Dahnayl Champine has been working on a new song for a while. But Dj Loveasy just couldn’t get it done.
“I had something to say, and I thought it would be good,” said the 16-year-old musician, host and producer, a junior at Woodland Hills High School. “I just missed the lead and I didn’t hook the ball.”
In January, he joined the KRUNK Movement in Hazelwood, where teachers and mentors helped him refine his own songs and those written by his classmates to create a new original hip-hop album that touches on issues such as social and environmental justice.
Darnell actually came up with the hook and delivered on it – “It may be corny, but it’s my legacy. We can reduce, reuse and recycle the truth to build a future we can all live with. It “Stained Melody” becomes the first song from the album, “Su(tained) Reality,” which will be released on Earth Day on Monday. The song is now available on Spotify and Apple Music, as well as on the KRUNK website.
They couldn’t be more excited about what’s going to happen in two months: With help from the Life Center, Darnell and his classmates will be at the Rechter Family Hall of the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville June 1-2 / Hall Live Performance This album was created through a partnership between Hazelwood and the Green Building Alliance for Sustainable Communities. In addition to other live performances and concerts around the city, students will perform the album live at the Center of Life’s end-of-year block party on Friday, May 24.
KRUNK, which stands for Creating Realistic Universal New School Knowledge, is a year-round youth production program of the Center, a nonprofit organization that provides Hazelwood and its surrounding communities with rich academic after-school programs and outstanding experiences in music and the arts . It explores elements of hip-hop through songwriting, production, art and technology, and students must audition to join. The KRUNK Movement program is a student-led program where students learn the skills, professionalism and financial literacy they need to succeed as artists, according to the center’s website and a press release announcing the album.
“Working with these incredibly bright and talented students is an inspiration to our entire team at the Green Building Alliance,” Dionna Reynolds, senior director of social impact for the Greater Bay Area, said in the release. “While our initial The goal is for these young people to understand how the environments in which we learn, live and play impact health, well-being and economic opportunity, and to empower them to take action in their communities, but the students’ commitment and energy give us hope.
GBA leaders pointed to the nonprofit’s history of collaboration as impetus for the album and performance. “Our young people are our future, and community-based partnerships like this one provide opportunities to empower young people to Communicate around sustainability concepts in a relevant and authentic way “This project is the result of 15 years of working with the Center of Life and Hazelwood Community to have a positive impact on the community’s built environment and see young people act as individuals. We are inspired by the ways in which we can relate to environmental issues.”
KRUNK Music and Arts Project Manager Shundeena Beard explained that work on the album began in the fall, but officially kicked off in January. “We talked with them about what sustainability means to them and their culture and application,” she said as the students began their work in earnest.
Reynolds said the album was her idea. “I’m thinking about how to get involved [the students],” she says. “The GBA has a long history with Center of Life, but after getting to know KRUNK fully and what they’ve done before, I thought it would be a great way to bring sustainability to young people, especially in music. With their of gifts and talents, it’s a great way to get close to them. It’s engaging, inspiring and educational.
She provided Beard and other teachers with sustainability messages to review with students, including visuals such as PowerPoints and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Reynolds said she recommends the goals as inspiration because they can be tailored to community and individual endeavors, and because climate impact and sustainability can be big terms, especially for young people. “I asked them to think about this and express it through music,” she said. “They’re doing a great job.”
As students create and begin composing their own songs, Beard said, KRUNK mentors and coaches help them write lyrics and rhythms and work together to refine the songs through trial and error. This is important, she says, especially since many people learn only a little about sustainability in school.
KRUNK engineer and emcee coach Jory Akier Strothers said the KRUNK production staff helped edit, clean and master the students’ songs, showing them a professionalism since students primarily use the BandLab app The program records songs on your phone. It is also a social media platform where they can share their work.
“Production is a beast,” he said, explaining that he delved into his background, which includes making music since he was 11 years old and explaining music theory to his students. He and other KRUNK staff members first worked with students to rewrite their songs by adjusting the lyrics. “Basically we just polished them off. We wanted to show them the industry standard,” Strothers said.
The album has 10 tracks, including some spoken word poetry, Beard said. The result is students communicating about sustainability in a different way, a way that they and their peers can easily understand.
Before finishing, the students visited the GBA headquarters in the South End, where Reynolds said students saw some sustainable products and watched a video produced by forester Thomas Easley “Hip-Hop Forestry: Stories from the Forest,” hip-hop artist, professor and assistant dean at Yale University. He currently owns his own company, Mind Heart for Diversity. “I thought sharing some of his story with students was a natural fit for this project,” Reynolds said.
