Hip Hop Academy: Street Promoting Positive Culture

The Hip Hop Academy was started in 2005 by three guys with a vision: more access to the arts and more opportunity for Kansas City youth. Since then, this collective of urban artist/educators has taught hip-hop lyricism, graffiti art/murals, djing/turntablism and break-dancing for kids ranging in age from preschoolers to college students throughout the KC area and beyond.


The focus is on the positive, getting past the slick commercial image to the roots of hip-hop culture: respect for oneself and others, creativity, collaboration, and love for your community. Over the past five years, the Hip Hop Academy has taught classes for afterschool programs, community centers, nonprofits, community festivals and more.

Being part of a very sticker-oriented culture, the Hip Hop Academy logo stickers have proven popular with students, thanks to a full-color design from Aaron (a.k.a Brother of Moses) that the kids “absolutely go bananas for.” Recently, as part of its visual arts classes, the Hip Hop Academy has actually been working with kids to create their own custom sticker designs.

All of which is in keeping with hip-hop culture, where stickers for bands, art projects, comics, etc. often wind up on street-signs, vehicles, turntable cases, sketchbooks and more.

Says Jeremy McConnell, one of the Academy’s founders, “We love meeting new people and just giving them our flyer or business card and a sticker like BLAMMO! Everyone is always into getting a free sticker.....[it’s] basic street promotion of what we do.”