Tim Young and U Music: Turning SEL, Songwriting, and Gaming into Real Youth Development
When Tim Young talks about music, he doesn’t sound like a typical producer or songwriter. He sounds like someone on a mission.
“Music touches your emotions without your permission,” Tim said in his Village Talks conversation with host Damien Howard. “It’s a superpower, and it’s time to just use it in a more effective and efficient way.”
Tim Young is a producer, singer, songwriter, educator, and founder of U Music LLC, a music media company that builds custom learning experiences for young people and the adults who serve them. His work sits at the intersection of:
– Social-emotional learning (SEL)
– Youth development
– Music and media production
– Gaming and engagement
And his core question is simple: If music is this powerful, why did we stop using it to help people learn after early childhood?
In this Village Talks segment, powered by SELvie, Tim walks through how he’s answering that question in schools, nonprofits, and mental health organizations—and what it means for anyone serious about youth development.
From the Church to Corporate Training to Youth SEL
Tim’s path started in the church and continued through formal music education. But he didn’t stay in the traditional music lane.
He left school for a time to focus on the craft:
– Songwriting
– Publishing
– Producing
Over 20 years, Tim became a recording artist, manager of a music publishing company, and head of his own music media company. But something else got louder than the stage: the desire to use music in spaces where he wasn’t the one out front.
That turning point came in 2017.
Tim was working as a new hire trainer in a corporate setting. Instead of sticking to standard slide decks, he started bringing music into the training room.
It took off.
He built a program called “U Music Kids,” creating songs not just for formal curriculum, but for everyday lessons—things kids simply needed to know and remember.
From there, he moved into the nonprofit sector, then into a mental health organization where he now works. In each setting, he brought the same philosophy:
– Infuse SEL into music and media.
– Use the tools kids already love—songs, videos, games—to build real skills.
Today, Tim and U Music are designing spaces where youth can learn SEL through music and even video gaming.
Why Music and SEL Belong Together
Tim’s work with U Music is grounded in a simple belief: the arts are not extra. They’re essential, especially for social and emotional development.
He sees a problem many educators and youth workers recognize: arts programs continue to get cut from spaces that claim to be focused on youth development.
At the same time, we know:
– Young people make decisions based far more on emotion than on pure logic.
– Music is one of the strongest emotional drivers in their daily lives.
As Damien put it, people often react from “what I feel, right, in the moment.” That makes music a powerful influence—for better or worse.
Tim’s question: If music is already shaping how kids think, feel, and behave, why not use it intentionally to:
– Build self-awareness and self-management
– Support responsible decision-making
– Strengthen relationships and empathy
That’s where his framework comes in.
Building “REP”: Retention, Engagement, and Performance
At U Music, Tim uses a simple phrase to describe what he wants to help organizations build: REP.
REP stands for:
1. Retention – Can youth and staff actually remember what they’re learning?
2. Engagement – Are they emotionally connected and willing to participate?
3. Performance – Does the learning show up in how they act, think, and respond?
Music is the vehicle.
Tim’s point is practical, not theoretical: we already know music helps kids remember things. We use it in early education constantly. ABCs. Days of the week. Basic routines.
Then, somewhere in upper elementary and middle school, we stop.
“The biggest question that I have always is why do we stop using music to educate and retain? It stops after early education and I just don’t understand that,” Tim said. “I feel like I was put on this earth to change that.”
With U Music, he’s doing exactly that—by creating customized audio libraries that align directly with what organizations want young people to learn and practice.
Inside the “Audio Learning Library” Model
Tim doesn’t show up with a one-size-fits-all playlist. U Music’s approach is long-term and deeply customized.
His ideal partnership is at least six months to a year. In that time, U Music acts as an in-house music and media production team.
Tim calls the result an “audio learning library.”
Each organization gets:
– Its own custom playlist
– Songs tied directly to its values, goals, and curriculum
– Content that exists only in that setting
Standard curriculum providers can offer lessons and frameworks. U Music adds something different: a game-changing way to retain and live those lessons.
And the work stretches across different environments.
In Nonprofits: Anthems and Identity
One nonprofit partner in Chicago worked with Tim to reconnect a siloed organization.
The CEO wanted to:
– Rebuild morale
– Create a shared sense of identity
– Unite staff across multiple sites
Tim’s solution: co-create an anthem.
U Music facilitated:
– Summer songwriting classes
– Music video sessions with youth
– A collaborative process that involved staff and young people
The final anthem didn’t just sound good—it revitalized the organization’s culture.
In Schools: Turning Test Prep into a Song
Tim’s also worked inside schools and districts. One concrete example: the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) exam.
At his son’s school, leaders shared test-taking tips they wanted students to remember:
– Strategies to stay calm
– How to manage time
– How to approach questions
Tim turned those tips into a song.