She also had a secret: Reynolds arranged for Easley to speak to students via Zoom. “They were surprised. [There] There was a gasp in the room. In that moment, he had their attention, 100%. It was a great conversation,” she said. He explained that he achieved where he is today through sustainable development and led the students in a lively question and answer session.
Beard said a track near the end of the album includes every student involved in the program. They pass the microphone to each other and tell their sustainability stories together. “It’s so fluid,” she said. “In most team projects, you don’t see that ease. … They just build on each other’s strengths.
Strothers said he was pleased with the students’ commitment to the project. He said he tells them work is like track and field: You have to practice, practice and keep at it.
KRUNK athletic coordinator Albert Felipe agrees. He said that the overall goal of KRUNK is to serve as an incubator for students, and they have seen students “grow themselves” through this program.
Both Felipe and Strothers emphasized how shocked they were by Darnell’s song when he shared it with them in February. He did all the instrumental work – Darnell played alto, tenor and baritone saxophone, acoustic and electric guitar, “some piano and a little bit of drums.” As a member of the Woodland Hills Jazz Band, he composed the song at home on his computer and then completed it using production equipment provided by KRUNK.
Dahnayl said he didn’t expect his song to be released first because he was still new to KRUNK.
“We already have a set of songs,” Felipe said. [But] He brings it to us.it hits home [of the album theme]”.
Strothers added: “It sprinted through the process of the album. It went hand in hand with what we were doing.
In addition to Dahnayl, 13 other KRUNK Movement students contributed to the album: Shombay Akoben, presenter, 16, homeschool; Shombay Akoben, presenter, 16, homeschool; Aryana Booker-Gamez, presenter People/Singer, 17, Westinghouse School of the Arts; Te’Mar Carlisle, singer, 17, CAPA Pittsburgh; Anjali Dixon, artist, 16, CAPA Pittsburgh; Bayjai Germany, artist, 14, Propel Hazelwood K-8; Julai Germany, artist, 17, CAPA, Pittsburgh; Dilana Gray, poet/artist, 17, Allderdice High School; Shailynn Mwangi, poet, 16, Jefferson High School, Indiana; Ava Paredes, artist, 17, CAPA, Pittsburgh; Micha Pinnix, Presenter, ’17, Pittsburgh Institute of Technology; Hanae Rayzer, poet, ’18, CAPA, Pittsburgh; Raujenay Rixey, presenter/singer, ’17, CAPA, Pittsburgh; D’Asia White, artist, ’17, CAPA, Pittsburgh.
Some artists design album covers in addition to other work at KRUNK, as they can study photography, photography, art, and mixed and multimedia there. Some of their creations have already been the focus of an art show, Beard said, and another is planned for June.
Each piece on the album touches on an issue that’s important to them. Temar said her song “Feeling Alone” came from “wanting someone to talk to, wanting a safe haven. KRUNK is a safe haven.”
Laujenai said she already had the rhythm of the song and knew she wanted it to be about relationships, but she needed help, even though she had written songs before. She found the album-making process fun.
Micha, a senior who lives in the mountains, said he has a poem in a band song. He was inspired by the abandoned buildings Hazelwood saw while traveling. He said he knows people want to live in better neighborhoods “but they can’t do that.” But he also “sees the goodness in Hazelwood,” so he wants residents there to have better housing.
Beard said students won’t have a big celebration on the day of the album’s release, but they will gather in a safe haven to reflect on their work at KRUNK.
These efforts benefit everyone. “The KRUNK Green Building Alliance partnership takes our services to families and youth to the next level,” said Tim Smith, CEO of Center of Life, in a press release. “The Greater Bay Area provides our students with a green foundation. With important messages about facilities and renewable energy, students translated the technical language of the Greater Bay Area into the language of hip-hop for young people and created a stunning album to be released on Earth Day.
The Life Center and GBA need to complete the fundraising efforts needed to send students and teachers to Nashville. Donations have been made to the Forbes Foundation and individuals can make donations through the Life Center’s website. Reynolds will join Beard and other KRUNK employees on the trip.
In addition to the trip to Nashville and the show, undergrads have another major event to look forward to in the fall. Musicians, artists and bands including KRUNK and Center of Life Band will take part in the Sudden Little Thrills Festival at Hazelwood Green on September 7 and 8.
The lineup includes Pittsburgh native Wiz Khalifa, who will be celebrating his birthday in his hometown; SZA; The Killers; St. Vincent; and another hometown musician, Girl Talk. Tickets for the new festival are on sale now.
Anyone who would like to help students travel to Nashville can donate through this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu0tt9U8b5I.
Helen is a copy editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but she is currently on strike. Please contact her at [email protected].
