Press Room
NKJMPS’s hip-hop summer camp
Beyond the music: teamwork, critical thinking and a look at college life.
By Susan Snyder, Inquirer Staff Writer
“Three Dimensional” came together quickly.
But teenagers Jade Spence, Eona Harrison and Erreon Chambers put themselves out, forming the group and writing song lyrics in just a few days. Now comes the hard part: performing for their classmates, who will judge whether the trio is worth “signing.”
Welcome to “Hip Hop Camp,” a new summer program for Philadelphia teenagers at Arcadia University in Glenside.
Funded by a federal program that encourages college preparation, the one-week camp, which ends tomorrow, teaches its enrollees the history of hip-hop, its different styles, and the business side of the music industry.
The free program, part of Partners in Safe Summers, also emphasizes teamwork, critical thinking, reading and writing, while giving students a glimpse of life on a college campus.
NKJ Motivational Programs and Stewardship Consulting run the camp, part of a larger six-week program that also offers lessons in financial literacy, etiquette and leadership.
Students said they liked learning the facts behind the music.
“If they taught school like they teach hip-hop, it would be much better,”said Josephine Nyame, 14, a ninth grader at Northeast High. “More kids would stay in school.”
The class allowed her to listen to songs, watch videos, analyze music, then work on projects. As one of the fashion designers for Three Dimensional, she helped to select what the trio would wear.
Harrison, 14, said the camp made her listen more closely to some lyrics and their meaning.
“Stuff we’re saying, we don’t know what it is, and sometimes it’s things we shouldn’t be saying,” said Harrison, a ninth grader at the Franklin Learning Center.
“If you’re not going to say it around your mom, it’s not OK,” she said.
Instructor Coli Sylla said Harrison’s sentiment was typical. The students didn’t like the songs with excessively bad language or explicit sexual comments, such as those by the Ying Yang Twins, he said.
Sylla, who works as a high school counselor for a college preparation program in Philadelphia, said he offered the course because students always wanted to discuss music. He decided he could use rap music to get students to think about life goals.
Only 15 students enrolled in the camp this year - a result of late marketing, instructors said. They expect a bigger turnout next year, they said.
The audience was big enough for Three Dimensional, which had received some criticism at an early audition.
“They said we should be louder. We should have a lead singer,” Harrison said.
They stayed together as a group, however, for their final performance on Thursday.
“Three-D will rock your mike,” they sang, moving to the music. “Tell me
how you can’t see yourself working with me.”
The performance met with mixed reviews from classmates.
“Not all of them can dance, and the ones who can dance forget their lines,” said Rameak Taylor, 14, a ninth grader at Maritime Charter School. His “company,” Motivational Records, opted not to sign the trio.
But students in another company, Make Millions Productions, noted that Destiny’s Child is about to break up. It may be time for another female trio.
“We’re interested,” said chief executive officer Latoya Watkins, 14, a ninth grader at Sacred Heart School in Bryn Mawr. “We think they can be molded into something.”