Saint John hip-hop artists shoot video on Partridge Island

The video for the song"Feels Like (One More Time)" by hip-hop artists U.D.A. opens with young men sprawled in a sun-drenched field and laying lifelessly among crumbling, concrete ruins

The camera pulls back to reveal a rocky coastline familiar to many Saint Johners: a Celtic cross, abandoned radio tower, and the boulders of the breakwater to Partridge Island.

The video, by local hip-hop group U.D.A., which stands for UnderDogg Alliance, was shot on the abandoned National Historic Site during the summer.

"We come from such a small part of Canada," says U.D.A. rapper Ben Boudreau, 26, bornand raised in Saint John's North End.

"This side of the country is the underdog, so that's where the name comes from."

The video was shot and producedwith a 15-person team directed by Fredericton filmmakers Devon Murrin and Chris McIntosh.

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Group took safety measures

The video depicts the group, composed of Boudreau, Stefan Wood, and Christian Rowe acting out mock-violence in the island's abandoned buildings and underground tunnels once used to store ammunition for naval guns.

The island, which belongs to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, is notofficially, at leastaccessible to visitors.

Many trespassers have been rescued on the site by the Coast Guard over the years after falling on the breakwater or getting stuck trying to return at night.

Although the day on Partridge Island is "absolutely beautiful," as Boudreau put it, "safety was a concern" during the video shoot. He adds the team brought first aid supplies, water, and fully-charged phones.

"I think that people need to get out and explore New Brunswick, and start checking out little spots like Grand Mananand Sussex," said Boudreau.

"There's so many cool things to use as props, backgrounds, and setting. Everywhere in new Brunswick has its own little spots to showcase."

Positive and negative sides of Saint John

Boudreau says the lyrics, which explicitly discuss sex and partying, are "based on our experiences in Saint John, the good and bad stuff that goes on."

That being said, Boudreau adds, the songs "always end on a positive note. There's crazy stuff that goes on in this little city and we want to talk about that, but also trying to better ourselves."

The main idea behind the video, he says, isn't to glorify dangerous stunts, but to showcase a under-represented region, and the common experiences of young people who live there.

"I don't think it's good to isolate and ignore parts of your city, especially ones that have so much heritage," Boudreau said.

"If you're going to complain about us going there, you're going to have to complain about all the videos [online] of people doing dangerous stuff," said Boudreau.

"We all grew up running across the breakwater and running back, and in the video we wanted to get that setting that everyone in Saint John knows," said Boudreau.

"I think people should just focus on the fact that we made an artistic project using the city as a background."