Hip-Hop On L.O.C.K., an award-winning arts education program whose mission is to promote youth empowerment, community development and self esteem through a mock record label that teaches Leadership development, Organizational skills, Cooperative economics and Knowledge of the music business, will be hosting youth from the 2012 One Young World Summit.
One Young World, founded in 2009, is a London-based charity that gathers young people from around the world, helping them make lasting connections to create positive change.
The 14 delegates that will participate in the Hip-Hop On L.O.C.K. workshop will discuss how the arts and hip-hop in particular can be utilized to make a positive impact on communities and create a platform for action. They will ultimately be challenged to create an original hip-hop track utilizing their unique backgrounds.
“We are truly honored to have the opportunity to host the delegates from the One Young World Summit. Hip-hop so many times gets a bad rap for the images and lyrics that are used in mainstream media and this is a huge opportunity for the world to take a completely different perspective on it and for our students to put into action everything they have learned through programming,” says Executive Director Emmai Alaquiva.
At the annual Summit the young delegates, backed by the One Young World Counselors, debate and formulate solutions for the pressing issues the world faces. No youth-dominated event outside the Olympic Games brings together more countries than One Young World.
After each Summit, the newly minted One Young World Ambassadors work on their own projects and initiatives or lend the power of the One Young World network to those already in existence. To date, almost four million people have been directly impacted by the work of One Young World Ambassadors.
At the opening night celebrations on Thursday, Hip-Hop On L.O.C.K. will present a mobile recording studio activity in which delegates can interact with equipment and learn about the positive role hip-hop plays in communities. SCR, a hip-hop and R&B group comprised of Hip-Hop On L.O.C.K. graduates, will also perform at the opening celebrations.
Founded in 2007 by Ya Momz House, LLC, Hip Hop On L.O.C.K. has grown to serve over 2,000 youth annually through various services including in-school, after-school and branch programming. In addition to in and after school programs, Hip Hop On L.O.C.K. offers branch programming including “The Waffle Wopp,” an interactive, teen-led, magazine-style talk show and “L.O.C.K.down Radio,” a one-hour radio program hosted and co-programmed by the youth of Hip Hop On L.O.C.K., broadcast live from Carnegie Mellon University’s WRCT 88.3 FM, on Tuesday evenings from 7-8 p.m.