[ Music ]
>> Hey, everyone, this is Brian
Foo, Innovator-in-Residence
at the Library of Congress.
And you just heard a preview
of the incredible DJ Kid Koala's
spinning tracks by creators
from across the country
who remixed audio materials
from your Library of Congress.
So this past year, I
had the pleasure to work
with the Library of Congress
on a project sponsored
by LC Labs called Citizen
DJ, which invites the public
to make new hip hop music
using free to use audio
and video materials
from the Library.
So today, you'll be hearing
from creators and organizations
from across the country
who've been using Citizen DJ,
as well as hearing a full
megamix, aka a beat tape,
performed by Kid Koala that
showcases all of that new work.
So before we start, I
just want to share a bit
about what inspired Citizen DJ.
The project really started
from my love of hip hop
at a young age, particularly
the four elements of hip hop,
emceeing, DJing,
b-boying, and b-girling,
or breakdancing, and graffiti.
I've been a b-boy
for over two decades
and I love how the dance form
is kind of this essentially
like a remix of a number of
references like capoeira,
kung fu, gymnastics,
African dance, jazz.
And I've always been fascinated
by how hip hop music itself
also samples from other eras
and other genres, transforming
them into something new.
And I was drawn to this idea
of the DJ as this collector
and remixer of sounds.
And there's this term
called like crate digging
where DJs would literally
be digging through crates
in the basements of record
stores and thrift shops looking
for the most obscure sounds from
other eras and other genres,
and then transforming into
something fresh and new.
So I've had the pleasure to work
with LC Labs and Library staff
to think about how we can curate
and expand this collective crate
of sonic culture that
anybody can use for free
and without restriction,
particularly with sounds
that might be aesthetically,
culturally,
and historically significant.
And the result is Citizen
DJ, a public resource
that you can access right now.
And you can quickly
browse thousands of samples
from hundreds of hours of
audio from all different eras,
all different genres, and then
you could remix these sounds
and add beats directly in your
browser and download any sample
to use in your own music
production software for free
and without that restriction.
Hey, so thanks for
everybody for being here.
Maybe you could start by
just introducing yourselves,
telling us a little bit
about your organizations,
and maybe talk a little
bit about what drew you
to Citizen DJ, and maybe as
like a fun little question,
what is your favorite sample?
I know that's a little
difficult,
so we'll give you time
to think about that.
But -- Or maybe like one
of your favorite samples
to make it a little easier.
>> Wow. Sure, sure.
So, Rashard Dobbins.
What up, though, everybody?
How are you doing?
You know, we're Class
Act Detroit.
We are a nonprofit organization
here in the City of Detroit.
We're mobile.
And what we do is we
use the five elements.
You know, we focus on the main
four, but we're educators.
We're organization
founded by two educators,
so of course knowledge,
right, is the pinnacle for us.
And we use that in
all of the elements.
But we really use it, you
know, to promote equity, right,
which is, you know, what is hip
hop is really designed to do
and where it comes from.
So, we're excited to be here.
We're excited to, you know,
link up with other organizations
that are moving the
movement forward, right?
>> So what -- how did you
connect with Citizen DJ?
>> Yes. So, you know, first
of all Citizens DJ is
an amazing resource.
So, you know, as somebody who
DJs, as somebody who, you know,
at least organization alone, my
cofounder, Adriana, you know,
we love hip hop, right?
We're students of hip hop,
even though we're teachers.
And, you know, to see a resource
that allows us to do, you know,
what -- those who
are part of you know,
hip hop culture do best, which
is upcycle or recycle art,
right, and history, and
have a time capsule, right?
We dig. You know, Citizen
DJ, especially in the times
that we're in now,
right, being able to dig
through this plethora, right,
of amazing film recordings
and interviews, right, you
know, it just drew us as a DJ,
you know, drew us in, especially
as a resource for our students.
>> You got favorite sample?
>> There's no way I
could answer that.
>> OK.
>> There's absolutely no way.
There's no way.
>> I'll allow you to skip that.
>> Yeah.
>> Natalie?
>> Hi, I'm Natalie Lewis Schere.
I'm the executive director
of PATH, Preserving,
Archiving and Teaching Hip Hop.
