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.
– 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…
Using Bars and Beats to Build Five Fridays / June 1 – 29 / 4-6pm Write. Record. Perform. Day 1 Hip Hop at the Harlem Hub @nycthrive Bars, Beats and building. The freestyle five turned into the freestyle fifteen! ⏱Friday's in June 4pm-6pm A post shared by Randy Mason (@randymasonmusic) on Jun 1, 2018 at…
Next Tuesday, March 27th, is National Education and Sharing Day. The day was first established by the United States Congress in 1978 to honor Rabbi M. M. Schneerson, who was a passionate advocate for children’s education. Rabbi Schneerson believed that education should focus not only on academic achievements, but also on character building. President Obama…
