THE POWER OF POSITIVE HIP-HOP

Instead Of Glorifying Guns, Booze And Drugs, S.C. Group Promotes Rap
With A Good Message

By boasting of lifestyles filled with guns, alcohol and drugs, many
rappers have given rap a bad name. But a new nonprofit organization
in South Carolina is trying to put a positive spin on the hip-hop
scene.

"If music can be used to glorify drugs and alcohol, why don't we just
flip it and use music in a positive way to influence people?," said
Curt Walker of the Carolina Music Group Foundation. "That was our
goal in founding the organization, to use music as a positive
influence on young people."

Tonight, the Carolina Music Group Foundation and the South Carolina
Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services will stage the
grand finale of its "The Message in Our Music Project 2001" series.
The concert and competition will take place at the Columbia High
School Auditorium, beginning at 7 p.m. The show will feature winners
from three previous hip-hop competitions around the state in which
students performed songs with positive messages they've written

Also performing tonight will be the major-label recording act Prophet
Jones, a vocal quartet who've been called, "the second coming of
Jodeci." Prophet Jones' debut album combines old-soul harmonies with
a cool, hip-hop attitude.

At three previous "The Message in Our Music" events, middle school,
high school and college students were invited to create and perform
their own hip-hop or rap songs that depicted the negative
consequences of substance abuse.

"We've had competitions in Charleston, Columbia and Greenville,"
Walker said. "Tonight, the winners and second- and third-place
finishers from each region will perform their songs."

Walker said he was impressed with the music the students have
created. Regional winners include Bilal Salahuddin, a student at
Benedict College; Russell Thurmond, a graduate of Woodmont High in
Greenville and now a freshman at the College of Charleston; and Ben
Hayward, a senior at St. John's High School near Charleston.

"We've heard a wide range of songs dealing with drug abuse, the HIV
issue and drunk driving," Walker said. "We're going to take the best
of the songs from all three cities and record a compilation CD and
make it free through the Urban League, YMCA and Boys & Girls Clubs."