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.

With President Obama pushing to create millions of new “green-collar” jobs, being eco-conscious might not just be a good idea, it may become a lucrative one as well. But buying organic, starting your own garden and living the sustainable life can be expensive, and for many people, it might feel as though the green movement is a nice but unavailable crusade that has all but passed them by. (more…)

Dallas, TX – Healthcare remains a critical national issue yet first it is a personal one that requires an individual to be proactive. This July that issue of being proactive takes center stage as Rickey Smiley, Mayor Pro-Tem Dwaine Caraway, KBFB 97.9 The Beat, The City of Dallas and The MLK, Jr. Family Clinic launch their awareness initiative throughout the Metroplex with an annual event to educate the community on the epidemic of HIV/AIDS. The Second Annual Hip Hop for HIV concert will take place on July 12 from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Palladium Ballroom. (more…)

New Haven, CT – When Edo. G told hundreds of teenagers to respect the police, there were some audible snickers. Then he started rapping. Pretty soon the auditorium full of high-school students was on their feet with hands in the air, nodding their heads to as he preached nonviolence.

Hip-hop artist Edo. G, known offstage as Ed Anderson, performed at Yale on Wednesday along with another members of the Boston-based rap group, 4Peace. High school students from six southern Connecticut towns — including several New Haven high schools — filled Yale’s Woolsey Hall to hear Edo.G and his partner Twice Thou, a.k.a. Antonio Ennis. Through video, music, and questions and answers, the pair of rappers sent a message: stay away from guns and violence, or end up in jail. (more…)

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…)

Brooklyn, NY – The Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival is an annual event celebrating Hip Hop Culture and the borough of Brooklyn as a premier cultural destination. Now entering its fifth year, the BHF has become a staple of Summer in NYC.

This year Brooklyn Bodega and F.O.K.U.S. reunite to produce, Brooklyn Hip Hop Family Day. On June 20th, 2009, babies, toddlers, young teens and families are encouraged to head down to beautiful Empire Fulton Ferry State Park for an afternoon of Hip-Hop, community building, and fun. (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…)

There is nothing typical about Jorge Pabon. He may be a hip-hop D.J. and dancer from the mean streets of Spanish Harlem, but he keeps the lyrics clean and women dancers at arm’s length. As a teenager he emerged on the scene as PopMaster Fabel. But today he prefers to be called Shukriy, “the thankful one” — the name he took 20 years ago when he converted to Islam.

Now he is part of an “Islam and Hip-Hop” movement in the United States that is reaching out to Muslim young people via the hip-hop beat. (more…)

Detroit, MI - Joseph Penrod, a Commerce Township kindergartener, possesses a ravenous appetite and a spirited love of soccer and dancing. His mother, Marissa Penrod, is determined to keep it that way. In the year since Joseph was diagnosed with a form of muscular dystrophy, a degenerative disease that could rob him of his mobility, Penrod has become a fierce advocate for her son — and an overnight concert promoter.

After a chance meeting, Penrod and local hip-hop artist Hush came up with the idea of a concert to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Penrod hopes to sell 2,200 tickets to the Feb. 5 show at downtown Detroit’s Fillmore Theatre. In addition to Hush, the benefit will feature rhythm and blues band Hot Sauce and Southern rocker JoCaine. (more…)