EDMONTON -- An Edmonton rapper has put a new spin on an old school public service announcement from the nineties.
The well-known PSA from 1992 called "Don’t Put In Your Mouth" was created to stop children from accidentally poisoning themselves. It features two monster puppets singing about the dangers of eating objects if you’re not sure what they are.
Thug Shells, whose real name is Michelle Leus, and Ontario producer Vekked decided to remix the song to reflect the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"We wanted to send a positive message of stay safe, stay home and wash your hands, but we also wanted to make people smile because the world has been fairly weird lately," says Leus.
She says she used to sing the original song from the commercial as a kid, but it was her dog that inspired her for the remake.
"I was in the kitchen and he was eating something off the floor he wasn’t supposed to eat and I said, 'don’t put that in your mouth,' and I was like 'Oh my god,'" laughed Leus.
She quickly wrote the lyrics and asked Vekked to come up with the track. The two then shot a video from their respective homes where they included all the props they could find including, toilet paper, masks and even Leus’s ferrets.
“Trying to wash the ferret’s hands was the hardest part,” says Leus.
Leus says she was hesitant to put out a silly video and song but her friends convinced her to do it, telling her that it was her job as an artist to provide some light in a time of darkness, so she followed their advice.
“With the creation of this video we just have to continue to be happy, continue having hope, continue rising together so with this video I really wanted to spread some good.”
And she has more retro-inspired songs in her mind that she hopes to do while self-isolating.
“I really want to do a rerun of the big comfy couch. I think it would be really good,” says Leus.
