Wake County Schools

Parents, students upset after controversial music video filmed inside Fuquay-Varina High School

A music video filmed by a local rapper inside Fuquay-Varina High School over the weekend is causing a stir among parents and students.

Posted Updated

By
Aaron Thomas
, WRAL reporter
FUQUAY-VARINA, N.C. — A music video filmed by a local rapper inside Fuquay-Varina High School over the weekend is causing a stir among parents and students.

Rapper Jonah Raine said he graduated from the high school in 2016. He said he’s always wanted to shoot a music video on school property, and he wanted to provide joy to people during the coronavirus pandemic.

"I was able to rent it through the [Wake County] Board of Education so it took like two months for the whole process to happen," explained Raine, who paid over $800 to rent the property.

"I told them there would be no illegal items. There would be no sexual activity, and they were mad because we had a loophole in that. We inferred to having a relationship with a teacher, and me, all I did was shut the door and wink," he added.

Now, the video isn't sitting well for some parents and students after watching it and hearing the lyrics.

"That [video] is very inappropriate," said one parent.

"They added a little extra 'spice' to their video," a female freshman student said.

Raine said that 'spice' was exactly what he was going for.

"I had this idea in December, and I was like, I really want to use a school," he said.

Parts of the music video show people inside classrooms and outside the building. It also includes profanity.

"I don't see the problem with [filming at the school.] Look at 16-year-old kids today. They are doing worse stuff than I'm doing," said Raine.

A Wake County Public School System spokeswoman said the district granted permission to Raine, but there were violations in the video.

“The producers of this video rented the use of the campus after misrepresenting their intentions. They did not follow the guidelines agreed upon in the contract, and as such, will not be permitted to rent any WCPSS facility in the future," the school district said in a statement.

Raine said he's prepared for any blowback he may get from the video.

"I've got a pretty good lawyer," he said. "As far as how I treated the property ... [there was] no damage to property, whatsoever. I cleaned up the classroom after I left."

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