Friedrich Nietzsche said , `` Without music , life would be a mistake . '' Music is a big part of many people 's lives . For some , music is life . Sean Forbes , 26 , started a nonprofit called D-PAN , or Deaf Performing Artists Network . But not everyone can have music in their lives , and one man is trying to change that for the deaf community . Sean Forbes , 26 , started a nonprofit called D-PAN , or Deaf Performing Artists Network , which creates American Sign Language-enhanced music videos . Forbes spoke with CNN 's Nicole Lapin about how D-PAN works . The following is an edited transcript of the interview . Forbes : Really , the story here of how the whole thing came up was , I was in a car with three girls , and I went to school at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York . So we took a road trip to Gallaudet University , and on this trip I was singing all of these songs to my friends . And it 's just something I 've been doing for a while . So I 'm signing all of these songs and all the sudden , a light bulb goes on above my head , when I 'm like , would n't it be cool if there were music videos with deaf performers in them , signing the song , signing the lyrics of the song . Watch Nicole Lapin 's interview with Sean Forbes » . That was really where the idea started from , and I instantly went back to RIT , and I had a friend make me a video of me signing an Eminem song and that 's how the whole thing really started . Lapin : Eminem , Christina Aguilera . You started translating really popular music videos , and tell me about these shoots , because this is a really big production you put on . Forbes : Yeah . I mean , we had hearing and deaf people behind the scenes creating this . We had interpreters ; there were probably about 20 people on the production set for these videos . Lapin : What was the reaction from some people in the deaf community that never experienced music before , never experienced it before you and D-PAN ? Forbes : For me it was just awesome to see all of these deaf people who have never been involved with music be involved in these videos for the first time . A lot of the people who are in the videos never experienced music before . So for them , it was just an awesome experience , and they were really thrilled to be a part of it . Lapin : And a lot of people on our Web site , CNN.com , are thrilled to be part of your experience , being introduced to your story . A lot of questions also came in ; I want to bring some to your attention . Ashley has this question for you Sean . `` Has anyone ever told you that D-PAN would not be successful and if so , how did you respond ? '' I 'm sure you had some haters out there . Forbes : I 've had , you know , I 've approached a few situations before where they did n't only tell me that D-PAN would n't be successful , but they told me that I would never be successful as a deaf musician . And I always laughed it off , because I knew deep inside of me , this is what I wanted . And I would n't let anyone tell me no , I would n't take no for an answer . So those people who told me no , look at me now .
Forbes , 26 , started a nonprofit called American Sign Language . D-PAN creates Deaf Performing Artists Network -enhanced music videos . Sean Forbes : ' A lot of the people ... in the videos never experienced music before ' Inspiration came during road trip when he was performing for friends in car .