Posts Tagged ‘hip hop’
Bay Area fans say goodbye to rapper Nipsey Hussle
Nipsey Hussle was only 33 years old when he passed away, but left behind a legacy of building community from LA to the Bay Area and beyond.
Read MoreOakland rapper Jahi holds lecture on the history of Hip-Hop
During his lecture at the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland on Friday night, Oakland rapper Jahi cited a rhyme from artist Erykah Badu: “I was born underwater With three dollars and six dimes You may laugh, but you did not do your math.” “Three dollars and six dimes is 360 degrees,” Jahi explained…
Read MoreGrammy-nominated hip hop group Alphabet Rockers inspire children to be “woke”
The children’s hip hop group attended the 60th Annual Grammy Awards in New York, where they were nominated for Best Children’s Album.
Read MoreHeiro Day festival celebrates hip-hop and Oakland culture
Warehouses and industrial parks became the backdrop for some 35,000 hip-hop fans in West Oakland on Monday when a section of 3rd Street was blocked off for the 5th annual Hiero Day music and arts festival.
Read MoreHipHopForChange works to create a more positive image of hip hop
Jay runs a non-profit in Oakland called Hip Hop for Change. His goal is to create a more positive image of hip hop that does not reinforce the stereotypical images perpetuated by the mainstream music industry. “We’re trying to put our real image out there, so people can see our real culture, instead of making stereotypical tropes of our culture to entertain themselves with,” Jay said. “Those tropes that criminalize our black and brown youth.”
Read MoreSlain rapper The Jacka leaves legacy in the Bay Area
The hip-hop community is mourning the loss of the Jacka, 37, whose given name was Dominic Newton. For many, the death of the rapper also means the loss of a mentor to at-risk youth and young artists in the Bay Area.
Read MoreUsing rap and music videos, youth fight fast food addiction
Young artists, including rapper Alexis Johnson, create a music video warning fellow youth about the health dangers of fast food.
Read MoreQ&A with Hip Hop Chess Federation founder on partnership with East Bay schools
Banjoko once lived in Oakland and was a part of the ‘90s Bay Area Hip Hop music scene. Currently, he is teaching chess and life strategies to students at Encinal High School in Alameda through a partnership with his friend John Fuentes, who oversees the after school high school program for Bay Area Community Resources (BACR). From now to the end of this school year, Fuentes’ goal is to have Banjoko teach chess at several Oakland high schools as well.
Read MoreOakland nonprofit combines music, life learning
Oakland-based nonprofit Today’s Future Sound teaches music production to students in K-12 schools around the bay and beyond.
Read MoreAll-female dance collective, Mix’d Ingrdnts, brings waacking to Oakland
Oakland-based all-female dance collective, Mix’d Ingrdnts, incorporates various dance styles into their routines, including hip-hop, break dancing, samba and waacking – a style of dance from the 70’s that involves moving legs and arms to music beats.
Read MoreHiero Day honors Oakland hip-hop scene
With Mayor’s endorsement in hand, Oakland hip-hop collective Hieroglyphics makes their way out of the underground.
Read MoreWomen and hip-hop: A discussion in downtown Oakland
On Friday, the Betti Ono art gallery in downtown Oakland hosted a panel discussion about women and Hip-Hop. The “My Art, My Culture: Women, media, and Hip-Hop” three-part discussion was the product of the combined efforts of a number of Bay Area arts organizations including Beats, Rhymes, and Life, which uses Hip-Hop to empower young people, and the Daughters of Dilla Project, which offers media arts programs for girls.
Read MoreToday’s Future Sound teaches kids coping skills … with a beat
Dr. Elliot Gann is standing in front of his beat-up and stickered black Mazda Protégé in the parking lot of West Oakland Middle School. In his left ear is a Bluetooth earpiece, which, as he eats a Trader Joes sandwich wrap, enables him to lament to a friend the parking ticket he just received. To…
Read MoreA Lovely Day: A new documentary highlights Hip-Hop therapy in local high schools
In 2009, Tomás Alvarez III sat at his desk as a group of nine teenagers filed into his classroom at Oakland High School. This was the fifth year of his Beats, Rhymes and Life program, which uses hip-hop music as a form of therapy for at-risk teenagers. Alvarez began the class in the usual fashion,…
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