Words Beats & Life inc. is a Washington DC based hip-hop non-profit working to "transform individual lives and whole communities through elements of hip-hop culture."[1][2] Founded as a hip-hop conference in 2000 at the University of Maryland, College Park, Words Beats & Life separated from the University to become a separate organization in 2002, officially incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in 2003.[1][3] Words Beats & Life works with the community by teaching, convening, and presenting hip-hop through the Urban Arts Academy, the Cipher, and publication of the first peer-reviewed academic journal of global hip-hop culture.[1][3]
Words Beats & Life Academy edit
According to The Washington Post, the Words Beats & Life Academy “aims to transcend the familiar beats and rhymes and use hip-hop as a catalyst to change lives.”[4] Starting as a Saturday program, the Academy grew into an afterschool and summer program that serves 150 students during the year and up to 300 during the summer.[1][5] Classes are taught by practicing artists, who serve as mentors for their students.[2] Youth, ages 5–23, participate in pre-vocational arts programming to hone skills in graffiti and visual arts, B-boying, DJing, and emceeing. In addition to skill mastery, the urban arts academy focuses on self-awareness and employability, using hip-hop as a platform to engage students in learning, building community, and thinking about their futures.[1][4][6] For example, emceeing helps students sharpen public speaking skills, and DJing connects students to technology and engineering.[7] Visual arts skills are used to paint murals and Words Beats & Life has worked in conjunction with the DC Government on the Murals DC project, which aims to redirect the energy of graffiti artist to legal projects to beautify the city.[8]
Words Beats and Life Experiences edit
Scratch, Sip & Paint
Graffiti
DJing
Hip-Hop Tea Party
Walking Mural Tour
Bike Mural Tour
Concrete and Roses
Chocolate Milk and Butter Crunch
Creative Economy Career Pipeline edit
Creative Economy Career Fair(s)
Summer Youth Employment Program
Alternative Spring Break
Like a Boss
The League
The Cipher edit
The Cipher is a national network, connecting institutions, organizations, and individual artists and scholars using hip-hop as a medium to promote social change.[1][9] Traditionally, hip-hop organizations are often absent from conferences and symposia in their respective fields, and therefore working in isolation.[9] Through publication of a peer-reviewed academic journal and an annual Teach-in, Words Beats & Life works to bring together scholars, educators, artists, and activists who use hip-hop as a tool for social change in a discussion of how to work together as a community and maximize the collective capacity to make change.[9][10][11]
The Journal edit
Words. Beats. Life: The Global Journal of Hip-Hop Culture is the first academic peer-reviewed journal of hip-hop studies, also showcasing the talents visual artists and poets in the field. Combining art and scholarly work intends to present a dialogue between different mediums. Featuring established intellectuals and artists in the field as well as previously unknown individuals, the journal is a resource for hip-hop scholars and non-profits, representing current developments in the field.[12][13] The Journal is published twice a year with the goal to promote dialogue and interaction between artists and scholars within the DMV.[14]
Vol 1 Issue 1: Inaugural Issue
Vol 1 Issue 2: The Art of the Name Drop
Vol 1 Issue 3: Where My Girls At?
