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A group of high school students in St. Paul, Minnesota, found some surprising new partners in their own fight against gun violence: other high school students more than 1,100 miles away.

The students from St. Paul's High School for Recording Arts and Philadelphia's Hill-Freedman World Academy on Thursday debuted their song "Philly (This Is Our City)" and a music video they wrote and produced together.

"It's trying to show a united force between cities and people, peers, to show we can do something cool and positive," St. Paul student Stone Willians explained. "We don't acknowledge the amount of culture and street art and dance and music that comes from this. It's not this crime infested thing, it's a beautiful community full of beautiful people that have a culture rolling."

The group of eight total students -- four from each city -- said they drew inspiration from each respective city's "hometown classics," including Prince's "Sign O' The Times" in the Twin Cities and The O'Jays' "Message in Our Music" in Philadelphia.

"My music is my lifeline, and when people value it that much it becomes more genuine and more true," St. Paul student I'yani Dozier added. "We're all Black youth and we're growing up in a society that has multiple sides to it."

The students visited each other five times over the last two years; their school principles came up with the idea to collaborate after first meeting at a networking event.

"This project shows the power of young artists when they come together to make music that matters," said Tony Simmons, Executive Director of High School for Recording Arts. "'Philly' isn't just a song -- it's a movement inspiring schools to connect young people across regions, empowering them to use their voices to uplift their lives and communities. That's what schools should be."

The group plans to release six more songs as part of the project.

St. Paul high school students debut song to fight gun violence, produced with Philadelphia peers