We are a nonprofit
based in Miami, Florida.
But we also do work in
Washington State and Arizona
through one of our partners,
specifically setting up studios
in treatment facilities
to support folks
who are overcoming addictions to
use lyrics and also songwriting
and recording as an
alternative to talk therapy.
But our work in Miami focuses
on work with youth, community,
also substance abuse
prevention and intervention,
and then we also have an
archiving and preservation arm.
Yeah, we're super excited
to be a part of the project
and just grateful that
we were sent an email
with the beta release
and reached out actually
to Brian directly about
the product, the platform,
and we appreciate you
bringing us into this project.
>> Yeah.
>> Amazing to work
with you as well.
>> Oh, and the MusicBox Project.
I love the MusicBox Project
as a woman in the culture,
although my role is
primarily administrative,
my previous life, in my
previous life, I was a creator
and I'm a closet creator.
But the majority of my work is
through supporting creatives
in their journey on, to
understand themselves
as creators also as servants to
the public using their artwork.
But I love the MusicBox
Collection because it highlights
on the contributions
of women in the arts.
And I think it's
really important
across the art's ecosystem,
but particularly in hip hop
to introduce the voices of
other sisters, and make sure
that young women
have role models,
and also the brothers understand
that our voices are important
and crucial and critical, and
that they need to be included
in the part of the work, so.
>> Amazing.
Hey, Cesar, how are you doing?
>> Hey, hey.
My name is DJ Antonio
, ricket, ricket.
You know what I'm saying?
You can at that and
follow me on Instagram.
But, yeah, I represent
Solidarity Studios.
As I mentioned, I'm a DJ, and
also producer, and educator.
And shout out to the Citizen
DJ, shout out to Brian,
shout out to John, shout
out to the whole team
for creating such
an amazing tool.
You know, there's so many people
in our community who wants
to learn beat making
and music making.
A lot of them are beginners
of all ages, from a variety
of different nonprofit
organizations and communities
in Chicago, in Palestine, in
Ghana, all over the world.
We're an international
organization.
And this this tool is just such
a great way to like get started.
And then for -- what I'd
like notice in the workshops
for more advanced
users, like the fact
that this is a whole
Library, you know,
free of royalty use was just
super exciting for those who,
you know, were advanced.
So you know, big shout
out to your team.
One of the main things that
Solidarity Studios does is,
you know, we partner with
nonprofit organizations
and donate mobile studios so
that we can uphold, you know,
storytelling and communities
that need to tell their stories.
And we also do a variety of
other programming, right,
whatever involves
Solidarity, right,
that's -- we're there, right?
When there's exchange programs
from colleges for students
who want to work with nonprofits
in Chicago, we'll do that.
If we need to move
resources, we'll do that.
So, you know, we're a wide
range around the music and,
you know, that's what we do.
And one like really
exciting thing is
that we have a virtual music
competition coming up in Ghana,
and so that's our next move.
Yeah. And, you know,
since I'm a DJ,
I got to represent
those samples.
I would say my favorite
sample is "Fun in the Bakery".
Yeah, I think it's named
"Fun in the Bakery".
And I made a little
juke beat to it.
So, that was like really fun.
Shout out to Detroit.
Someone here is from Detroit.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah, yeah, hey.
You can help.
That's where it's at.
>> You can say [inaudible].
>> It's techno, yeah.
>> Juking and [inaudible].
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. Well, thank you.
>> Yeah. So, yeah, FYI "Fun
in the Bakery" is a
Citizen DJ sample.
That's from I think the
Edison, like the Edison records.
So that's like almost like
over 100 years old maybe?
So, yeah.
>> So, yeah, if you get
if you ask me Library,
so that's easier, Cesar.
Like Natalie did the right.
>> You got to focus it right.
>> She said the whole Library?
I'm like, OK.
If you ask me, that's
the sample, goodness.
I mean, it's just --
>> I feel like it's
impossible to narrow it
down because there's so many.
>> Yeah.
>> I know.
>> It's impossible.
>> It's impossible.
>> It's impossible.
>> At least from like
Citizen DJ, for me,
that's "Fun in the Bakery".
