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Rumble, DJ Akademiks and the hidden danger of platforming so-called “Hip Hop” provocateurs

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Dark money, billionaire financiers, and a relentless digital machine designed specifically to ‘mold’ impressionable youth to adopt a right wing ideology are finding new, previously unreachable targets — through Hip Hop.

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Hip-Hop Can Save America! with Manny Faces is a Manny Faces Media production, in conjunction with The Center for Hip-Hop Advocacy.

Links and resources:

Show website: https://www.hiphopcansaveamerica.com

Manny Faces: https://www.mannyfaces.com

Newsletter (free!): https://mannyfaces.substack.com

SUPPORT QUALITY INDIE HIP HOP JOURNALISM: https://www.patreon.com/mannyfaces

Manny Faces Media (podcast production company): https://www.mannyfacesmedia.com

The Center for Hip-Hop Advocacy: https://www.hiphopadvocacy.org

SPONSORS / FRIENDS

The Mixtape Museum: https://www.mixtapemuseum.org

Hip-Hop Hacks: https://www.hiphophacks.com

Hip-Hop Can Save America! is produced, written, edited, and distributed by Manny Faces.

Eternal thanks to Consulting Producer, Sommer.

Words, Beats & Life is a Hip Hop non-profit founded back in 2002. In its 20+ years, it has evolved and expanded, offering classes, workshops, showcases, festivals and conferences, not to mention creating the first peer-reviewed academic Hip Hop journal, and now, anointing the first ever ‘rap laureate.’ (SPOILER ALERT: It’s Lupe Fiasco.)

Under the leadership of founding executive director, Mazi Mutafa, WBL has created something of a blueprint for how a Hip Hop-based non-profit should operate. While they are primarily focused on the Washington D.C. area, it’s clear that their impact has been felt far and wide.

On the cusp of their 7th Words, Beats & Life Festival, Mazi joined Manny Faces for a conversation about all of these evolutions and revolutions.

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Hip-Hop Can Save America! with Manny Faces is a Manny Faces Media production, in conjunction with The Center for Hip-Hop Advocacy.

Links and resources:

Show website: https://www.hiphopcansaveamerica.com

Manny Faces: https://www.mannyfaces.com

Newsletter (free!): https://mannyfaces.substack.com

SUPPORT QUALITY INDIE HIP HOP JOURNALISM: https://www.patreon.com/mannyfaces

Manny Faces Media (podcast production company): https://www.mannyfacesmedia.com

The Center for Hip-Hop Advocacy: https://www.hiphopadvocacy.org

SPONSORS / FRIENDS

The Mixtape Museum: https://www.mixtapemuseum.org

Hip-Hop Hacks: https://www.hiphophacks.com

Hip-Hop Can Save America! is produced, written, edited, and distributed by Manny Faces.

Eternal thanks to Consulting Producer, Sommer.

Mentioned in this episode:

Sponsor shoutout

Zeps is an independent rapper / Hip Hop artist / event host from Brooklyn, New York who has brought his unique brand of artistry around the world, and into multiple business and entrepreneurship settings. While he continues to make music, his current focus is expanding the Rhymosaurs children’s book series that he created.

Hear how the streets of New York City — and of Europe — helped Zeps maintain his connection to Hip Hop culture, and deliver it to the delight of audiences all across the globe.

https://www.instagram.com/zepstergram

https://www.rhymosaurs.com

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Hip-Hop Can Save America! with Manny Faces is a Manny Faces Media production, in conjunction with The Center for Hip-Hop Advocacy.

Links and resources:

Show website: https://www.hiphopcansaveamerica.com

Manny Faces: https://www.mannyfaces.com

Newsletter (free!): https://mannyfaces.substack.com

SUPPORT QUALITY INDIE HIP HOP JOURNALISM: https://www.patreon.com/mannyfaces

Manny Faces Media (podcast production company): https://www.mannyfacesmedia.com

The Center for Hip-Hop Advocacy: https://www.hiphopadvocacy.org

SPONSORS / FRIENDS

The Mixtape Museum: https://www.mixtapemuseum.org

Hip-Hop Hacks: https://www.hiphophacks.com

Hip-Hop Can Save America! is produced, written, edited, and distributed by Manny Faces.

Eternal thanks to Associate Producer, Sommer.

Mentioned in this episode:

Sponsor shoutout

Hip Hop Cinderella is a modern — and futuristic — twist on the classic tale, complete with rap battles, a brilliantly feisty and courageous Cinderella, and yea, an evil stepmother and all that too. But several important factors separate this version from the original, and it seems to make for a fun, family-friendly, uplifting and empowering show.

