Last week we named hip-hop after-school program True Skool the “best Milwaukee group using music to make Milwaukee a better place (Grand Ave. basement)” in our prestigious and highly specific Random awards. “Through a wide range of after-school and summer activities,” the organization’s mission statement reads, “such as community service projects, art, music and dance classes, developing workshops to peer educate, and business classes, youth then become the experts on these topics and begin to develop creative responses and solutions.”
One of those creative responses recently came to fruition in the form of a song and video titled “Liquid Gold.” Produced through a collaboration with the Milwaukee Water Commons’ “Water School” summer education program, “Liquid Gold” finds True Skool participants (most notably Tyrone King and Alicia Nicole) extolling the virtues of one of Milwaukee’s most cherished resources: water.
“Hip Hop is a huge part of our young adults’ lives” says Fidel Verdin, Creative Development and Outreach Director at True Skool, in a press release. “Water School encouraged us to use Hip Hop as a way to get our youth talking about and taking action on water issues. Because this curriculum was based in their culture and they were encouraged to take ownership of it, these young adults now feel connected to the topic. They see their place in environmental stewardship, and they understand how they can make a difference for our waters.”