But also from like, you know,
going back to the
federal government
from the Smithsonian
Folkways Records,
they have a sample called
"Eddie Chodi" [phonetic].
And that's one of my
other favorite ones.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah, the Joe Smith Library,
the interviews, I mean Smokey
or for like -- I mean,
you know, not Smokey,
nor for Smokey Robinson, right,
is in there, which of course
for us, right, we're
right down the street
from his view, from
his house, so.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> Speaking of sampling
from the Library,
I think that's a good segue to
introduce John and what he does.
>> Hello. Good to see everyone.
Yeah, my name is John Fenn.
I'm the Head of Research
and Programs here
at the American Folklife Center,
which is one of, you know,
20 odd reading rooms,
research centers at the Library
of Congress, '76 by
an act of Congress,
the American Folklife
Preservation Act,
and that set us up to preserve
and present folklife
in all its diversity.
And Citizen DJ really speaks
to that in multiple ways.
I think the preservation,
all the collections
you're talking about,
the MusicBox Project, the Edison
Project, so many of those are
about preserving recorded sound
and, you know, moving image
for use by the public,
by you all.
The presentation is what Citizen
DJ encourages people to do
with their right
to make new work.
So I got connected to Citizen DJ
when I met Brian when he started
as Innovator-in-Residence
and he came
down to the Folklife Center,
you know, through connections
with LC Labs, and he started
describing his project,
and we said, "Yeah, we
want to be involved."
So we worked with him, a bunch
of the staff here work with him,
to find collections that would
fit the free to use mantra
of this so people could have
access to these samples,
and then, you know, sure, listen
to the one to two second beats,
but also dig deeper
into the collections.
And so, again, the
MusicBox Collection,
and then the American English
Dialect Recordings collection.
Those are two of
the sample banks
from the American Folklife
Center in Citizen DJ.
And these represent such a
rich sort of body of heritage.
In many ways, Citizen DJ is
sort of is kind of a, you know,
fulfilling the 21st
century mission
of the Folklife Center, I think.
And it's just been really
exciting to go along
on the journey to meet you all
and to work with your creators
and your organizations.
It's been fantastic.
>> Awesome.
Yeah. My favorite sample
-- Well, it's kind of --
it's not really kind
of the sample
as you would usually think of a
sample, but like a personal one
for me growing up was
in "Enter the Wu-Tang",
the sample of like the
19, like, '80s Hong Kong,
you know, Kung Fu film.
I think it was like
Shaolin and Wu-Tang.
So, like, you know, the whole
kind of aesthetic and also just
like the whole philosophy
of like kind
of the Wu-Tang clan is like, you
know, derivative of, you know.
Also the English dubbed
version, which is like, I mean,
it kind of hits on all
the different layers
of like transformation
and like reference.
And like, for me,
it kind of made
like the whole Chinese
thing like, cool,
which like representation
in like the '90s
and like, you know, Chinese --
>> Absolutely.
>> -- wasn't that, so.
>>Absolutely.
>> That was mine.
Yeah, I'm happy, Rashard,
you brought up the
fifth element of --
>> Yeah.
>> -- knowledge, you know,
knowledge in history,
knowledge of self.
I think that's like --
I think that's exactly
where this intersection
is between, you know --
>> Absolutely.
>> -- hip hop and the
Library of Congress.
>> Absolutely.
>> To hear like here
like how you kind
of think of that directly.
>> Oh, man.
How much time we have, right?
That's where we live.
I mean, you know, Class
Act Detroit, you know,
we officially founded in
2017, but it really dates back
to the cofounder's time
in the classroom, right?
We teach at, you know,
schools that are 99.9%, right,
people of color, and have
this rich, rich heritage
that oftentimes is
hidden, right?
I mean, you know, knowledge
of self is everything.
You know, what you
see in the classroom
from the classroom standpoint
and being the culturally
relevant educator, you know,
you're validating someone's
culture, you're bringing
that into the room,
into the space, right?
You're honoring who you are.
You don't have to be a zebra
and necessarily change
your stripes, right?
So it was like, OK, cool.
