Monthly Archives: February 2014

Hip-Hop and Transformative Teaching for the Community: Bonus Cut Visits #ULITT2014

ULITT_SLIDER_FINAL1

By: Daniel Hodgman

On Saturday, Gus and I headed over to Brody on the campus of Michigan State University to attend the Urban Literacies Institute for Transformative Teaching (ULITT), an annual event that supports teachers, educators, students, youth organizers, activists and community leaders that engage in social justice and hip-hop pedagogy. One of ULITT’s most important missions is to explore critical issues affecting today’s youth, and through this ULITT uses spoken word poetry and hip-hop as powerful tools and a lens to explore language, privilege, youth development and community action. ULITT is held by CAITLAH, a campus program organized by one of the directors David Kirkland, dedicated to further understanding teaching and learning through the fields of arts and humanities. CAITLAH works with educators, students, families, communities and schools to better the advancement of language and literacy for life.

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Bonus Cut Poetry: “Night in Paris” By Ariel Kaplowitz

This is Bonus Cut Poetry, a new series that features original poems by Bonus Cut staff, artists and YOU! In this series, our mission is to bring people together in poetry, share stories and display wonderful artistic pieces. If you would like to have your poems in the next Bonus Cut Poetry installment, just email us at bonuscut@gmail.com

This installment features guest-writer Ariel Kaplowitz.

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Bonus Cut Poetry: “#funFACTS” By That Sweatpants Kid

via werner22brigitte

via werner22brigitte

This is Bonus Cut Poetry, a new series that features original poems by Bonus Cut staff, artists and YOU! In this series, our mission is to bring people together in poetry, share stories and display wonderful artistic pieces. If you would like to have your poems in the next Bonus Cut Poetry installment, just email us at bonuscut@gmail.com

This installment features Bonus Cut’s own That Sweatpants Kid.

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The Power of a Co-sign: How Far It Can Take A Hip-Hop Artist

jay-z-kanye-west

By: Uba Anyadiegwu

What exactly is a “co-sign?”

It’s quite simple: it is when an artist, usually someone with commercial success, gives a different artist, usually someone with lower success, a shout-out by acknowledging that they like his/her music. Co-signs can also be when those successful artists allow up-and-coming artists to be featured on their songs. Co-signs truly fuel why every artist is commercially popular today. Every hip-hop artist at one point in their career was given a co-sign; and because of that co-sign, this was the main reason why they were able to achieve mainstream success. Every artist dreams to receive some kind of co-sign from another artist. Without co-signs, artist diversity in hip-hop would be very shallow. Artists such as Kanye West, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Macklemore and Chance the Rapper all received co-signs. So, who co-signed them?

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Bonus Cut Films Presents: An Interview With Hir-O (Final Installment)

via blatpack.com

via blatpack.com

Omari Hall (aka Hir-O) is a producer from Detroit, Michigan. As one of the city’s rising hip-hop artists, Hir-O has branded his music with splashes of electronic swells, jazz, soul, live instrumentation and other realms of music that all come to form a cohesive hip-hop force. His projects with DaJaz1, Doss The Artist and Red Pill, along with his instrumentals such as The Voyage Home, reflect the true prowess and versatility of his work, and with future projects coming in 2014, Hir-O is a name you should remember.

Today we’re excited to bring you the third and final installment of our interview with Hir-O as part of Bonus Cut Films, a series that looks into the lives of various hip-hop artists across the globe that have impacted and shaped this culture for the better.

If you haven’t seen part one, you’re going to wanna do that. Click here to watch.
Part two you can view here. 

Below is the final installment of our Hir-O feature:

Film Credits: 
Writing and Script Design: Daniel Hodgman, Gus Navarro and Justin Cook 
Directed By: Gus Navarro 
Production: Daniel Hodgman, Gus Navarro and Phillip McGuigan 
Camera and Sound Design: Ian Siporin, Julian Stall and Phillip Mcguigan
Editing: Gus Navarro and Phillip McGuigan
Songs: “Commonwealth” by Hir-O / “Angel Outlaw” by Hir-O/ “Waiting On A Train (instrumental)” by Hir-O

Many thanks to Omari for inviting us down for the interview. 

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B-Boy Bouillabaisse: Justin Cook’s Reflection on the Beastie Boys

By: Justin Cook

My first CD was Hello Nasty by the Beastie Boys. My brother bought it for me. I loved the music video for “Intergalatic,” and he hooked me up. I was ecstatic—these were those badass dudes in the giant robot (remember when they killed the Backstreet Boys on Celebrity Deathmatch?). I studied that album, cover art and all. It didn’t leave my stereo for a year. That shit was packed, kind of like sardines, with song after great song. I would open the lyric sheet and sing along—learning how to spit from three hip-hop legends, all with their unique style and perspective. Little did I know the effect this album would have on my life.

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Bonus Cut Poetry: “Your Brain, On” By Abby Conklin

This is Bonus Cut Poetry, a new series that features original poems by Bonus Cut staff, artists and YOU! In this series, our mission is to bring people together in poetry, share stories and display wonderful artistic pieces. If you would like to have your poems in the next Bonus Cut Poetry installment, just email us at bonuscut@gmail.com

This installment features Bonus Cut’s own Abby Conklin.

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