High school students express themselves through hip hop
In addition to more traditional music classes, all four comprehensive high schools are now offering the course Hip Hop Studies, in which students are able to study music they enjoy listening to and analyze its effect on youth and world culture. In class, they discuss and practice how to write music, rap and produce instrumental beats, but the students have discovered they are learning much more than that.
Luke Hrovat-Staedter, vocal and general music teacher at East High School, explained how much cross-disciplinary work is involved in the course. At times the class incorporates lessons typically seen in an English class, such as evaluating rhyme, wordplay and writing lyrics. Other times it can seem more like a civics class when students discuss current events and how they affect and transform the music. They also dig into the history of hip hop as an art form and as a culture.
At the beginning of the semester, students are presented with two big questions: “Who am I?” and “How do I fit into society?” and use a variety of lenses to try to answer those questions. Hrovat-Staedter stated that the class is unique in that there’s no right or wrong way to write and perform hip hop music, and therefore the goal of the class is not to sit down and teach someone “how to hip hop” but rather to provide a platform for students to find their voice, express themselves and ultimately find how they fit into society.
“I hope the students feel like they can better understand who they are and what their skills are – what their strengths are and how they can demonstrate that – and what their weaknesses are and how they can support themselves...to make themselves better in those areas.” – Luke Hrovat-Staedter, Vocal and General Music Teacher, East High School
The class was first brought to Madison schools by Anthony Cao at West High School, who created the curriculum as part of his master’s thesis at UW-Madison. He sees the cultural importance of hip hop, which can be described as a reflection of our society. “Everything that’s pressing in the minds of young people today is also very present in their music,” he said, while explaining the social justice thread that runs through the class. This can come up in conversation about things like education, gun control, police brutality and the war on drugs. Historically, when the words “hip hop” come up, for many people that doesn’t inspire a positive image, but classes like this one are battling the societal negative narrative and showing how the musical culture can be beneficial for these students’ lives.
Last semester, the students in Hip Hop Studies at East High School wrote and performed an original hip hop song, which was recorded and produced by M.O.D. Media Productions. The song is a declaration of hope, reminding everyone to look towards a better day despite the struggles we all face. The students were able to express themselves and see their hard work come to life in the video. One student said: “The video, that’s something I had never done, so it was kind of like mind-blowing how it came together.” You can view the full video here.
“We also need to be teaching our children and our students about how to become a better human and how to analyze what's going on in the world and take it in. To think about how you feel about it and then be able to communicate that to people, and hip-hop is a really, really amazing avenue to do that.” –Luke Hrovat-Staedter
This class is currently being offered at all four comprehensive high schools in Madison, and the teachers are already seeing it becoming an important and powerful tool that is helping make education relevant for the students while connecting them to each other and to the community as a whole.
Students demonstrate oratory and hip hop skills in Project Soapbox competition
In April, thirteen MMSD middle and high schools are participating in Project Soapbox, a public speaking competition in which students prepare and deliver speeches about issues that affect them and their communities. This year, a new category was added to include hip hop and spoken word, giving our students a chance to demonstrate the oratory skills they’ve learned while tackling problems through the lens of hip hop.
Students across the district have been practicing their speeches in classroom competitions throughout March. “Students brought realness and passion to a level I didn't expect to their first round of performances. This festival will be something important,” said Anthony Cao, Hip Hop Studies Teacher at Each High School. These speeches and performances have the power to have a transformative impact on classrooms and communities.
The Project Soapbox competition will be held on Friday, April 20 at East High School.