You know, for instance, for us,
you know, being educators here
in Detroit, we're able to
bring in Marvin Gaye and Stevie
and Michael, right,
or the Clark sisters
in the gospel back, right.
But these are also the same
things that our students' aunts,
and great aunts, and
uncles are playing, right?
So, you know, knowledge is key.
It's key. And I mean, you know,
you can go through Citizen DJ,
but you can go through any
sample for that matter,
and just learn history,
like you just said, Brian.
I mean, you know, it --
you know, we actually do
a course here in the city
in the summertime where we
dig through popular lyrics
and we pull out the ACT and SAT.
And that's just like one
example of how we can do
that through hip hop, right, you
know, through various artists,
whether it's, you know,
somebody who's ultrapopular,
like a Drake or, you
know, a Joey Bad, right?
Like, you know, we can
easily do that for --
we can get you on any level,
but then we can get, you know,
really into influential
questions like,
what are they referring to,
what are they getting into?
So for us, I mean,
hip hop starts there.
Like, that's really what
feels our organization is
that knowledge piece, right?
Even if it's mastering the
turntables, or you know,
mastering ROM schemes and
things of that nature, right.
Knowledge is what, to me,
really brings it all together,
and of course, community,
for sure.
>> Yeah.
>> One of the missions
of the Library is
to build a universal body
of knowledge and wisdom
that can be accessed
by everyone, right?
And I think that
resonates so clearly
with what you're talking
about, the representation too,
and thinking about just in
the Folklife Center in our,
you know, relatively
contained holdings --
>> Yeah.
>> -- amidst the
Library's massive --
>> Sure.
>> You know, we have
all this knowledge.
It's intergenerational
as you're talking about.
It's about representing everyday
culture and identity practices.
And it's about the wisdom of
applying that knowledge to sort
of -- to becoming who you
are, whether you're an artist
or creator, or a
teacher, or as a farmer --
>> Absolutely, absolutely.
>> -- or, I mean, you know,
it's just, it's everything.
>> And if I could add on
to that, I mean, right,
access in the creative
economy, right?
Like there's definitely ways
we talk about representation
in the creative economy.
You know, there's a
disconnect, right?
So, hip hop, right,
and music, right,
it gives that representation,
right,
when you learn the art
form of production, right,
of emceeing, of breaking, right?
You're gaining access into the
creative economy, which then,
right, you know, can change
your entire world, right?
It allows you access
to something
that maybe you didn't do.
If you're a graffiti
writer, you know,
you learn graphic
design as well.
I mean, it's absolutely
representation matters.
Absolutely.
>> Yeah. And I think that kind
of reminds me of, you know,
PATH, you know, the -- your
multiple, things like one is
like kind of this idea of
like the arc of history and --
or as you call like our
history, and also how
to use the four elements
of hip hop.
Can you speak a little
bit about that?
>> Absolutely, absolutely.
We're actually using Citizen
DJ as part of a project
that was originally
called Miami Our Story,
and we have over time replaced
history with OUR Story,
capital O-U-R, just to point
to the fact that the stories
that we tell are a
part of a bigger story.
And one of the things that's
really powerful for us is that,
you know, hip hop
is self-referential
for specifically black and brown
youth who make up the majority
of the population that
we serve also in Miami,
it's just part of
the demographic.
Because when they are
engaging in the elements,
it's not just what we bring to
the mix, but that they're able
to reference social dances
that are familiar to them
because they've seen
these dances in their home
and are able, like you said,
to follow the arc of history.
The social dances that
they saw their abuela doing
at home growing up, they're able
to then sort of look at that
as part of the evolution of
the b-boy, b-girl culture.
You know, sound clash
culture out of Jamaica,
that's really a critical
part of how we teach
about hip hop culture.
It doesn't begin in the Bronx,
although that is the birthplace
of hip hop as a culture, but
because it has its foundations
in cultures, to which many of
our young creatives belong.
It's really powerful for them to
go home, learn about the story,
and bring their personal
stories to the mix.
So we really build, not just
on the historical foundation
of hip hop, but really
encourage young people
to insert themselves
into those stories.
And even if they don't
necessarily come from families
that are reflected in the
roots of hip hop culture,
they know someone that does.
