DJ Qbert: Qbert Skratch University Tour Guide
QSkratchU.com Site Walkthrough w/DJ Qbert
Via Crate Kings.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
DJ Qbert Launches Skratch University for Scratch DJ's
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QSkratchU.com Site Walkthrough w/DJ Qbert
Via Crate Kings.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
DJ Qbert Launches Skratch University for Scratch DJ's
Marc Lamont Hill - Beats, Rhymes, and Classroom Life
I recently added new titles at Hip Hop Research and one that caught my eye was Marc Lamont Hill's Beats, Rhymes, and Classroom Life: Hip-Hop Pedagogy and the Politics of Identity.
There's been a a lot of grassroots action connecting hip hop and education so it's nice to see some legitimizing work coming from a hot shot in the academic research establishment like Dr. Hill.
HHCF: West Coast Chess Kings & Queens Oct. 10th 2009
The Hip Hop Chess Federation is holding the West Coast Chess Kings & Queens event in the Bay Area in October. Check back June 15th for registration and more info.
DJ Qbert and ArtistWorks have announced the launch of Qbert Skratch University, an online education center for the art of scratch dj'ing and turntablism:
"Qbert presents a comprehensive video curriculum online, from the most basic skratching techniques to the advanced "battle tactics" that made him the 3-time DMC Champion. QSU members use ArtistWorks' proprietary VMS (Video/Media Management System) to send DJ Qbert a video of their practice session that he reviews and then posts a response video on the site. The Student Video and Qbert's response are uniquely paired on QSU as "Master Classes" for the entire community to learn from."
"Qbert invites multiple Guest DJs and related professionals to share their insights and techniques with the student body, making QSU the most comprehensive and influential Skratch education program available to DJs today."
ArtistWorks specializes in distance learning platforms for musicians who teach.
Official Site: Qbert Skratch University
Yvonne Bynoe - Encyclopedia of Rap and Hip-Hop Culture
This has been a light week at ProHipHop between cable outages forcing me to use an excruciatingly slow dialup connection and the peaking of my allergy season. So I gave it the triply whammy and spent the day working on Hip Hop Research.
If you hadn't noticed my previous post on this project, basically I'm developing a blog-based book list of academic studies of hip hop with a few high quality related journalistic and photographic volumes thrown in for good measure.
I'm happy to report that I added the 51st title today and it's pretty impressive, not for what I've done but for what researchers giving serious attention to hip hop have accomplished. You can see the full list in the right hand column of the blog.
Though I'm working on this project as a first step towards an annotated bibliography, i.e. a reference book that a library-oriented press would put out, I think the blog itself will be a great tool for students, educators and researchers interested in hip hop. In particular, it's a very easy way for students dealing with sceptical teachers who don't realize that a lot of serious work has been done in this area to show that hip hop is a legitimate object of study.
The evidence speaks for itself unless you're dealing with a problem faculty member. In that case, best of luck!
Special thanks go out to MV at Hip Hop Lives for suggesting some newer volumes of which I was unaware.
I also discovered that The Hiphop Archive's website has greatly improved since the last time I checked it out. Of particular relevance to Hip Hop Research is the Hiphop University: Working Bibliography.
Hey, if you have an appropriate place to mention Hip Hop Research, please do. I think it's ready for folks to start spreading the word and it will only be useful if folks hear about it!
A Hip-Hop Chess Federation pilot program at Ryan Academy High School in Norfolk, Virginia, developed by Lisa Suhay, made it into the Christian Science Monitor:
"Every one of my students learned to play chess this year. What's more, they all began to think more clearly and often, and think before they acted. Achievers blossomed and borderline drop-outs are now making the honor roll and are seriously thinking about college and jobs that do not involve fries or result in an orange jumpsuit and leg irons."
These kids are also facing financial challenges that may block their educational dreams and have come up with a novel response:
"Thanks to chess, these children have become critical thinkers. Determined, they held a mini "war room" discussion. They decided that their best strategy to get out of this corner, and help others do the same, was to promote awareness, raise money, and to "go for the king." Their move? Challenge President Obama and the White House staff to play them and the students at O'Connell School [in San Francisco] in a game of chess – at The White House."
More when I hear it!
Honeywell and NASA today announced the Spring 2009 FMA Live! tour featuring the sweet blend of hip hop and science:
"The innovative, traveling hip-hop science concert will reach over 16,000 students during its 10-week, 19-city tour of the United States. Named for Sir Isaac Newton's second law of motion (force = mass x acceleration) FMA Live! uses professional actors, original songs, music videos and interactive science demonstrations to teach middle school students Newton's three laws of motion and universal law of gravity."
Official Site:
FMA Live!
For the last few years I've intended to start work on an annotated bibliography of book-length academic studies focused on hip hop. Because such projects can be quite tedious, it's been easy to put off but I'm feeling the need to connect my hip hop blogging and my academic background and so I've launched Hip Hop Research as a way of kickstarting the project.
