LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Hip Hop Into Learning (HHN2L), a Louisville group that uses rap and music to help area kids and teenagers learn and express themselves, will use a $500,000 grant to expand into more schools.
In a news conference Thursday, HHN2L joined Louisville Orchestra Music Director Teddy Abrams to announce an expansion to include summer and spring break programs for 30-40 youth in fifth through 12th grades.
"We have this idea that if there is great talent in our community, they should be performing with us," Abrams said Thursday. "When I saw these young rappers, I saw real talent."
Louisville Orchestra Music Director Teddy Abrams. March 2, 2023. (WDRB Photo)
One of HHN2L's programs, The Real Young Prodigys, is most commonly known. And its song, "Crown," was influential in passing a Louisville ordinance, the Crown Act, that prohibits discrimination against someone based on a hairstyle.
In December, HHN2L received a $500,000 Accelerator Award from the Lewis Prize for Music supporting continued and new efforts to make sustained progress toward community change.
"We are going to use that funding for so many good things," said Arielle Betts, a member of the Real Young Prodigys.
The new summer program will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., June 5-9 at Lo's Rap School. For more information, click here.
"With rap school, students will have the opportunity to rap in front of the Louisville Orchestra," said Nyree Clayton- Taylor with HHN2L.
The group said more students will have the opportunity to engage in the program. HHN2L will also offer feeder programs at The Academy at Shawnee, Meyzeek Middle School, Hudson Middle School and Perry Elementary School.
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