hiphoppopup

Check out this hip hop pop-up book for kids

First there was a Kanye West-themed classroom for fourth grade students, and a Kendrick Lamar-funded high school scholarship. Now, the hip-hop education scope is broadening, with a pop-up book using Kickstarter to raise funds. The project has been launched by Natalie Romero, and is seeking $50,000 for it’s initial publishing, marketing and delivery costs. It actually looks pretty cool.
hiphop2

Set on the backdrop of 1970’s New York, the book follows “the young B-Boy Bizzy Biz 136, his older brother and budding DJ, Kev, his school-mate (and secret crush) Foxxy along with many more of his neighbours, friends and foes as they all take part in each of the four elements of Hip-Hop!”

Written by Grandmaster Caz the book focuses on four components of hip-hop: breakdancing, DJ-ing, graffiti art and emceeing.It’s about Hip-Hop culture, and the history of hip-hop and at it’s core is a piece of art dedicated to the culture that the creators love. Its format though, as a pop-up book makes the book seemingly kid friendly. It begs the question, why aren’t we using more hip-hop themed stimulus to teach kids? Lyrics are just a kind of poetry, right? And there is a hell of a lot more going on in a Biggie song with metaphors, similes and wordplay than in the Celine Dion my parents played for me as a kid. One New Jersey teacher had the right idea, teaching his students Kendrick Lamar verses – maybe we’ll see something similar on a wider scale in the future.

I for one embrace our new hip-hop curriculum. Let’s ditch the stuffy textbooks, thug up the classrooms, and have designated b-boy recesses. It’s almost enough to make me wish I was back in primary school. For those that feel inclined, you can donate via their Kickstarter.