And that gives them the
opportunity to reach out
and begin to do that primary
source research to ask questions
of the folks around them and,
you know, become creators
of knowledge, become historians
themselves through the process
of excavation and, you know,
just placing themselves
on a timeline, and really
encouraging them also
to recognize that they're
standing on the shoulders
of not just the folks
in hip hop culture,
but it builds connection with
their families, you know?
It builds connection to
the folks that are part
of their communities, so.
>> Yeah, absolutely.
And I think that's something
that I've heard a
lot from you all.
I think, in the very beginning,
we were asking like, oh,
what age groups do you
serve and things like that.
And I think it became very
clear very quickly that it's all
about intergenerational kind
of like knowledge sharing.
And Cesar yourself,
you were a student
that became a teacher, you know?
So I'd be interested to kind of
just hear specifically about,
you know, how your organization
might be structured to kind
of facilitate this
intergenerational collaboration.
>> Yeah, absolutely.
OK. So, yeah, it's definitely
very intergenerational.
We have uncles, aunts, aunties,
if you're a young person,
you're saying that.
But if you're an older person
in the organization, you have,
you know, nieces, nephews.
But I think, you know,
Solidarity Studios does
a good job of creating
like a mentorship network of --
you know, for everybody
who just comes
into these workshops, you know.
There's always those
students who are are like,
just like about it, right?
They're like, yow,
I'm in this 100%.
And, you know, we leave room for
mentorship for those students.
And I was one of
them at first, right?
I was one of them.
And because of like my
investment and like I continue
to make music, and not only I
can make music but I had mentors
that did not only encouraged
me but supported me, right?
Connected me to grants,
connected me to opportunities.
Like without my mentors,
I wouldn't be here
where I am today, just
even on this call,
which is like so
amazing to be on, like.
So I think that's like one
of the biggest parts of like
of the intergenerational
talk is like about mentorship
and where that can bring youth.
And, yeah, and, excuse
me, I'm getting --
And one other things I wanted
to mention just to jump off,
you know, the past
conversation is, you know, like,
I've been I've been looking
into a word recently,
it's called Sankofa.
And with Sankofa, it's
a name, it's Akan,
and I've done some
work in Ghana.
And it means it's not taboo
to fetch what is at risk
of being left behind, or
it's not taboo to go back
into history, and to
revisit those things
because there's knowledge we
can pull, right, from that,
and that we can learn from.
So, I've just really been
exploring that right now.
And like, even there's this
like, there's this one sample
where there's these kids just
like singing and playing a game.
And what I've done, you
know, I edited that sample
and I actually put my own
voice in there, and I was like,
playing the game with them.
So I was like playing -- I was
playing a game with these kids
from like I don't know how
long ago in South America,
and like that just puts me into
this mode where I could learn,
I can learn from the youth
too at that moment, you know,
what might have they
felt playing that game.
Like I felt that.
You know, this is
like spiritual too.
This is emotional to when
you engage with this stuff.
But it's also like
getting your mind
to that how can we attune
ourselves to like get
in that mindset of like engaging
for those reasons, right?
Because I also found
myself, I'm a DJ,
I want people to have fun too.
You don't want everything
to be about learning, right?
So how can I make a really dope
beat, and at the same time,
you know, put that
history in it too?
But, yeah, I think that
covers a little bit
about the intergenerational
talk.
>> We're about at time.
>> Wait a minute, it's over?
>> Yeah.
>> We need to have --
>> We just got started, right?
>> I know.
>> Come on, we're talking
about hip hop, man.
Come on.
>> Rashard, I think we
figured out the next steps.
We definitely need to host,
whether it's quarterly
or something else --
>> Yeah.
>> -- just the reasoning
where we just keep --
>> That's right.
>> -- keep it going.
>> Yeah, there's so much
going on across everything.
Yeah.
>> Listen, movements be moments.
So, you know, last
time I checked,
the movement will
always continue, right?
Moments are fleeting, and
we're only here for, you know,
but a small -- short
amount of time,
but the movements can
always can continue.
And I think that's what
all of us are doing.
And I think that's
what the Library,
right, Citizen DJ is doing.
