Bigger Than Hip Hop: Kansas City’s Own Hip Hop Academy (published July 2008 in Demencha Magazine)

By Chris Mills | September 12, 2008 at 4:46 am | 3 comments | Uncategorized

The Hip Hop Academy Ringleaders: Jeremy McConnell, Brother of Moses, MC Scoe (L-R) in front of the Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City, MO

About this time last year, I had the pleasure of dropping in on a summer program for Kansas City youths at Paseo Middle School in Kansas City, MO. But it wasn’t your typical summer program.

Instead of books and calculators, these kids study up with easels and spray paint, canvases and brushes, linoleum mats, microphones, turntables and the most almighty of hip hop weaponry – pens and pads. Welcome to the world of creativity that Kansas City’s very own Hip Hop Academy is trying to show inner-city adolescents through the means of hip hop culture.

We all know how the dog days of summer go when we’re young. School is out, it’s blazing hot outside, and reading, writing, or drawing often take a backseat to playing video games, with the AC cranked up, if we’re lucky. For the older generation, it was Atari and Nintendo. But if it wasn’t for the Hip Hop Academy, many of their students’ days might be spent thumbing around with Wii or X-Box.


Hakeem, a HHA student, throws up a couple peace signs in the cafeteria for the camera

But at worst, the summer months are prime time for all-too-many kids to slip through the cracks, in worse ways than playing Grand Theft Auto all day. Take these lyrics from Big Boi on OutKast’s “West Savannah” as an example: Stayed at me granny’s while me mammy was at work/ But she couldn’t watch my every move, so s—, I started servin‘.

The central figures leading these hands-on hip hop sessions are former Flavor Pak magazine editor Jeremy McConnell, MC/artist Brother of Moses of the Deep Thinkers, and MC Scoe of the Symbol Heavy hip hop crew. Also teaching are Stacey Tolbera, dance instructor Cat Johnson, singer/poet Terri Glenn aka T-Blaze, DJs Mythik, Leonard D.Stroy and Yady, MC Izmore, and various area breakdancers.


Local breakdancer, Albert, leads a dance class at Paseo Middle School

The Hip Hop Academy faculty use a number of area libraries, community centers and schools as their training grounds. And indeed, some of these buildings provide, if nothing else, a safe-haven for neighborhood kids while blatant drug transactions are commonplace outside it’s walls.

The Hip-Hop Academy began in ideology in 2006 by the aforementioned Jeremy McConnell. Jeremy is known as a constant innovator by those who are familiar with his work as the former editor of Flavor Pak magazine, and as an artist. He said in an interview, “There’s a lack of adult involvement in a lot of these kids’ lives. There’s a cultural gap between parents and kids today. America is best at making entertainment. But how often are you being educated? We’re not trying to teach them to be professional MCs or muralists, but it’s just a cultural experience we’re trying to give them.” With this as his philosophy, he consulted two friends, the aforesaid Brother of Moses and Scoe, who were down to try to make a change in their community.

Last summer saw Jeremy, Scoe, Bro Mo and other instructors take the Hip Hop Academy to Paseo Middle School in Kansas City, MO where they held hip hop classes Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. (students were dropped off and picked up by buses, just like a normal school day). The Academy was receiving federal funding and the Kansas City School District even paid for supplies needed for the hip hop classes as part of a requirement placed upon the district to host more summer art programs. The program went so well last summer that school board administrators asked Jeremy if he and his funky faculty could host two hip hop camps.


One attentive pupil watches Scribe closely while Scribe completed a painting at the Northeast Library. Many of the students were familiar with Scribe’s work in their own neighborhood.

This summer, the Hip Hop Academy will be staying quite busy. From the last week of July through the second week of August, they will be conducting classes at the Community Christian Church at 46th and Main on behalf of the Chameleon organization. Here, kids who’ve completed summer school will have the option of picking which summer camp they want to go to, with the Hip Hop Academy being one of them.


Leonard D.Stroy of the Deep Thinkers holds a turntablism class at Paseo Middle School.

Another new program will have the Academy at the Parvin Estates in North Kansas City which is currently running on Tuesdays and Wednesdays with mostly youngsters who’ve immigrated to KC from Central America, Africa and Eastern Europe and other countries. Then beginning July 16, the HHA will start sessions with kids at the Phoenix Family Homes at 9th and Prospect. If you have questions about how you can bring the Hip Hop Academy to your neighborhood, or have any other concerns, contact Jeremy McConnell at jeremy@hiphopacademy.org.


Students await the ride home on the school bus.