RESUME & C.V.
EDUCATION & CERTIFICATION
Grinnell College 1996 - 2000
Grinnell, IA
▪ B.A. in Political Science, c/o 2000
▪ Co-Captain, men’s varsity soccer team
NYS/NYCDOE Certified Teacher in Secondary Education, Social Studies, 2000 - 2006
Brooklyn, NY
Hip Hop Education Fellow at H2ED Center at NYU Steinhardt School, 2011 -
▪ Member of first cohort of H2ED Fellows, awarded for outstanding work in
the field of Hip Hop Education
RELEVANT SKILLS
▪ Hip Hop Performance: MC, DJ, Human Beatboxer
▪ Technical Proficiencies: Pro Tools, Logic, Garageband, turntables, vocal looping,
Roland SP 404 & Akai MPC 2000xl, basic music theory and piano
▪ Languages: English & French
TEACHING, PROGRAMMING & YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
Eugene Lang College at The New School, Part-Time Lecturer, 2015 –
▪ Teaching 4-credit course "Hip Hop Skills, Style and Science" (Fall semesters)
▪ Teaching 4-credit seminar "Hip Hop Pedagogy & Practice" (Spring semesters)
▪ Teaching Intro and Advanced DJ Skills & Styles turntablism courses (Fall 2019 - )
▪ Co-taught 3-credit summer short course intensive with DJ Rob Swift entitled
Mixin’ the City: Hip Hop in Practice & Play (June 2016)
▪ Faculty Advisor to the “New School Hip Hop Collective” student group
Grinnell College, Visiting Professor, Spring 2018
▪ Teaching short course intensive "The Cypher Paradigm: Hip Hop Education, Praxis & Action"
▪ Made possible as part of programming funded by the Wilson Center at Grinnell
Visiting Artist, Universal American School, Dubai, UAE, 2017
▪ Participated in a weeklong residency at UAS facilitating workshops with
grades 3 thru 12 focused on community, collaboration and the role of the
Citizen Artist
▪ Conducted school-wide performances across grade levels
Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, Project Support Grant Panelist, 2016
▪ Reviewed 40 grant applications for the U.S.’s largest local public arts funder
Bronx Academy Of Letters, Writer-in-Residence, 2015 – 2016
▪ Teaching creative writing elective to high school students in the South Bronx
▪ Co-facilitating “Writer’s Forum” series, booking performance poets quarerly
▪ Previous Writers-in-Residence have included Willie Perdomo, Jon Sands,
Caits Meissner and program founder Elana Bell
Next Level Cultural Ambassador, U.S. State Dept. & UNC Chapel Hill, 2015
▪ Citizen Diplomat/Hip Hop Artistic Ambassador for Next Level mission to
Kampala, Uganda
▪ Planned and facilitated 3-week DJ workshop at a Hip Hop Academy in
collaboration with local partners and artistic team from the U.S.
▪ Mission pillars included conflict resolution, social justice and entrepreneurship
Rap Research Lab/Staple Crops, Curriculum Writer & Consultant, 2015 – 2016
▪ Designing and developing curriculum using the Hip Hop Word Count
database as a tool for remixed and original student song creation
▪ Facilitating teacher trainings, creation sprints and feedback sessions with
educators who will be using the curricular tools, across the country
▪ Rap Research Lab working in partnership with the NYC Parks Department
to implement programming in 12 tech sites around the city
Hip Hop Re:Education Project, Co-Founder & Director of Curriculum, 2007 –
NYC-based Arts Education organization. We: facilitate International Youth
Exchanges, provide capacity-building professional development training
and direct service to schools & educational institutions, and provide youth with
pre-professional Arts & Arts Education training through Hip Hop Pedagogy.