We're saying, hey, to
the younger generations,
like we're playing
coaches right now.
Eventually, we'll
just be coaches,
and they'll be the ones
scoring the touchdown, right?
But right now, we're trying
to help get these first down.
So for sure, movements
be moments.
And we definitely, you know,
have to be united upfront
and continue to work
together for sure.
[Inaudible] Yeah, right.
>> Citizen DJ Library
of Congress.
>> Thank you.
>> Awesome.
>> It's our honor.
>> Sort of standing with
us as a culture and sort
of preserving cultural heritage
material and making sure --
>> Absolutely.
>> -- that that's available
to the public and sort
of giving us access to enrich
the work that we are doing
by pointing to the story,
the collective story,
that's humanity that we just --
>> Yeah, absolutely.
>> -- we forget or that gets
dismissed or written out.
So thank you.
Thank you.
>> It's our library, you know?
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> It's your library.
Thank you all.
This has been super fun.
I'm surprised it's over too.
>> So as part of
our collaboration
with your three amazing
organizations, we asked creators
to create some new music
using samples from Citizen DJ
in the Library of Congress.
So instead of just
playing them back here,
we thought it'd be much more fun
to ask the incredible DJ
Kid Koala to make almost
like a mix of remixes.
For those of you who
don't know Kid Koala,
he's an extremely skilled
and creative scratch DJ.
I know him personally from one
of my favorite collaborations
in Deltron 3030.
He's also toured with my
favorite hip hop group Tribe
Called Quest, as
well as Radiohead,
the Beastie Boys, and DJ Shadow.
If you check out his work, he
kind of embodies the spirit
of this project in his
innovative and surprising use
of samples and diverse
references from vaudeville,
to blues, to rock and hip hop.
So it is my pleasure
to introduce Kid Koala
and his Intercity Beat Tape.
And after the performance,
we'll hear more
from him and the creators.
[ Music ]
>> From Library of
Congress in Washington DC.
[ Music ]
From Library of Congress
in Washington DC.
>> All right, that was awesome.
Now, I'm joined by Kid Koala
himself and four of the creators
who are featured in this mix.
So Alyssa and Alena,
representing Detroit
and Class Act Detroit.
We have Lecroy Rhyanes a.k.a.
Mr. Lee, representing El Paso,
Texas and Solidarity Studios.
And Anthony Tonik Reyes
representing Miami and PATH.
So, that was an amazing set.
Like it's kind of this like
amazing like idea of, you know,
kind of going from what
was a lot of cases,
samples of like things that were
over 100 years old that came
from these like, you
know, discs that were on,
like phonograph players
that were transformed
into a digital format and
then kind of transformed again
by the creators, and then
like transformed again
onto like a physical form
in your vinyl, and then kind
of transformed again into
this like digital piece.
So, I want you to kind of share
a little bit about like your --
Kid Koala, like your kind
of idea behind this piece,
like particularly around like
how this kind of like future,
you know, these kind
of like future aliens
like discovering these
kind of like sounds.
>> I mean, for me, I've
just been scratching
since I was 12 years old,
and vinyl is still
my format of choice.
And so, when I was invited to do
this mix, I kind of treated it
like once I heard the beats
that that all the
participants have made,
there's so many great styles
and different moods happening
that said, OK, well, we're
just going to compile it.
I think there was 40 of them,
40 tracks, I had 20 minutes.
So I kind of just approached
more like it was a beat tape
but an intercity beat tape
from all these producers.
And I cut everything to vinyl,
because I have a record
cutter downstairs.
So I took the files, and
I cut on to actual place.
And then once I have --
had them on the records,
and I can just sort of --
>> That's so cool.
That's so coll.
>> Yeah.
>> And yeah, so yeah,
so we are joined
by for those creators today.
And, you know, this
wasn't really planned.
But, you know, in our
previous discussion,
we talked about the
importance of kind
of this intergenerational kind
of collaboration, and you know,
we have probably at least three
different decades represented
here, if not more.
>> Yeah.
>> It's pretty awesome,
you know?
And also kind of listening to,
you know, or kind of hearing
about some of your backgrounds,
that's like another kind
of aspect that we talked
about previously on this idea
of innovation through
kind of a combination
of all different art forms.
