Los Angeles Sentinel Article
THE NEW SOUND OF EDUCATION: SCHOOL TYME HIP-HOP
By Brandon I. Brooks
Assistant Entertainment Editor
Published, April 26th, 2007 - in the LA SENTINEL
I recall being a child and always looking forward to a different type of school day. You know those days when as a child, the class would have an activity to do like going on a field trip or watching a movie. I would dream of doing anything but having a regular day at school.
I remember the first time my class watched School House Rock. For those who don’t know, School House Rock is an animated educational video that utilizes rock music to teach children.
When it was time to take the class quiz I remember humming the tunes from the cartoon and being able to answer the questions on the test.
For example, I remember singing “conjunction conjunction what’s your function…” That was the first time I realized music could be instrumental in the learning process.
With hip-hop music dominanting main stream radio and youthful popular culture, rock & roll has lost its position as America’s favorite music genre.
Fast forward thirty years after the release of School House Rock and two young black entrepreneurs are ready to resurrect education through music. But instead of using rock & roll the two men are planning on usine the art of hip-hop music to teach education.
Mengesha “Mystro” Francis and Domanic Allen are the founders of School Tyme Hip-Hop Productions, which is a company specializing in using hip-hop as an art form to educate children.
The company log features a character named Tickin Tyme which will be used to teach children their time tables and telling time. The character will also be used to describe the history of hip-hop and take children through a time line of how the hip-hop culture originated.
Mystro, a child of the 70’s grew up listening to hip-hop and told me he understands the roots and origin of the culture. He told me he would never compromise the authenticity of the rap music.
Mystro understands the importance of education because he was once a school teacher. A native of South Central, Mystro taught at Heavenly Vision Christian Academy where he discovered he had a deep passion for education and children.
As a teacher, Mystro started a children’s gospel choir in which students from his class participated along with other outside participants. This is where he met Domanic Allen. Domanic was the president of Mystro’s gospel choir and is currently the Vice President of School Tyme Hip-Hop Productions.
After a successful run with the children’s gospel choir which was named “Power of Music”, a Mystro gained a love for children and learned that music could affect them and change their lives for the better.
Mystro has worked with many rap groups most notably the rap duo Luniz. He has also worked closely with MCA records and Capital records on other Hip-Hop and R&B projects.
But with a gospel background and school teaching background, Mystro wanted to be innovative and put something together that has never been done with hip-hop music. Mystro said he remembers how much of an impact School House Rock was with teaching to his former students. So if he could put the sound of today’s popular music with the same topics from School House Rock, Mystro knew it could work.
The first project the company will release will be “School Tyme Hip-Hop: Vol. 1,” which is a compilation CD focusing on getting kids excited about education through the art of hip-hop.
Mystro and Domanic feel that Hip-Hop and R&B have merged. They feel hip-hop has become bigger than just rap music.
It can be expressive not only from the street perspective but from a classroom perspective as well. Mystro will be the first to admit that he likes listening to Dr. Dre and toher hard core rap artist but he also likes hearing positive records. Mystro and Domanic feel there is a major void to fill in the music industry. The industry is in dire need for more positive based records.
An example of a song Mystro plans to include on the compilation is called “Person, Place or Thing”, which will pay homage to everything Los Angeles. The song will recognize landmarks familiar to any Los angeles native and apply them to the English rule of what defines a noun. For example, Crenshaw Blvd. wold be considered a placer and rap producer Dr. Dre would be considered a person.
Mystro says that he tries to put himself in a child’s shoe and thins what would make learning exciting and interesting for them.
But no matter what, Mystro says the songs are going to stay with in the standars fo education. Education will not be compromised. Mystro and Domanic guarantee the music will be truthful in content.
They have already received positive feedback from Supervisor Yvonne Burke whom stated in a letter that “the concept seems innovative and interesting, keep me informed of the effectiveness of this educational program”.
Mystro and Domanic are continuously in talks with educational supervisors, and school board members. They want to be clear that they are not trying to replace curriculum but that they are trying to make the curriculum more relevant.
Mystro and Domanic want to prove that Hip-Hop music is an art form and if used properly, it can be beneficial to teaching and assisting with education. The product is easy produce but the challenge comes from trying to convince the older heads and more conventional figures that hip-hop can be used for education.
For more information visit www.myspace.com/schooltymehiphop, www.mengeshamusic.com, or send an e-mail to info@sthhp.com
