Thrive Collective
Randy Mason is a NYC emcee and art educator from the Bronx who uses his passion for hip hop to help today’s youth find their voice and build community. As a father, husband, recording artist, author, educator and pastor, Ran draws from a deep well of unique and diverse experiences to tell stories through songs, engaging audiences of all kinds in a way that is real, relevant, meaningful and memorable. He began collaborating with Thrive in 2017 and founded our hip hop mentoring program R.H.Y.M.E. (Rhymes Help young Minds Excel) in 2021.
Randy recognizes that hip hop gives students “mic skills and life skills.” They’re learning figurative language, improvisation, creative writing and thinking, and poetry, all while having fun. Students use the four elements of hip hop to discover their voice (emceeing), movement (break dancing), a community (DJing), and their name (graffiti).
Patrons receive exclusive music and merch (via Patreon). Donors receive a tax deduction (via Thrive). Either way, you empower a dynamic emcee educator to bring hope and opportunity through arts, music, and mentoring.
Six hundred students from six Queens middle schools will converge at Roy Wilkins Park for the 2019 Queens HeART Beat Festival on May 30 from 10am – 1pm. Join us to provide an interactive, arts-based field day experience celebrating the completion of the Art a Catalyst for Change anti-gun violence initiative. Sponsored by the NYC Council, in…
Thrive Collective feat. Harlem Hub, in association with Friendly Films, presents: “Turn Up The Value” written and performed by Randy Mason and Harlem Hub students Jamaya, Randy Jr., Anthony, CJ, Diamond, Gerald, KC, Dominick, Benjamin, Brison, Naomi Engineered by Randy Mason and Produkt Mixed & Mastered by Braille of Humble Beast Choreography by FLEXX Video…
Five hundred middle school students painted murals, designed video games, break danced, freestyle rapped, competed at tug-o-war and so much more at the HeART Beat Festival on May 30, 2018. Thrive Collective collaborated with Museum of the Moving Image, Black Spectrum Theatre, and Everybody Dance Now to produce the festival as the Queens culminating event…
On July 19th, twenty Harlem Hub students and five teaching artists began an ambitious journey at our inaugural Summer Arts Academy. They agreed: Our music students would write and record an original song. Our media students would produce the music video for the song. Our dance students would develop and perform choreography for the video. And our murals…
Enjoy the lyrics for the “Turn Up the Value” song written by our Harlem Hub students during the 2018 Summer Arts Academy. For daily updates from our Summer Arts Academy, go here. Concept & Elements “Turn up the Value’s” concept explores achieving social, economic, criminal and health justice by recognizing ourselves and others as valuable…
The Living Redemption Youth Opportunity Hub and Thrive Collective present the first annual Bring Art Back Summer Arts Academy at the Harlem Hub, July 18th – August 3rd, from 11 am to 4pm, Monday – Friday. Register on-site at the Harlem Hub, 302 West 124th Street, 3rd Floor, July 16-20. Students will receive instruction in…
On Saturday, June 30th, a spirit of healing reverberated throughout our first ever Art of Healing festival where we stood, arms in arms against gun violence and provided space for individuals to heal through pain through creative fun, music, and games. With support from the community, colleague arts organizations, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance,…
This week is the Fifth (and final) Friday of our Harlem Hub music pilot. Join us to help record “Turn Up the Value,” written by Hub students. Shout out to emcee / music educator Randy Mason for holding it down and turning it up! @hiphoppinheart Writing and recording session with the teens at @nycthrive #HarlemHub…
– Photos and commentary by Thrive Intern Chandler Simpson (UNC Chapel Hill) The 2018 Queens HeART Beat Festival was a carefully ordered sequence of frenetic rhythms set by DJ Tony Tone’s spinning onstage. The controlled chaos unleashed a torrent of energy constantly harnessed through the many creative outlets around the park, from visual arts to…
How do you organize 480 middle school students at the three-hour HeART Beat Festival / field day for the NYC Council Art as Catalyst for Change anti-gun violence initiative? Arrange 14 activity centers in five color coded zones named for community leaders impacted by gun violence: Malala Yousafzai, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Medgar…
