Spread Hip Hop: become a Foreign Diplomat

[the_muse]

Read Original Here:
The New Diplomats: Kazakhstan - GOOD Blog - GOOD

[Shankavelli]

haha
ive been nyc embasador here in europe for years! lol

[ebunoluwa]

This is a great thread! No doubt about it, going to another country and teaching peeps there about hip hop is very rewarding.

I'm in rural, Northern Japan right now and while hip-hop isn't unknown here, there's a distorted image of it. I teach English to High School students and when I asked about hip hop, they told me they liked Ne-yo and 50 Cent.

For music, I've since gotten a bunch of them into Blackalicious, Talib Kweli and a few others, though half the time, they're clueless as to whats being said, lol. However, they DO recognize a distinct difference between the flow and ability between the music I gave them and the music they had been previously listening to.

As for breaking, I've taught 8 students off and on over the last year, and 4 of them later performed in front of the community at a school festival.

Before I came, they had been interested in breaking, but only had windmill aspirations. Now they've developed their musicality and everytime we practice, they want to learn new footwork or toprock patterns.

I swear, it's such a joyous feeling when they come looking for me after school and use English, a foreign language, to ask me to come teach them. Being able to share breaking with them has been one of my favorite parts of this experience.

Does anyone else have stories of being a Foreign Hip Hop Diplomat? Please share them!