Local teen musicians to perform original songs in Nashville
Agroup of Pittsburgh teens, whose new album is dropping Monday, will soon perform live on a prestigious stage in Nashville, from which they’ll have a few urgent messages to deliver to the masses.
The 13 young artists of disparate creative focuses behind the newly released “Su(Stained) Reality” (out now on Spotify and Apple Music) are part of Center of Life in Hazelwood’s year-round, student-led KRUNK Movement program. Through it, students explore the elements of hip-hop, songwriting, production, visual art forms and technology while garnering professional, communication and financial literacy skills.
This year, KRUNK students collaborated with Pittsburgh-based Green Building Alliance’s Sustainable
Communities initiative for a special Earth Day release written, performed and produced by students alongside their KRUNK instructors.
“We provide a platform for our students to stand on and be heard,” said Shundeena Beard, Center of Life music and arts program manager. “During the day, they are like every other teen going to school. But after school, they transform into vessels of change for Pittsburgh and the world.”
On June 1 and 2, the kids of KRUNK will bring their collection of songs, touching on everything from environmental topics like climate change to social justice on the road to Music City, where they’ll perform live at the National Museum of African American Music.
Dionna Reynolds, GBA senior director of social impact, says students delved into topics such as sustainable building, recycling, pollution, education, and diet, as well as the importance of mental, physical and emotional well-being, exploring the social, economic and health impacts of those arenas on both individualand community life.
“I asked them to think about ‘What does sustainability mean to you?’ And in defining that, think about using your craft, your gifts to contribute a message that would reach your peers and others through hip-hop,” said Reynolds.
“They have developed and created an outstanding album for us, and we’re excited to share it with the world. These are very talented, smart kids. We started this project
educating them on sustainability, but then in retrospect, they educated us on what sustainability means to them and how we can also support in their future goals with regard to addressing some of those impacts.”
Inspiring change
Sixteen-year-old Woodland Hills High School junior Dahnayl Champine, of Duquesne, an emcee and producer, is the young writer behind the verbally dexterous flow and polished groove on the album’s first single, “Stained Melody.”
“I just wanted to talk about things that’s going on around me. I want people to understand what’s going on and I want people to truly listen to what I’m saying,” said Dahnayl. “So it’s like, now I’m about to tell y’all what’s going on over here and how we as kids see it. And adults might not see it the way that we see it.”
“... [The album] is for the future because this is our next generation. We are the next generation right here. And we’re gonna be moving this world forward.”
“(Su)stained Melody” and its stained glass imagery were inspired by students’ uniquesurroundings during the creative process.
“We were just thinking about how we as humans affect our environment and our reality,” said KRUNK Movement coordinator Albert Felipe. “And the Center of Life actually used to be a church, so we were just kind of thinking in that kind of mindset. We had all these stained glass windows while we’re creating this art and it was a very spiritual moment.”
“‘(Su)stained Reality’ is wordplay on stained glass and sustaining ourselves.”
Original album art features a burning forest in stained glass colors, fitting in the age of global warming wherein the ocean has risen six inches since 1901, according to The Royal Society, and the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by 120 parts per million to historically unprecedented levels since 1911, according to NASA.
“It can also cover how we get rose-tinted, that kind of vibe, and have a warped view on reality until you break through the vision,” added 16-year-old Pittsburgh CAPA student and visual artist AnjaliDixon of the North Side.
It’s the kind of forwardthinking concept that’s in line with KRUNK’s acronym, which is itself a play on the southern hip-hop genre, crunk, popularized by rappers like Lil Jon, The Ying Yang Twins and others in the 2000s. Here though, it stands for “Kreating Realistic Universal New-school Knowledge.”
“It basically is just meant to reinvent hip-hop, so it’s more positive, you feel me?” said Anjali. “Because usually in hip-hop, we see things like, unfortunately, sex, drugs, and crime. What KRUNK wants to do is make it more of a positive thing, like success, and make that the topic of rap songs.”
Their mission meshed easily with GBA’s, as well as the United Nations’ sustainable development goals.
“It’s about a sustainable community, quality education, good health and wellbeing,” said GBA president and CEO Jenna Cramer. “There’s a goal for zero hunger, and no poverty, and quality jobs. So all of these aspects are really integrated when we think about ‘What does it take to create a sustainable neighborhood, a sustainable community, a sustainable world that is healthy and affordable and resilient for all people?’ ”
“That’s where our connection is to this work and trying to bring it to different audiences in a way that matters to them and to honestly help them care,” she continued. “We think that this project is incredibly inspirational.”
Performance of a lifetime
NMAAM has taken notice of the students’ work with their invitation.
“This really means a lot to me because I never thought I would make it here,” Dahnayl said. “I might have not made it out yet, but the way we about to be going to Nashville feels like I’ve accomplished something great. And I feel like I’m gonna be able to do better. We’re gonna keep going and keep growing.”
16- year- old homeschooled emcee Shombay Akoben of Homewood shared his thoughts on the honor as well.
“I’m glad that I get to expand, instead of just being a local artist, and people in a whole different place can hear my music,” he said.
The young musicians will have their first performance at Center of Life’s end-ofyear Block Party on Friday, May 24 before making their Nashville debut in June.
They’ll get an encore performance at Sudden Little Thrills festival in Hazelwood Green, Sept. 7-8.
KRUNK students work nine paid hours a week after school on both group projects and their own personal pursuits. The experience has been a boon to music-career hopefuls like the the already-performing Shombay and the multi-instrumentalist Dahnayl, as well as those like Dixon just looking to broaden their horizons.
“My mom has a whole YouTube channel of me at probably like three years old with a cardboard box playing fake piano with like stuffed animals down in the audience and everything. I’ve been in love with music my whole life,” said Shombay. “… If I can’t talk to nobody, I can write down music, and at least understand myself a little bit better.”
“Right now I’m just a vocal artist, but I want to add a lot of things to my bag. I want to be able to do it all.”
Dahnayl echoed that sentiment.
“When I would make music, I wouldn’t put myself out there. I ain’t know how to perform, and truly make myself known,” he said. “And I feel like they’re teaching me these steps, so I can truly get myself out there like that. So when I do get on my own, and have to start moving, I can make it work,make it shake.”
“I feel like I just want to be better every day. I look at where I want to be. I want to make the hardest song possible,” he continued. “Every single song I make, I’m putting the effort in so it feels like ‘That’s gonna be my best song.’ ”
While not all students involved with the group will be traveling to Nashville, Krunk’s visual-focused artists will be looking toward an event of their own. They will sell their many creative wares at Handmade Arcade at Construction Junction on May 18.
“Our multimedia kids are going to be flexing their entrepreneurial muscles and selling handmade items,” said Felipe.