News
Meet the 2010 Fulbright-mtvU Judges
Kim Gordon, Wayne Coyne, Tom Morello, Beth Ditto
The Fellowships, administered by the Institute of International Education, were established to promote the “power of music” as a global force for mutual understanding. Applications for the 2010-2011 Fellowships are being accepted now through October 19, 2009, with more information available at www.us.fulbrightonline.org. The final selection will be made by the Presidentially-appointed J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Have an idea involving the power of music as a global force for mutual understanding? Apply now.
France goes to Hip-Hop International World Championship + Interview with Vicelow
At the end of July, France will be represented for the first time at the Hip-Hop International World Championship in Las Vegas. The three French dance crews to go to the U.S. (categorized by age group: Junior (7-12) Varsity (12-18) and Adult (18+)) were selected at the Hip-Hop International France Championship held at the Casino de Paris this past May. Despite being the first year for the French tournament, all of the competing crews were really strong and the event was a huge success thanks to passionate dancers, a great audience and a lot of hard work put in by the HHIF organizers Jean Pierre Chandler and Sabrina Bouhanik. During the competition, I interviewed J.P. and Sabrina backstage about the challenges of putting together the event and what lessons and opportunities HHIF has to offer young people in France. You can check out a portion of our interview above.
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48 Hours of Hip-Hop at Goom Radio
Recently, Goom Radio— a 100% digital radio station that is taking storm in France and coming soon to New York— ran a continuous 48 hour episode of it’s hip-hop radio show “Explicit Content,” featuring the biggest artists in French hip-hop, rap and R’n’B. While I wasn’t able to compete with the various radio hosts who stayed up for nearly two full days (breaking for a few hours here and there to sleep and shower), in just the 11 hours that I spent at the station, I got to hang out with some of the top names in the industry, including: Oxmo Puccino, Disiz, Leslie, Seth Gueko, Orelsan, LIM, Youssoupha, Dragon Davy, Mr. Toma, Black Barbie and Kamnouze among others. On top of that, many of the Goom radio hosts are also important figures on the French hip-hop scene, including rappers Freeman (formerly of IAM), Sonikem and Driver, and female hip-hop journalist Valou.
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Makin’ Beats and Breakin’ it Down!
Youth participating in the “Back to School Breakdance Challenge"
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The King Is Dead
The King is Dead. That was the headline of the one of the major Ugandan papers today. The front pages of all of the other daily Ugandan papers were also dedicated to the story of Michael Jackson’s death. Many radio stations here are playing his music all day and local Ugandan politicians and celebrities are speaking out about his death.
Although, my Fulbright is not directly related to pop music or Michael Jackson, I wanted to briefly comment on this. Like many people, I grew up listening to Michael and was very saddened to hear about his death. He was truly an amazing entertainer. While watching and reading about the worldwide reaction to his death, what fascinates me the most is that he was genuinely a global “household name.” I can’t think of any other artist of my generation that is as well known as Michael Jackson. Just a month ago, I was speaking to the guardian of one of the young people in the Hip Hop Therapy Project and I asked him how he felt about his nephew winning the popping competition at the Breakdance Challenge I recently organized and he responded “I’m so happy and proud of him and I hope that one day he will be able to dance like Michael Jackson. Yes, one day he will dance like Michael Jackson.” I remember thinking at the time how interesting it was that I was sitting in front of a mud hut in a very rural part of Uganda and someone was talking to me about Michael Jackson. I see kids in Gulu doing the moonwalk and trying to dance like him and am again amazed at how far-reaching his influence was. I think that despite the controversies and eccentricities that often dominated news coverage about him, he has obviously left an imprint on the world and will be missed. RIP MJ.