He:
– Wrote and produced the track
– Made his son the artist on the song
– Created a lyric video and put it on YouTube
Students listened to the song every day before the test.
“It did well,” Tim said. The kids were excited. They sang along. The test tips stopped being abstract advice and became something they could carry with them.
Again, the pattern is clear: when you attach skills and strategies to music, you increase the odds they’ll stick.
Aligning with Youth Culture: Music, Gaming, and Media
A key part of Tim’s work is refusing to ignore what kids actually enjoy.
He asks a direct question: If young people are already spending hours with music, video games, and digital media, why wouldn’t we use those same channels to build them up?
“There’s no reason why some of the things that our kids enjoy on a regular basis shouldn’t be used to better them versus kind of tear them down,” he said.
In his current role with a mental health organization, Tim and his team:
– Use music creation as an SEL and healing tool
– Integrate video gaming as a way to practice skills like self-regulation, focus, and collaboration
He’s not naïve about the content that’s out there. In fact, he’s blunt about it. Some of what youth consume in music and gaming undermines their sense of self and their perception of others—especially in Black communities.
Tim calls out how harmful narratives about Black women and Black men get elevated as if they’re “the norm.” He knows they’re not.
That’s part of why he’s so serious about what young people are feeding their “gates”—their eyes and ears.
“If I can change your perspective enough to realize I have to change what I feed my gates, man, I’m talking limitless possibility,” Tim said.
Challenging the “I Just Like the Beat” Lie
Tim has watched a pattern play out with his own sons and nephews.
When they were younger, they’d say, “I just like it because of the beat.”
But over time, he saw something else happen: they started rapping along, repeating lyrics, and absorbing messages that didn’t match the life he wanted for them.
“You don’t realize that you’re being hypnotized, brainwashed,” he said.
To push back, Tim writes songs that expose how the industry shapes priorities and identity.
He shared a concept from one of his tracks:
“First things first at a trap with a trap beat that is, then the mind will adapt to what will keep his pockets running strong. It’s all about money sing along. So as long as I’m getting it, I won’t admit it that this is a bad song.”
The point: if the beat feels good and the money seems to come, people will ignore the harm. Tim wants to break that cycle by:
– Naming the manipulation
– Offering powerful alternatives
– Giving youth a different soundtrack to live by
He believes that with the right resources and perspective, young people don’t always have to “leave and come back” to grow. They can see clearly now.
For Tim, This Is Personal
Tim often introduces himself as “first a child of God, a husband, and a father of three boys.”
That order matters.
His commitment to this work isn’t theoretical or distant. It’s tied to his role as a parent, mentor, and community member.
“The youth is… they need us,” he said. “I believe that the work that we’re doing here in this space is going to allow kids to really be loose from those bounds that keep you thinking, ‘I just like it because of the beat.’”
He’s not interested in complaining about the culture. He wants to change it—one organization, one song, one young person at a time.
What U Music Looks For in a Partner
U Music’s best work happens when there’s a real partnership.
Ideal partners include:
– Individual schools and full school districts
– Youth-serving nonprofits and mentoring organizations
– Mental health organizations working with youth
What they have in common:
– A clear commitment to youth development
– A willingness to embed music and media into their work
– Openness to a longer-term build, not a one-off assembly
When U Music comes in, they don’t just drop off prepackaged material. They:
1. Listen for the organization’s mission, culture, and goals.
2. Identify key messages, skills, and SEL competencies.
3. Develop original music, media, and sometimes gaming experiences that reflect that specific context.
4. Build an audio learning library that staff and youth can use repeatedly.
Behind the scenes is a team of producers, songwriters, and engineers able to work across genres and styles to meet each community where they are.
As Tim put it, “The sky is truly the limit.”
Tim’s Challenge: Remove Hesitation
At the end of his Village Talks segment with Damien, Tim left listeners with one final thought:
“No more hesitation. Whatever the vision is, whatever the goal is, pursue it with reckless abandonment. Trust the vision. Trust the work that is going to do everything it needs to do.”
He’s a living example of that.
He trusted the vision to bring music into corporate training.
He trusted the vision to build U Music.
He trusted the vision to combine SEL, mental health, gaming, and music for youth.
And now, he’s inviting others—educators, nonprofit leaders, mental health professionals, and parents—to do the same in their own spaces.
Bringing It Back to the Village of Support
Village Talks, hosted by Damien Howard and powered by SELvie, is rooted in one idea: youth thrive when the adults around them work together.
Tim Young and U Music are a powerful example of what happens when creativity, SEL, and a deep love for young people intersect.
If you’re building your own Village of Support around students, mentees, or community members, and you’re curious about tools that help coordinate care and learning across that entire village, you can explore more at SELvie.
To learn more about the work being done to coordinate care across the Village of Support, visit www.sel-plus.com/selvie.