To make that change, and it starts with me. I can't do everything but I can do what I can do," KUR said.