“And to all of our young people who need guidance, these young men have pledged themselves to guide our community not to destructive behavior, but to constructive behavior,” the Hon. Min. Louis Farrakhan said at the Hip-Hop Peace Summit he organized in 1997.
This summit ended the bloodiest period in hip-hop history, the so-called East/West War which claimed the lives of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. Everyone from Snoop Dogg to P. Diddy was present or agreed to the terms of Farrakhan’s summit. This left many elders saying, “These young people in hip-hop can do some good.”
Fast forward to 2010. Lil Wayne is during prison time on Riker’s Island, many others face criminal charges, and the condition of our youth is at an all-time low. Many are saying, “Hip-hop can’t do nothing to help these youth.”
Dynasty Hip-Hop Inc. Mentoring Program says, “Yes, it can.”
Dynasty is a non- profit organization founded in St. Louis some five years ago by members of the Nation of Islam and some area youth. Its mission is to utilize hip-hop, its culture, and its industry to educate, motivate and empower youth with the training and skills to become more productive members of society.
“The work of the Hon. Min. Louis Farrakhan inspired us to do what we are doing,” said James W. Muhammad, co-founder of Dynasty.
“He has always been a mentor and a guide to the hip-hop community, from the days of Public Enemy, Kane, Doug E. Fresh, and up to Ice Cube, Snoop, T.I., and so many others. We, being already involved with hip-hop, knew with his example we could mentor and give guidance as well.”
Dynasty has brought the industry of hip-hop to young people in exchange for their engaging in positive behavior. Youth involved in Dynasty have gotten radio exposure on Hot 104.1 and the now-defunct 100.3 the Beat, and free studio time at some of the best studios in St. Louis: V.I.P., Anex, and Nelly’s Derrty Ent. They have recorded alongside Grammy-winning artist, Murphy Lee for his hit “Age of 21.”
“We used to be doing all this gang-banging and all that, but we started worrying about our album, getting the free studio time that Dynasty gave us, and just stopped doing all that and went onto more positive stuff,” said Naim “NuNu” Thompson, a Beaumont High School graduate.
Thompson started with the Dynasty as a high school sophomore and now mentors other youth with Dynasty. He is the program’s recording studio engineer at its state-of-the-art recording studio in the new Muhammad Mosque #28 in Walnut Park.
“I believe that Dynasty is an essential part of our plan to rehabilitate and educate the youth,” said Judge Jimmie Edwards, who enlisted Dynasty to bring its program to Innovative Concept Academy, an alternative school for juvenile delinquents that Edwards founded.
“They want change. They need change. So I’m a ‘be-the-one’ to provide that change,” rapped G. Wayne on his first recorded song.
Wayne attends Innovative Concept and has shown great promise, so he was allowed to go into the recording studio along with six other students as part of Dynasty.
The song had various excerpts of President Barack Obama and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. over a beat Wayne produced himself. “They put that together themselves based on the mentoring campaign,” said Muhammad.
Recently, Innovative Concept had its assembly to kick off the new school year, and Dynasty gave a preview of its program. Special guest of Dynasty included its new community partners Yung Ro, Black Pearl Studios, and Zo and Sham of Trak Starz.
Dynasty also will partner with professional martial arts trainer Elijah Farrakhan, the grandson of the Most Hon. Elijah Muhammad and the Hon. Min. Louis Farrakhan.
“We know that our youth have a fighting and soldier spirit, which is displayed in the hip-hop we hear,” said Muhammad. “We would like to channel that spirit in the right way, with discipline and self-discovery. The martial arts can do just that.”
For more information, call 314-243-4722 or 314-599-1878.
