Thrive Collective
In the summer of 2021 a small group of R.H.Y.M.E scholars gathered together with Thrive Collective teaching artists, Randy Mason and Kevin Toledo, at the Good Shepherd – Bronx Rises Against Gun Violence studio to write and record an original song highlighting what makes them special. The project was sponsored by the Verses Project with dinner…
read moreOn the final day of Hip Hop’s 50th Anniversary Year, we offer our love letter to hip hop: “Coke La Rock is Still Here.” Video by Eric Mason. Filmed at the Hip Hop 50 Block Party. Hip Hop is for the Children BMCC x RHYME Students Showcase Healing Through Hip Hop By: Randy Mason December…
read moreR.H.Y.M.E x BMCC Counseling Center This fall teaching artists, Kevin Toledo, Jason Roberts and Thomas Fucaloro returned to BMCC for another sensational semester of Healing Through Hip Hop: An introduction to Hip Hop, songwriting, extemporaneous freestyle rap, poetry, cyphers, and beat making as an effective addition to traditional talk therapies. R.H.Y.M.E Teaching artists worked assiduously…
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R.H.Y.M.E. collaborates with students from Queens Prep High School to learn about hip-hop as a therapeutic outlet and be able to get hands on experience at songwriting, producing and audio recording. This eclectic record came from a series of writing exercises and production workshop in which students wrote, performed and co-produced the music by working…
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Ice-T was impressed. He had never witnessed anything quite like Randy Mason and his cajón. The legendary rapper, actor, and producer was a guest speaker and facilitator at an Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) songwriting workshop for teens hosted by Microsoft and The Universal Hip-Hop Museum at the Microsoft Garage in New York City on August 10.…
read moreThrive Collective/R.H.Y.M.E. collaborated with Renaissance School of the Arts to create the song “Persevere.” Over the course of 16 weeks, students and Teaching Artists connected to learn about hip-hop, song writing, music production, recording and performance. From developing the song concept to understanding how to write and count bars, students were equipped to be thriving…
read moreOver the course of 12 weeks, students from PS 371K learned about hip-hop songwriting, production and audio recording. “Better Options” is a song about anti-violence in which students express healthy alternatives to violent acts. During our program, current events outside the school community mentioned gun violence amongst teens. In class, we made space to speak…
read more“Kindness So Electric” is a collaboration between PS 34 and Thrive Collective’s RHYME program. This song is about students going for their passions and converting negative thoughts to positive ones through the arts, unity and sports. Over the course of 20 weeks, students and Teaching Artists worked together to learn about hip hop, produce an…
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“Tragic Milagros” is a song written, performed and recorded by participants of the Minds Empowered (ME) program at The Point CDC in collaboration with RHYME. Before working on the song, RHYME staff held writing workshops and group discussions supporting each other around the concept of love. In this song, we recognize that love is not…
read more“A R.H.Y.M.E. DOC – Bronx Charter School of the Arts” is a short documentary about the collaboration between Bronx Arts Charter For the Arts Middle School and Thrive Collective’s Rhymes Help Young Minds Excel (RHYME) program. Using in-class footage and content, “A R.H.Y.M.E. DOC” covers the 16 weeks that RHYME Teaching Artists and students worked…
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