Hip Hop Summit 3 in the Stamford Advocate

[Othello repping the Nauts]

Teachers and teens mine the message of hip hop By James Lomuscio Posted: 03/01/2009 07:58:28 AM EST


STAMFORD -- Joe Celsis and Dave Wooley are the d_Cyphernauts, a hip-hop group that formed in 2000 in the South Bronx.

They also are English teachers at Westhill High School, where they hosted the third annual Westhill Hip-Hop Summit on Saturday. It's aim is to set the record straight about the cultural value of hip-hop.

"I got involved in hip-hop in its infancy, and back then the most powerful rappers were rapping with a message," Celsis told students and performers in the school lobby Saturday afternoon.

Even rap groups such as Public Enemy and Slick Rick served up themes such as crime doesn't pay, he said.

"There was always the message that in the end there was a heavy price to pay," Celsis said.

But today, the hip-hop messages aimed at social activism have been lost to a music industry more interested in turning profits than artistic themes, many at the summit said.

"I'm not saying there are not pockets of creativity in rap," chimed in Armando Acevedo, aka Sketch the Cataclysm, a 27-year-old hip-hop emcee from Bridgeport. "But it is not being put out. The radio isn't working for us. It tends to have a one-sided view of what the music should be."

Celsis choreographed how some artists have their lyrics corrupted by music companies that feed the poetry into a computer program that will determine potential sales based on how many times terms such as derogatory words for women are added.

The discussion, titled "Rap Activism," was one of a dozen workshops held during the event. They were followed by hip-hop performances by 17 groups, including student artists and the event's sponsor, Ant Farm Affiliates.

"I'm used to this," said Ricardo Delice, a Westhill junior, who performed "Special Delivery" by G. Dep.

As he mingled in the Westhill lobby, Ricardo said he performed in several rap competitions for prizes around the city. With him was Steven St. Jacques, aka Little Stevie, who planned to perform "Number One Spot" by Ludacris.

Other workshops focused on production, lyric writing, break dancing, "DJing and Turntablism," and beatboxing.

"It's kind of a holistic thing to teach kids about the hip-hop culture," Wooley said. "It's not just about the music. It's about the literary element, and it's about careers from podcasting to being an entrepreneur.

"There's more to hip-hop than what you hear on the radio," he added.

Crescen "Protege" Coggins and Taylor "Spaz" Wells, who led the workshop on lyric writing, offered a straightforward message: To be a good hip-hop writer, you must listen to good hip-hop.

"It's no different from any other kind of writing, whether you're writing a book or a paper, a book or a speech," said Wells, who works as a truck driver. "It's bleeding onto a page."

Wooley said 100 people attended the first summit, a number that swelled to 250 last year.

He said he expected a bigger turnout for this year's event.

As Westhill's lobby filled, Claudia Obas, the school's dean of students, seemed excited about the event's prospects.

"Three years ago when Joe and Dave came to me with the idea, I was skeptical," she recalled. "But my job here is to find innovative ways to reach the kids."

With approval from the principal, Obas oversaw the first Hip-Hop Summit in 2007.

"The first Hip-Hop Summit blew my mind," she said. "The students also get to see how all of the things they learn in the classroom relate to it."

[SNARE]

Original article link:
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/ci_11813571
&
make sure you Digg it :)
http://digg.com/music/Teachers_and_teens_mine_the_message_of_hip_hop_The_Advocate

[Sketch Tha Cataclysm]

I love that they spelled "emcee" in that way too lol

[Mo Niklz]

Cool this is probably my favorite AFA article and nobody dissed Little Wayne.

[Sketch Tha Cataclysm]

excellent. . . nice coverage. . .

I have no idea how it happens, but every time I end up in a newspaper article a quote gets attributed to me that I didn't say lol. . . at least it was a partially what I said. . . good stuff. . . the summit was a blast