While most people have only heard of Akron, Ohio because of the great play of Cleveland Cavaliers Lebron James, there is another great phenomenon happening in the former “Rubber Capital of the World”; but instead on the basketball court, it’s on the radio.
In less than three years, the radio show Hip Hop Flavas on 91.3 WAPS-FM in Akron, Ohio has quickly become a staple of rabid old school and new school hip hop fans, who are tired of “Blazing Hip Hop and R&B” radio stations and the ring tone rappers they play like Soulja Boy and T-Pain.
On any given night, DJ’s Don Juan and Ish along with their crew, features rare and classic hip hop songs from iconic freestyle MC’s like KRS One , Rakim and MC Lyte to new school artists like Kev Brown, Little Brother, People Under the Stairs and the late great J. Dilla.
Unlike most hip hop radio shows, Hip Hop Flavas is not only musically consciously, but socially conscious as well. One recent show centered on the Don Imus controversy with the Rutgers’s Women’s Basketball team, while another featured Sylvester Smalls, superintendent of the City of Akron school system, who passionately talked about the state of public education.
The reason Hip Hop Flavas is socially conscious is because the show falls under the umbrella of Don Juan and Ish’s Keepers of the Art, Inc. which is anon-profit Hip-Hop advocacy organization designed to preserve the roots and integrity of the culture through progressive educational & entertainment outlets.
Keepers of the Art specialize in lectures, youth workshops, and programming all centered on the preservation of Hip-Hop Culture.
As 2008 continues to unfold, Keepers of the Art Inc. are already hard at work as they began organizing their hip hop education/concert featuring KRS One for later this year as well as expanding Hip Hop Flavas to two hours every week.
For more information or to donate to Keepers of The Art go to their MySpace page http://www.myspace.com/
To hear Hip Hop Flavas tune into to 91.3 WAPS-FM Saturday nights at 10 pm (www.913thesummit.com)
For a taste of Hip Hop Flavas, here’s a link of their now classic anniversary show and the Dom Imus episode.
http://www.mediafly.com/
http://www.mediafly.com/
Kevin Lockett
Lockett Media Group
Lockettmedia@
