East Lansing, MI - Who says science doesn’t turn people on? Kate McAlpine is a rising star on YouTube for her rap performance - about high-energy particle physics. Her performance has drawn a half-million views so far on YouTube.

The 23-year-old Michigan State University graduate and science writer raps about news of the Large Hadron Collider, the groundbreaking particle accelerator that has been built in a 27.35km circular tunnel at the CERN laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland. McAlpine raps that when the collider goes into operation on Sept. 10, “the things that it discovers will rock you in the head.” (more…)

Killeen, TX - On his next mission, he won’t be using his strength to leap over buildings in one single bound and he can’t fly, so forget about traversing the globe in mere seconds. But Daniel Helvetius, an amiable third-grade teacher at Saegert Elementary School, is transforming into his alter ego – DJ Vicious – to impact his community and change the world, one block party at a time.

DJ Vicious is spinning his ones and twos to bring people together, tear down stereotypes with clean lyrics and to have a good time in the process. According to news sources, Helvetius is hosting a Back-to-School block party Aug. 23 at Harker Heights’ Carl Levin Park from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. (more…)

Salisbury, NC - Hundreds of children have bags full of school supplies courtesy of a local hip hop group. Untouched Entertainment put a notice in the local Post news offering free school supplies Thursday at sites in East Spencer and Salisbury. “People are having hard times,” said Kenney Coney, one of the five members of Untouched. “We wanted to help out.”

The turnout was nearly overwhelming. More than 300 children turned out at the Kujimani After School Program at 207 S. Long St. “We ran out of everything,” Coney said. No problem. The band members, including Coney, Domonek Wilder, Steve Frost, Terrence Gooden and Lamont Tucker, made a quick trip to Wal-Mart and reloaded. (more…)

In a news press conference yesterday, elected officials called on banks to stop financing the purchase of New York City apartment buildings at inflated prices, citing the sale of 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, in the Bronx, which had been rejected by city regulators, as an example of a irresponsible transaction.

Earlier this year, the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development had rejected the sale of 1520 Sedgwick, which is widely considered to be the birth place of hip-hop music, earlier this year to an investment group involving Mark Karasick, saying that the financing for the estimated $9 million purchase price is not viable under the current rent restrictions. (more…)

A new generation of song producers is poised to reignite the city’s musical legacy — not in a studio booth, but at the YouthVille Detroit community center. About 30 youngsters in a weekly music production class learned firsthand tricks Wednesday from nationally recognized Seattle-based producers Vitamin D and Jake One.

The two producers, who have worked with hip-hop group De La Soul, rapper 50 Cent and singer Mary J. Blige, played some of their beats and answered questions about breaking into the beat-making side of the music industry. The sponsor, Red Bull Big Tune, has taken the program several cities across the country, from Las Vegas to Philadelphia. (more…)

Toledo, OH - Things were hoppin’ in Toledo Saturday, hip hoppin’ that is! The third annual Hip-Hop Humanity Festival got folks moving in downtown Saturday. This year’s theme is teens promoting peace. Organizers say the festival was the perfect place for many local teens to show off their talents and give the community a positive image of young people in Toledo.

More than 320 students took part in a 1.3-mile peace march in downtown Toledo yesterday in the third annual Hip Hop for Humanities festival with the theme “Teens Promoting Peace.” It was sponsored by Toledo’s youth commission. The march was followed by performances by local 11 to 19-year-olds, including dancing, singing, poetry readings, and a gospel group. (more…)

Goldsboro, NC - A hip-hop artist and motivational speaker told more than 70 children at the Boys & Girls Club this past week that they have great mental powers. And to capitalize on them, they just need to stop selling themselves short. “If you do one to two hours of homework per day, you are guaranteed to be a B-student,” said the artist known as Nubian Scholar, HIP HOP Guru of Self-help & Personal Development. “There’s far more good than bad in the world. If it was not true, we would all be killing each other right now,” he said.

Nubian Scholar came to the Paylee Unit of the Boys & Girls Club from Washington, D.C. at the request of Eastpointe’s System of Care Director Phyllis Greene. She found out about him when he did a presentation in Rocky Mount. She looked him up on the Internet and was impressed with his message. She invited about 30 children from Wayne and surrounding counties to join the Boys & Girls Club members as they gathered in the Learning Center to hear Nubian Scholar. (more…)

While 40,000 or so Bon Jovi fans were desperately trying to pack themselves onto the Great Lawn Saturday, hip-hop heads (and their kids) made their way to Empire Fulton Ferry State Park for a more laid back free concert: the 4th annual Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival.

Beyond encouraging appreciation of classic and independent hip-hop, the event host organization, Brooklyn Bodega, tried to promote activism. The festival sought to demonstrate the connection many are trying to revitalize between involvement in hip-hop culture and political and social empowerment, with moderate success. (more…)

A comic book requires at least two things, a good guy and a villain, but it also helps if there is a message to go along with the story. This is the case for the new locally released comic book series, “The Legion of Health.”

The Legion consists of seven core characters who represent different aspects of healthy living. The characters range from Brainiac, who represents research, to Suga Free, who represents nutrition. There is even a character representing the series creator, Dr. Rani Whitfield, also known as the Hip Hop Doc. However, his character isn’t even his favorite from the series. (more…)

Milwaukeeans may remember Speech for his community-conscious music as the founder and producer of the Grammy Award-winning, alternative hip-hop group Arrested Development. Speech, whose real name is Todd Thomas, never forgot his Milwaukee roots after finding musical success. That’s good news for Summerfest-goers, who have come to depend on a tradition started by Speech’s father, Robert Thomas: Robby’s Roasted Corn.

When his father suffered a stroke several years ago, the Rufus King graduate stepped up to keep the family business alive. Speech, who lives in Atlanta, purchased the business in 2005 and has returned to Milwaukee every year since to oversee his family’s corn business during the 11-day lakefront music festival. He even works his travel schedule around Summerfest. He’s currently touring with Arrested Development in the United States, Europe, Australia, Asia and the Middle East. (more…)