So, I'd be interested
for you all to kind
of introduce yourselves
but kind of talk
about your interest outside
of music that might kind
of influence your music making.
Maybe we can start with
let's say, Anthony.
And you're muted.
>> Thank you.
Hello. I'm going
to say hi to this.
So, I'm Anthony Reyes.
I go by Tonik from Miami.
I am a computer scientist,
along with a musician.
I've been playing music
since I was a wee boy.
And I'm a professional
beatboxer.
So inside of music and hip
hop, like it grows more
than just the music itself.
And I don't know.
I love music production, and
I love software engineering
in terms where I can fiddle
with my sounds inside of Ableton
and Maximus P, anything I can
do inside of hard software.
I have some cool
hardware too, but yeah.
>> Definitely going to ask
you to show us some skills.
What about you Alena and Alyssa?
>> OK. Hi.
Hi, I'm Alena.
Let me see.
I just got into making
music a little while ago,
but my main skill is --
has mostly to do with
art in video games
and sculpting and
stuff like that.
I actually want to be a game
designer when I get older.
That music might help me make
my own soundtrack or something.
I hope so.
Your turn.
>> Hi. I'm Alyssa.
I didn't know I want
to do music until --
before we joined
Class Act Detroit.
They brought this
turntable to the library
and we started playing with it
for about hour, hour and a half.
>> Yeah.
>> And we felt we had
some real talent with it.
And it was really fun too.
So then, a couple months later,
we ended up actually
joining Class Act Detroit,
and then we started taking
the classes, and we really end
up liking the musical
portion of it.
So I guess that was really when
I got -- really got into music,
like mixing and stuff.
>> Oh, sorry.
And if it's not obvious
to the audience,
Alena and Alyssa are
twins [laughter].
Also a shout out to
your original album art
which is amazing.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Yeah, definitely,
definitely multidisciplinary,
multitalented.
And Lee, Mr. Lee, how about
you introduce yourself?
>> My name is Lecroy Rhyanes.
Students here at -- where
I teach in El Paso, go --
they know me as Mr. Lee.
I teach at a school called
Canyon Hills Middle School.
It's in the northeast
side of El Paso,
which is where I
was born and raised.
I went to school in New
Mexico State University,
which is really important
because that's
where I actually -- as soon as
I got there in ;99, I was living
in Northern New Mexico for
an internship over the summer
and I heard of a radio
show called Street Beat
with two guys, Garrett and Leo.
And I remember, it was the first
time I've ever heard a college
radio show up to that point.
I mean, I knew of like Yo!
MTV Raps, growing up watching
BET Rap City with Big Lez.
I'm just a super fan as a
kid going all the way back
to the tapes, Wu-Tang
tapes when I was
in middle school
and all that stuff.
So when I heard this
underground radio show though,
that was my first time getting
connected to DJs that made music
and that made mixes,
and it just inspired me.
I remember that summer I
told them man, when I go back
down to Southern New
Mexico to my school,
I'm going to start a radio show.
And I didn't know how to mix,
I didn't know how to do any
of that, but I just
jumped into it
and started doing a radio show
and I started meeting more
creators, more beatmakers.
Hey, man, can you play my music?
Hey, can you play my tape?
And then when I started
jumping into education,
when I started working with
kids at alternative schools
and in juvenile centers,
then it started to turn
into something else, because
I had this radio show,
and they're like, "Oh, well,
can you play what I create?"
And then I started meeting
beatmakers and started kind
of seeing the ins and outs
of like just how they
were making beats.
When technology started to take
that turn, you started to see
like software, like FruityLoops.
And, I mean, I had -- I remember
I had an emulator on Nintendo
and one day I made a beat
on it in my dorm room,
and I had invited all my
classmates to come check it
out because I was like, I
made a beat, I made a beat.
And it was just, you
know, it was so funny
to see their reaction because
they're like looking at me like,
no, you know, that's
not a beat, bro.
Like, that beat is kind
of trash, you know?
But they were just
trying to be nice.
You know, they're like, yeah,
that's pretty good, you know?
It's all right.