Helping propel this latest Hip Hop theater extravaganza to acclaim is composer and lyricist Rona Siddiqui. Rona is a Grammy-nominated Composer/Lyricist/Music Director from New York, a recipient of the Jonathan Larson Grant, Billie Burke Ziegfeld Award, and was named one of Broadway Women’s Fund’s Women to Watch.

Holding down the iconic title role, is Brittany Nicole Williams, an alumnus of The Ailey School and AMDA New York, who recently made her Broadway debut in Aladdin, and has performed in multiple 1st Broadway National Tours and regional theaters.

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Hip-Hop Can Save America! with Manny Faces is a Manny Faces Media production, in conjunction with The Center for Hip-Hop Advocacy.

Links and resources:

Show website: https://www.hiphopcansaveamerica.com

Manny Faces: https://www.mannyfaces.com

Newsletter (free!): https://mannyfaces.substack.com

SUPPORT QUALITY INDIE HIP HOP JOURNALISM: https://www.patreon.com/mannyfaces

Manny Faces Media (podcast production company): https://www.mannyfacesmedia.com

The Center for Hip-Hop Advocacy: https://www.hiphopadvocacy.org

SPONSORS / FRIENDS

The Mixtape Museum: https://www.mixtapemuseum.org

Hip-Hop Hacks: https://www.hiphophacks.com

Hip-Hop Can Save America! is produced, written, edited, and distributed by Manny Faces.

Eternal thanks to Associate Producer, Sommer.

Mentioned in this episode:

Sponsor shoutout

It’s a Hip Hop party game, but it ain’t trivia. Everyone thinks they have the right answer, but there are NO right answers. It’s the barbershop / lunchroom / nail salon type of Hip Hop discussions we’ve been having all our lives, but instead of wildly lashing out on message boards, social media, or Clubhouse, here, you’re with friends. And here, you also might get drunk.

A.V. Perkins is the co-founder and chief promoter of University of Dope, the card game and its various on and offline counterpart events. A.V., also a well-established do it yourself advocate who has has stints on HGTV, has watched her entrepreneurial baby grow, survive a pandemic, and, just recently, hit the shelves of none other than bullseye box store behemoth Target.

It sounds like a lot, but once you know A.V., you know that it’s likely only the beginning.

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Hip-Hop Can Save America! with Manny Faces is a Manny Faces Media production, in conjunction with The Center for Hip-Hop Advocacy.

Links and resources:

Show website: https://www.hiphopcansaveamerica.com

Manny Faces: https://www.mannyfaces.com

Newsletter (free!): https://mannyfaces.substack.com

SUPPORT QUALITY INDIE HIP HOP JOURNALISM: https://www.patreon.com/mannyfaces

Manny Faces Media (podcast production company): https://www.mannyfacesmedia.com

The Center for Hip-Hop Advocacy: https://www.hiphopadvocacy.org

SPONSORS / FRIENDS

The Mixtape Museum: https://www.mixtapemuseum.org

Hip-Hop Hacks: https://www.hiphophacks.com

Hip-Hop Can Save America! is produced, written, edited, and distributed by Manny Faces.

Eternal thanks to Associate Producer, Sommer.

Earlier this winter, I was contacted by Jay Hill and the team at Brooklyn Rising, as they were looking to invite prominent Hip Hop heads and organizations to Restoration Plaza on New Year’s Eve for the second annual Brooklyn Rising – a celebration similar to the big Times Square to-do, but with a brilliant ball rising instead of falling… way more locals than tourists… and in support of a cause meaningful to the soul of the borough. For this year’s grand rising, that cause is the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop, being universally celebrated over the course of the next 12 months.

I wanted to give Jay the space to speak on his vision, the roadblocks and hurdles, and the progress of this community minded vision for the great borough of Brooklyn. As you’ll hear, sky’s the limit.

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Hip-Hop Can Save America! with Manny Faces is a Manny Faces Media production, in conjunction with The Center for Hip-Hop Advocacy.

Links and resources:

Show website: https://www.hiphopcansaveamerica.com

Manny Faces: https://www.mannyfaces.com

Newsletter (free!): https://mannyfaces.substack.com

SUPPORT QUALITY INDIE HIP HOP JOURNALISM: https://www.patreon.com/mannyfaces

Manny Faces Media (podcast production company): https://www.mannyfacesmedia.com

The Center for Hip-Hop Advocacy: https://www.hiphopadvocacy.org

SPONSORS / FRIENDS

The Mixtape Museum: https://www.mixtapemuseum.org

Hip-Hop Hacks: https://www.hiphophacks.com

Hip-Hop Can Save America! is produced, written, edited, and distributed by Manny Faces. Special thanks to Associate Producer, Sommer.

