Scots comedy icon Karen Dunbar is set to take her rapping career to new heights, embarking on a musical mission to turn a group of Glasgow grannies into lyrical supremos.
In the one-off BBC documentary, Karen Dunbar's School of Rap, she follows Glasgow grannies Maggie, Susan, Wilma, Betty and Jean as they embrace their inner rap star and share their heartwarming life stories along the way.
Karen's musical challenge culminates in a performance at a local community centre where the ladies showcase their rap skills in front of a live audience.
Speaking about the show, Karen told the Daily Record: "This is a story about community, about friendship, about family and about how a thing like rap, poetry and spoken word can empower people to tell their own stories – no matter who they are or where they come from."
The actress and writer added: "The inspiration behind me doing this is that the older generation have some incredible stories to tell and I think nobody can live that long and not have a fascinating life, so I am acutely aware the wealth and breadth of experience in the older generation.
"I am 51 now and I can assure you I have some stories to tell so here we have women with 20 and 30 years on that who have led hugely enriching and very varied lives.
"I think we see that in the show but also in very subtle ways, we get wee peeks into that, so it is an absolute privilege to be involved in it."
When asked about the stories from the North Glasgow women that stood out, she said it was impossible to "single one out."
She said: "I'm not just saying this, but I couldn't single one out because the two things that came out of all of them women was the level of love but also the level of love they had and when you can touch on that in an appropriate and passionate way."
"It is really really powerful and there's a sense of responsibility that comes along with it as well and I think myself and Rachel [who directed the show] really did a good job on how to tell these stories with dignity - but of course a mix of dignity and fun," she laughed
Karen, originally from Ayr, launched a series of online rap workshops during lockdown to help vulnerable people in her community.
After watching DopeSickFly perform at the UEFA Euro fanzone at Glasgow Green in 2021, she reached out to the band to collaborate on outdoor writing workshops across Glasgow.
She said there was a huge "buzz" among the cast after filming ended and she was honoured to see the "deep friendships being made in real-time."
She added: "Aw what a buzz. I think collectively we all seen in the end the power of being able to express what it is you're feeling but just in a few short lines and how that allows the audience an easier access to what it is you're trying to say.
"Especially watching Betty to go from telling me she had just turned up to tell me 'she was no dain it' to then being totally carried away with it in the end that's the real gems in it and to see that transformation happen both as individuals and a group, they became totally connected it was like watching deep friendships being made in real-time."
Getting down to the nitty-gritty of the deeper meaning as to why the BBC production was made, Karen says she "knew in her gut" that something special would be made.
The comic said: "The aim of it was really, to see what we could do. I knew in my gut there would be something really special come out of this.
"I think it is really special there are so many different causes that are championed through this and inequalities trying to be righted, very little is really mentioned about ageism and the effects it has.
"You are not seeing any posters up in big corporate supermarkets saying 'fight ageism' and it wasn't intentional but I am hoping it raises awareness of the worth and value of older people in our communities and how much of a lifeblood, and how important they are to our history and culture narrative."
At the end of this month, the Scottish performer will be holding a show for Ayrshire hospice in Ayr townhall. Karen says the one-off BBC documentary she "hopes" is just the start of greater things to come as she confirmed there are plans to expand it further.
She has worked alongside around 30 different groups across Glasgow already for her rap workshops at Beats Therapy in what she says has "become my life now" over the past two years working alongside all ages from 11 to those in their eighties.
"I would love to try it in the corporate sector as a team building thing because I think it has real potential. In an office setting to take a group of co-workers or execs [laughs] I would love to do that, 'oi loosen that tie' it would break some barriers."
Elsewhere, Karen also runs a disco for older people as well for people over 30, but of course she says "anyone is more than welcome to come along, I hold those every three months. The next one is on Easter Sunday at Glasgow's Oran Mor, playing 70s and 80s music."
She joked: "It is from 7pm-11pm at night [laughs] so you'll still be in the house for Taggart."
We asked Karen the all-important question as she gets herself further involved in the rapping game, could she see herself next to Eminem? She was fairly tickled by the question.
"Don't know I would say I am quite up there yet but again, you know, he's not as funny as I am [laughs] but no I love the genre, love the sound of it, love writing it and of course love performing it so I have been really lucky," she said.
Karen Dunbar’s School of Rap is a 50-minute special for the ‘Loop’ arts strand, produced by BBC Scotland Productions. It will air on Thursday, March 23, at 10pm.
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