One of the things I love about New York City’s underground hip-hop scene is that it extends beyond music and into community. In fact, most of the local hip-hop artists I know are teachers, educators, mentors or involved in the community in some form or fashion. This is best illustrated through Urban Art Beat, a music and art based workshop directed at under-served youth in NYC. Above is a video about Urban Art Beat.

I really love what Wise Intelligent is doing with his Intelligent Seedz – a Trenton, NJ based organization that focuses on helping at-risk youth express themselves through art and film. Get The Lead Out is a song from Intelligent Seedz’ upcoming documentary, “Dying to Learn,” which examines the effects of lead on inner city children.

Greenbrier, AR – High energy. Dancing. Hip-hop music. Teachers getting cream pie in the face. Students driving dragster race cars. Not the usual way to learn science by any stretch of the imagination but certainly a very effective way.

Sixth-grade science teachers Paul VanEvera and Debbie Moreland brought a hip-hop science concert to Greenbrier High School for a unique learning experience for sixth- through ninth-grade students. In two 45 minute programs, Middle School children traveled to the high school to be a part of and learn from an award winning hip hop science education concert. About 700 students attended both concerts. (more…)

Tacoma, WA – From an open doorway on Tacoma’s Pacific Avenue comes an insistent hip-hop beat. In the darkened interior of the club, a circle of teenagers watches as each takes a breakdancing solo. In other rooms kids are sketching, spinning turntables and listening to headphones with a fierce focus. It’s all part of a Saturday morning L.I.F.E. class, run by local hip-hop organization Fab-5 – and for some of these teenagers, it’s turning their lives around. (more…)

 

Northfield, MN – St. Olaf student Andrew Wilson ‘11 has been named a Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation Scholar for 2009-10 and 2010-11. Wilson was one of only six private college students selected this year to receive the $15,650 scholarship that he will use to launch a community outreach project titled “Hip-Hop Anonymous.” (more…)

Mansfield, OH – Forget Mother Goose and nursery rhymes, preschoolers at Madison Early Childhood Learning Center are taking learning to the next level. On Thursday, Brian Holland, a first-grade teacher at Pickerington Local Schools, brought “Hip-Hop-ademics” to the Bahl Avenue school, using rap music to get students on their feet.

Through his fun lyrics and energetic dance moves, Holland was able to incorporate preschool state standards into his program. (more…)

Tumwater, WA – Derrick Brown, a sophomore at South Sound High School, said the hip-hop music he created and performed used to be about “gangs and drugs and stuff.” But Brown, who took part last week in a music workshop to create a performing group and CD focused on making good choices, said his own current experiences in substance-abuse recovery already has become of part of the music he creates.

He said that the True North Music Mentors program was a natural fit for him. “I’ve been changing my style and what I write about,” Brown said. “I feel like this program can spread that message.” Several dozen students from high schools in Olympia, North Thurston and Tumwater districts collaborated on hip-hop tracks in a music academy last week. (more…)

Washington, D.C. – Although for many youths in the Benning Road area, hip-hop is the soundtrack of their lives, the Urban Arts Academy aims to transcend the familiar beats and rhymes and use hip-hop as a catalyst to change lives. “Hip-hop is your life,” Goldie Deane, the academy’s director, tells students. “It’s not the only thing in your life, but it’s a resource for many things in your life.”

Hip-hop as a musical genre is generally defined as vocalization over mixed music and beats. But hip-hop also describes a culture that branches out to include rapping, DJ skills, art, fashion and break dancing. It’s a collaborative culture that evolves as new generations add their interpretations to the lifestyle and the music, which is said to have had its roots in the Bronx. (more…)

San Diego, CA – Stop the Traffick Jam, a Hip Hop concert to protest sex trafficking, will be presented from 7 p.m. to midnight Sept. 27 in the Price Center East Ballroom at the University of California, San Diego. Admission is $10 in advance and $12 at the door. The goal of the benefit concert is to raise awareness about the dangers of sex trafficking, pimping and prostitution through the use of hip hop. Co-sponsors of the concert are the UC San Diego Women’s Center and GABNet San Diego.

According to news sources, proceeds will benefit the Purple Rose Campaign against the sex trafficking of Filipina women and children, an international project of GABRIELA Network ( GABNet ), a U.S.-Philippines women’s solidarity organization. (more…)

Hip hop has entered the housing crisis. In a news press conference held today in New York, members of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN), including hip-hop pioneer and network cofounder Russell Simmons, announced a joint initiative called “Get Your House Right!” to provide solutions to the mortgage and foreclosure crisis for young Americans. Russell announced the initiative with HSAN Cofounder, President and CEO Dr. Benjamin Chavis and Valeisha Butterfield, HSAN executive director.

“Get Your House Right!” is a homeownership tour that kicks off in New York City and is supported by corporate sponsor Genworth Financial. It works with professionals from the financial, mortgage and homeownership arena to educate Blacks and Latinos on the long-term benefits of homeownership in America. (more…)