As parents, we are often much less aware of the current goings on within Hip Hop and pop culture than our children, and as parents tend to do, we often couldn’t care less. In this episode, we make the case that parents should actually care more. Not to be the ‘cool parent,’ but to better understand our children, foster communication, and in some cases, reveal things that would otherwise never come to light.

This episode was written and produced before the tragic death of Migos rapper, Takeoff, yet ironically, this seismic event in the rap world plays very much into the theme of this episode, and we hope that it sparks direct, actionable value in what we are presenting.

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To subscribe to our free newsletter with more stories of Hip Hop innovation, inspiration and insight, visit https://mannyfaces.substack.com

To support this podcast, the newsletter and other work advocating for the ability of Hip Hop music and culture to uplift humanity, visit https://www.patreon.com/mannyfaces

Last year, a program was brought to my attention called Stories With Style, a student-centric project which gives young people the opportunity to share their stories through rap, beat making and art while working with professional artists in a full-blown, on-site recording studio.

This program would be interesting in any setting, but, given my other work in the social justice field, it really caught my attention because the school, J.C. Montgomery, was a part of the Kings County Juvenile Center in Hanford, California.

Now, full disclosure. On one of the other podcasts I produce, News Beat, we have reported on the movement to close juvenile detention centers / youth prisons across the country, and of that movement I am a big fan. That being said, while they exist, I can think of no better way to help those within cope, express themselves, and learn the valuable life skills in the ways that only Hip Hop music and culture can deliver, than through the efforts of JC Montgomery principal Elizabeth Norris, longtime educator Ed Campos, and accomplished music artist, producer, filmmaker and director, Josh Levine, aka OPTX.

After speaking with them, and viewing the project’s powerful video production “It’s Not 2 Late,” I felt confident that these students, in this institution, were being given a vital opportunity that would allow the world to appreciate their powerful voices, important messaging, brilliant perspectives, personal stories, and their style.

Click here to watch “It’s Not 2 Late’ on YouTube.

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To subscribe to our free newsletter with more stories of Hip Hop innovation, inspiration and insight, visit https://mannyfaces.substack.com

To support this podcast, the newsletter and other work advocating for the ability of Hip Hop music and culture to uplift humanity, visit https://www.patreon.com/mannyfaces

Long time listeners of the award-winning social justice meets music podcast News Beat will certainly recognize LiKWUiD as one of the show’s “Artist in Residence.” She has been featured on several important episodes delivering compelling, often heart wrenching lyrics that compliment our social justice reporting in a truly powerful way.

Find out a little bit more about this prolific Hip-Hop artist, DJ, educator and mentor as we share LiKWUiD’s interview on the News Beat Cypher, in this special cross-feed episode drop.

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Visit https://mannyfaces.substack.com for more smart, innovative, insightful and inspirational Hip-Hop related content.

LeBrandon Smith is the Manager, Social Impact Programs for Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute which serves more than 800,000 young people, families, students, community members, aspiring artists, and educators in New York City, across the United States, and around the globe each season. He’e been with the venerable institution since 2017, helping curate programs, events, and initiatives that benefit a wide range of NYC youth and artists.

We spoke on the verge of the second iteration of School of Thought, the second series of free workshops for rising and professional MCs led by the inimitable Black Thought, of the mighty Roots crew — and the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

This masterclass is going on from April 4-7 and culminates in a public showcase at the Hall, followed the next day by Black Thought in conversation with young artists and fans. is just one of the many ways that Smith and the Weill Institute are emphatically, respectfully, and authentically incorporating Hip Hop into the programming at Carnegie Hall.

Now, before we get into it, more content like this is yours — for free — simply by signing up to my free Substack newsletter. Curated links to stories like these, innovative and inspiring examples of how Hip Hop culture can improve society, smart editorials, updates about my speaking calendar and more. Please sign up for the ‘Words I Mannyfest’ newsletter on substack, at mannyfaces.substack.com. Again, it’s free, but if you do choose to support my independent, high-level Hip-Hop related journalism, you have that option there as well.

Now, let’s get into it. Here’s my talk with LeBrandon Smith from Carnegie Hall.

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Visit https://mannyfaces.substack.com for more smart, innovative, insightful and inspirational Hip-Hop related content.