But I knew what it was but I was
just excited because I was like,
man, I actually like
created something.
So I just kind of stuck,
stayed in my lane, you know,
super fan of my students.
Whatever they needed I
try to get it for them
so that they can
make and create,
and so that I could archive and
share it, you know what I mean?
So I had access to a radio
show, so I'll play it,
had access to classrooms,
I'd use it in my teaching.
Right now, actually, you know,
all of this inspired a lot
of the today's feature
sound work.
It inspired us to do --
Just yesterday, we had
about 12 students in a room,
in a Zoom Room, since we're
all doing virtual learning
right now.
We started a program called
Cobra Beats at our school.
We're the Canyon Hills Cobras.
And so, I mean, there's
like just tons of kids.
They're using Beatlab running
around and just got overwhelmed,
and you know, I kind of had
to let them know I need to,
you know, do that on this
hour because, you know,
we got to teach and
all that stuff too,
because they will
easily take over.
You know, just even today, you
know, we checked in the class
and they were asking,
you know, hey, Mister,
what's up with those beats?
You're going to play those beats
before class starts, you know,
because we'll play it in the
Zoom and I'm like, oh, chill,
you know, we got a
geography presentation
to get ready for, you know.
But they're so excited.
And I'm excited.
And even in a situation
we're in,
even though we can't connect,
we're just so happy to be able
to connect on that level.
So, when I heard about this
program, I was like, man,
I want to be a student,
you know.
I want to try to learn
for once and be taught
and get some guidance on
what you all are doing.
So the Citizen DJ is just
a whole another level.
I've been wanting to
connect with the Library
of Congress for a while.
I heard about Brian
Foo like months ago.
And I remember telling
myself, I hope I get a chance
to learn more about
it somehow, some way.
And it happened.
So here I am now in
front watching you talk.
>> Yeah.
>> So I saw him in an
article, and now I'm here.
So that's cool.
That's dope.
>> No, I'm so glad
you're here too.
Yeah, no, I think I
think that's interesting.
I think one thing I'd be
interested to kind of hear
from everybody is,
you know, like, what,
what types of technologies
do you use?
I think just because we're
kind of across a bunch
of different generations.
You know, like hip hop
is all about innovation.
It's all about kind of pushing
the boundaries especially,
you know, as the as the
next generation comes.
I'm curious to know what
is everybody's set up?
You can -- We can start with
-- Let's start with Kid Koala.
What do you have?
>> You want me to
talk about my setup?
>> Or I don't know.
>> Mix I just did?
>> Sure, sure.
Yeah, let's start with that.
>> That was a Technics
1200 Turntables
and a Rane Empath Mixer.
It's kind of my go-to
live setup.
It's the one I've been using --
>> All right.
We have a couple nodding heads.
>> -- for a couple
of decades now.
>> That's awesome.
What about you, Anthony?
What are you using
to make music?
>> I use an RC-505
to loop things.
So I can throw, and then
loop it down over again.
I can try to show
it in this camera,
but I can point to it here.
>> Yeah. Show if off.
>> Just for you all to see.
It looks like this.
It's kind of fun.
Click buttons.
I can loop, loop, loop,
loop, loop, and overdub.
I use Ableton Live
9 which is a DAW,
digital audio workspace,
to produce in.
I have my keyboard and my mouth.
So like.
>> Yeah, yes, let's go for it.
Let's do a demo.
[ Music ]
>> Like if I'm just on the
freestyle fly clicking buttons
and doing stuff like that.
I can rock out with
some full-on stuff.
>> Yeah, beatboxing, the other
fifth element of hip hop.
>> Oh, yeah.
Shout out to Doug E. Fresh.
>> Yeah, I just want to
thank you all for being here
and for a being part of this.
And thank you everybody
for tuning in.
To learn more about the work
of Class Act Detroit, PATH,
Solidarity Studios, Kid Koala,
and the American
Folklife Center,
you can visit the event page.
And also to learn more about
Citizen DJ, you could check
out citizen-dj.labs.loc.gov,
and you can go
to the LC Labs website
labs.loc.gov
for other interactive
experiments.
And we look forward to
hearing what you make.
[ Music ]