I'm going to keep things fairly simple at first and then build as I go.
In addition to some initial book posts, I've also posted a downloadable version of a paper I wrote for a collection development class I took a few years back while earning my MLS.
It's definitely a paper for a class but it may be useful for folks interested in what was out there and readily available at the time.
If you are an academic doing hip hop research, please contact me via the Hip Hop Research blog.
Though the annotated bibliography will focus on book-lenth projects, I'm open to posting or letting researchers guest post information on academic papers they've done for conferences or for publication.
I'm not planning on doing such research myself but I think such a project can help legtimize an emerging field while helping me tie some loose ends together.
St. Paul's McNally Smith College of Music is launching a Hip-Hop Studies Diploma program beginning Fall 2009 which is said to be the "country's first accredited college-level diploma devoted to the study of hip-hop music and culture."
From the announcement:
"The diploma course spans three semesters, which can be completed in one calendar year...Toki Wright, a much honored emcee and organizer, is the coordinator for the new degree program and will be one of its prominent instructors."
"Courses in music (including music theory), the language of rap and spoken word, music history (from the African diaspora to hip-hop's origins in the South Bronx in the 1970s to today), recording technology, rhythm studies, and the music business make up the core of the diploma's curriculum. Students will develop creative writing skills, learn techniques in beat production and engineering, as well as undergo hands-on experience in the art of DJing and turntablism. They will also get an in-depth look at the behind-the-scenes aspects of hip-hop in the music business..."
"In addition to Toki Wright, McNally Smith's faculty...members who will be teaching in the new diploma program include Dessa (a member of the Doomtree crew and published author), Sean McPherson (bassist and leader of the band Heiruspecs), Joe Mabbott (an engineer and producer for numerous projects, including multiple Atmosphere releases) and others. This well connected faculty will also bring in prominent guest speakers from the world of hip-hop."
"...As part of the Hip-Hop Studies Diploma program, graduates will complete a final project that includes a recording project, a live performance and a portfolio that includes a business plan. This final project will bring together each of the different areas of expertise in the hip-hop business learned through the program."
Over at Hip Hop Press:
Rhymesayers to release Toki Wright album 6/9
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Toki Wright: A Different Mirror Album Art
Cleaning 101 Rap Video
According to an announcement from the Soap and Detergent Association, the above educational video by members of Mrs. Kaz Wright's fifth grade class at the Somerset, New Jersey's Sampson G. Smith Intermediate School earned them the 2008 Top Classroom Award as part of the Healthy Schools, Healthy People: It's a SNAP program. Students Kyle Sims and Samuel Abbey wrote the lyrics and, I assume, are the two rappers in the video.
The kids get a two day, all expenses paid trip to Washington, DC with an awards ceremony. That's a cool prize. I'd love to hear their real freestyles on the tour bus!
The Soap and Detergent Association, a non-profit trade association, is sponsoring the trip and collaborates with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the School Network for Absenteeism Prevention which emphasizes education about hand hygiene.
Superstars for the I Will Graduate Campaign
The Entertainers 4 Education Alliance is utilizing star power to encourage kids to make a pledge to stay in school over at Bragster.
From the press release:
"Through an awareness campaign on E4EA.org and an interactive bet on Bragster.com, Entertainers 4 Education Alliance (E4EA) and Bragster will challenge one million students to pledge to graduate from high school and pursue higher education by voting "I Will Graduate," "I Will Help A Student Graduate," or "Both," and students can leave their stories or comments on the discussion board. In addition to the bet, Bragster will donate one dollar ($1.00) for a maximum of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) for students who sign up for Bragster and participate by voting in this bet."
If it's a bet I can't participate because I don't gamble but I like the fact that they have an "I Will Help A Student Graduate" option.
Sadly, and this is on the real, the only kid I know right now that could really use my help graduating is too focused on doing time and he doesn't even know it. I keep meaning to track him down and hang out a bit so I can see that beautiful smile one more time before prison wipes it off his stupid face.
But I digress!
Over at YouTube:
E4EA on Bragster.com
Bow Wow and Omarian [sic] - E4EA
[Note: Catty remarks about Omarion's hairdo, people who done already graduated, Lil Mama's tendency to slump forward when she does these video shoutouts and the fact that the previous contest on this YouTube channel was for a World Record Cigarette Smoking Competition have been removed cause it would be wrong to leave that stuff in.]
The Wire: The Complete Fourth Season
I recently saw the 4th season of The Wire and enjoyed it greatly. It's a wonderful show much lauded for its "realness" which is, in part, due to series creator David Simon's days as a police reporter for the Baltimore Sun. His work on The Corner revealed his serious ability to connect research and art and The Wire took much that was learned in creating that painful show to produce a meaningful and commercially viable product.
