Hip Hop 101 with Princess Superstar at TLB Music

Published July 24, 2013 | By the bird feed nyc

This summer, my company, TLB Music, teamed up with renowned rapper and DJ Princess Superstar to create a Hip Hop 101 class for kids. The class is a fusion of Hip Hop dance, music and culture perfect for kids who like to dance, perform, and use their imagination. I had the pleasure of sitting in on a class and it was SO much fun! At the beginning of class, Princess Superstar helped students pick their rap names and made name tags for everyone. The kids chose adorable names like P-Flower, J-Star, and D-Heart, using their first initial and a symbol! Then, she taught the class some classic dance moves like The Robot, The Wave, The Moonwalk, and The Running Man. The kids were impressive- one student even pulled off a believable Moonwalk!

We played Xylophones along with Blondie’s “Rapture” and I helped out with The Beastie Boys’ “Sure Shot” by playing the flute loop and teaching the class how to change pitch.

The coolest part of class was when Princess Superstar helped students write their own original rap lyrics, practicing writing, reading, and rhyming all while creatively working as a team to tell a little story! So cute! This is the rap they wrote:

After completing the lyrics, they rehearsed it, section by section, and stylized their tone and inflection after learning the lines. Finally, we all rapped the entire thing together! At the end….a freestyle dance party!