Vol 1 Issue 4: Poetry, Hip-Hop, and Global Revolutions
Vol 2 Issue 1: Golden Era of Hip Hop
Vol 2 Issue 2: One Day it Will All Make Sense
Vol 3 Issue 1: The Blueprint for a Movement
Vol 3 Issue 2: Bootleg This Journal
Vol 4 Issue 1: It Ain't My Fault
Vol 4 Issue 2: The Sex Issue
Vol 5 Issue 1: I Am
Vol 5 Issue 2: Untitled
Vol 6 Issue 1: Who We Are
Vol 6 Issue 2: Brazil
Vol 7 Issue 1: Spaces and Places
Vol 7 Issue 2: Street Lit
Vol 8 Issue 1: South Africa
WPFW 89.3FM edit
Live @ 5
Words Beats & Life Radio
The 5th Element
Published Poets edit
Malachi Byrd
Kenneth Carroll III
Fine Lines: Mural Program edit
Baltimore
U Street
Signature Events edit
DC Youth Poet Laureate
Words Beats and Life Festival
Chinatown Block Party
The Fresh Ball
Juste Debout
La Belle Hip-Hop
Bum Rush the Boards is an annual hip-hop chess tournament created in 2005 as a more inclusive alternative to traditional chess tournaments.[1] Named after Public Enemy's 1987 album Yo! Bum Rush the Show, the tournament aims to connect the hip-hop generation to chess as a model of “overcoming through strategic struggle.”[15][16] In addition to chess matches cultivating strategic thinking, the event includes workshops about the elements of hip-hop culture and how they related to STEM fields.[17][18]
Remixing the Art of Social Change is an annual teach-in hosted at Howard University since 2007, bringing together organizations, artists, and scholars that use hip-hop culture to promote social change.[11][19] Through roundtables, panel discussions, film screenings, and workshops that build on the efforts of the previous teach-ins, the event showcases work being done and creates a network for individuals and organizations to connect and advance how hip-hop is used as a medium to promote positive change.[11]
The Freshest of all Time is DC's largest B-boy/B-girl jam featuring prominent b-boy crews from DC, Maryland, Virginia, Philadelphia, Boston, and New York. The battle drew more than 600 people in 2009, and 800 in 2010.[20][21][22]
Remix Award Winners edit
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Awards edit
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External links edit
References edit
- ^ a b c d e f g "Words Beats & Life Presents Seventh Annual Bum Rush the Boards Chess Tournament" Mixed Media District. 17 April 2012.
- ^ a b "Hip-Hop Culture: Q&A With Cory Stowers, Art Director for Words Beats & Life inc." Jennifer Vinson. Pink Line Project. 19 November 2010.
- ^ a b "Transforming Individual Lives and Whole Communities Through Hip-Hop" Words Beats & Life. 2011.
- ^ a b "Urging Youths to Step Up to Life's Opportunities" Juana Summers. Washington Post. 2 October 2008.
- ^ "Spotlight On. . . Mazi Mutafa" DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. 2010.
- ^ "The Academy" Words Beats & Life. 2011.
- ^ "Impact Awards" Lehrman Foundation. 2011.
- ^ "Tagging Rights: Have the nonprofits, art galleries, and party planners who fete D.C.'s graffiti scene also tamed it?" Jonna McKone. Washington City Paper. 9 September 2011.
- ^ a b c "The Cipher: Organize. Provide. Convene. Present. Words Beats & Life. 2011.
- ^ "WBL Teach In 2012 Recap" Amy Joseph & Magee McIlvaine. Nomadic Wax. 12 July 2012.
- ^ a b c "Remixing the Art of Social Change @ Howard University" Mark Anthony Neal. New Black Man (In Exile) 3 July 2012.
- ^ "Words. Beats. Life: The Global Journal of Hip-Hop Culture June 9th" Penn English. 2012.
- ^ "Words Beats & Life: The Global Journal of Hip-Hop Culture" Words Beats & Life. 2011.
- ^ Tate, Jef (2012). Words Beats & Life. Washington D.C.: Words Beats & Life. pp. ii. ISBN 978-0-9788971-6-1.
- ^ "Bum Rush the Boards Hip-Hop Chess Tournament" Jeff Winkler. Washington City Paper. 17 April 2009.
- ^ "Bum Rush the Boards. . . Hip Hop Chess!" Daaim Shabazz. The Chess Drum. 14 April 2009.
- ^ "Bum Rush the Boards tournament mixes chess and hip-hop" Kathleen Hom. The Washington Post. 20 April 2010.
- ^ "Bum Rush the Board Chess Tournament" Words Beats & Life. 2011.
- ^ "Remixing the Art of Social Change" Words Beats & Life. 2012.
- ^ "The Freshest of All Time: 2 on 2 B- boy/girl Jam" Words Beats & Life. 2011.
- ^ "2011 DC Hip=Hop Theater Festival" Hip-Hop Theater Festival. 2011.
- ^ "Freshest of All Time" Rhome Anderson. the Washington Post. July 2009.