That's pretty darn hard to do. So the glaring "fakeness" that pervaded Season 4's portrayal of educational research was particularly disturbing though it certainly didn't undermine the show as a whole and was probably accepted by most folks as real due to the public's general misconception of such research.
Much of Season 4 focuses on the educational system and uses the twin examples of an educational research project conducted in the schools and a new teacher transitioning from another career.
The new teacher stuff is great and makes me wonder if David Simon is a fan of such education writers as Herbert Kohl and Jonathan Kozol.
But the tale of the educational research project starts with bullsh*t and uses that bullsh*t approach to fuel specific moments in the narrative in what is a dishonest manner out of keeping with David Simon's work and reputation.
Since my PhD is from the College of Education at Ohio State University, I've studied with some of the world's leading educational researchers and had peers who went on to do some serious research work in public schools.
I've also been involved with grant writing and know a bit about how that works for educational research grants.
When the educational researcher is introduced, he's the kind of guy who would be out of touch with the streets. That's not necessarily a bad portrayal but it's combined with the claim that he got this huge grant without actually having a clue about who he was going to research.
For the everyday viewer that probably all fits together. However, for anybody with any knowledge of how such grants work, it's obvious that this researcher would have had to have done some sort of pilot study that would have identified the population to be studied prior to applying for the grant. He would have already been in there and would have written the grant only after doing the "what the heck am I doing here" part.
Nobody gives out that much money to people who haven't done pilot studies and nobody lets you switch gears so radically from one age group to another without a lot of explanation back at the Foundation or wherever the heck the money came from.
On a related note, if you recall the first interview in the jail where the young man wilds out and can't even comprehend the questions, you'll be remembering a moment of drastic ethical code violations that could have cost this guy the grant and given him a huge amount of bad publicity as well as likely disciplinary action from his university if such behavior was uncovered.
Social scientists are not allowed to interview subjects who have not been fully informed of what's going on and who can't show that they are informed. Getting around that is very difficult these days and certainly the interrogation room interview was in no way acceptable to any university's review board.
For more on that topic, please see the Institutional Review Board webpages for Philadelphia's Temple University. It's run of the mill, standard stuff for the most part and is the kind of thing fully discussed in everyone's first graduate research courses in all fields involving human research.
Basically the initial scenes with the educational researcher were completely unconvincing and inaccurate. Yet the general public's view of academics as disconnected from reality and research as a shell game means they probably bought into these inaccuracies.
I will say the portrayals of the young researchers, who assisted the head researcher and the heart-warming cop, were well done. There are a lot of strong young women coming through doctoral education programs who can conduct themselves successfully in multiple worlds and I was glad to see their strong characters.
I love The Wire for its truth.
I am deeply saddened by its lies.
A Texas State University student chapter of the Hip Hop Congress convinced the University to put out a mixtape to represent the University and to recruit new students. Given the current environment that's a pretty bold move that shows some understanding of the different varieties of hip hop on the part of school administrators.
So Hip Hop Congress members created a mixtape called Texas STATEment that's not only been popular among the high school target audience but among Texas State students and locals as well.
One performer said that:
He knew the mix would be a popular giveaway to high school students. "It's more unique than a T-shirt or a coozie," he said. "What I didn't anticipate was the reaction here in San Marcos and the university. People are crazy for it."
Around 4,000 mixtapes were distributed in physical form and it has also been made available for free download at:
www.purevolume.com/hiphopcongress
Not only does the University have a popular recruitment tool that's spread far beyond the typical reach of such materials but the artists have been getting a positive response and interest abroad via the free download. Sounds like a serious win/win for everyone involved.
So now the Office of Student Affairs is a record label too?
Roxanne Shante in Beef III
In Beef III Roxanne Shante talks about the clause that forced her label to finance her education all the way through the doctoral level at a cost of around $175,000. That probably makes her one of the major financial successes of the early years.
Via Playahata.com.
PSA for ED in '08 featuring Kanye West
Early last week Kanye West and ED in '08 announced a partnership with a number of elements including Kanye West PSA's:
In addition to the PSA campaign, both West and his mother, Dr. Donda West, have committed to a joint upcoming appearance with ED in '08. West's latest CD, "Graduation," will also be given away at http://www.edin08.com/ through online activities.
The Kanye West Foundation (KWF) was established in 2003 to motivate youth to stay in school and graduate. Its signature initiative, Loop Dreams, uses music production to motivate youth to remain encouraged and excited about learning.
ED in '08 is an unprecedented up to $60 million nonpartisan movement, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, which calls on all presidential candidates to improve America's public schools and make education reform a top priority on the campaign trail.
There have actually been a number of programs using hip hop to reach youth at risk in local settings for many years with more on the way. Another example that I've only recently heard about is the Global Awareness Through Hip Hop course.
It would be great if someone created a central clearinghouse for information on such programs. That would provide an extremely useful tool for legitimizing and expanding this work.
Video via Nah Right.
Official Sites:
Ed In '08
Kanye West Foundation
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