▪ Lead facilitator for teaching residencies at Brooklyn High School for
Community and Leadership and One World Middle School (Bronx, NY)
▪ Co-author of the “6 Pillars of Membership” of the HHREP
▪ Presenter at the 2013 National Conference for Multi-Cultural Education
(Oakland), 2012 NYU x Urban Word Pre-Emptive Ed Conference (NYC),
2011 Hip Hop Ed Week (Newark), 2010 Hip Hop Summer Institute (Madison)
▪ International telepresence workshop facilitator, in cooperation with
CultureHub technology center (NYC) & Seoul Arts Institute (South Korea)
▪ Lead facilitator, translator and guide for Cousins Tour Group (France) 2013
▪ Lead facilitator for youth writing and performance workshops at 2010
Do The Write Thing anti-violence symposium, (Washington, DC)
▪ The HHREP is a resident company of the La Mama Theater (NYC)
Project Rhythm Inc, Curriculum Writer & Teaching Artist, 2013 - 2015
▪ Curriculum consultant and teaching artist for 501(c)3 non-profit committed to
using digital music to enrich and empower young lives.
▪ Created a 10-class sequential curriculum incorporating holistic practices
(meditation/journaling) into study of basic music theory and principles of
social change
Tribeca Film Institute, Tribeca Teaches Teaching Artist, 2012 - 2013
▪ Teaching artist implementing “Media Literacy Through Hip Hop Cinema”
curriculum at New Design High School (Manhattan)
▪ Host & MC for Middle School and High School NYC Citywide Film Festivals, 2012 –
Urban Arts Partnership, Master Teaching Artist & Curriculum Creator, 2005 - 2012
▪ Creator of Fresh Prep: rap album NYS Regents test prep curriculum
▪ Wrote and recorded 4 standards-aligned content-based test prep rap albums
in Global History, U.S. History, Algebra & English Lit in 12 months (55 songs)
▪ Guest recording artists performing Fresh Prep songs included Talib Kweli,
Sadat X of Brand Nubian and Dres of Black Sheep.
▪ Trained classroom instructors & teaching artists in the implementation of
the Fresh Prep curriculum
▪ Variety of yearlong artistic residencies in the Hip Hop arts, poetry & music
at NYC middle & high schools including Facing History School, New Design
High School, Heritage High School, Canarsie High School, Thomas Jefferson
High School, MS 44, MS 271
▪ Curriculum Design and Professional Development Specialist
▪ Co-taught Master Classes with DMC from RUN DMC, Pharaohe Monch,
Talib Kweli, Fab 5 Freddy
Boys and Girls Republic, Program Director & Curriculum Writer, 2005 - 2007
888 East 6th street, New York, NY (A Program of the Henry Street Settlement)
▪ Developed programming for a daily after-school program; supervised veteran
staff; ran employee trainings; recruited student participants
▪ Poet-in-Residence at New Beginnings High School at the BGR; focused on
conflict resolution, violence prevention, identity and community
New York City Public Schools Teacher, Sept 2000 - 2005
M.S. 88, 544 7th Ave., Brooklyn, NY
▪ Taught 6th, 7th, 8th grade Social Studies, 6th, 8th grade English, Humanities
▪ Region 8/District 15 Social Studies Liaison and Curriculum Consultant 2001 – 2004
New York City Teaching Fellows, Fellows Advisor, Summer 2003
Queens College, Queens, NY
▪ Developed and conducted daily advisory sessions with 31 incoming
New York City Teaching Fellows for 4-week intensive
ARTISTIC RESIDENCIES, NOTABLE WORKSHOPS & DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCES
▪ 2020 Cassis Artist In Residence, Cassis, FR
▪ 2019 & 2018 Saturday Night Live official afterparty DJ, NYC (SNL Season 44, Ep 15, 17; Season 43, Ep 15, 19, 21)
▪ 2019 & 2018 Guest lecturer at NYU course "Intro to Hip Hop Theater"
▪ 2019 & 2018 Visiting Artist at Boys Hope Girls Hop NY, Brooklyn, NY
▪ 2019 guest lecturer at SVA (NYC) ESL dept: "The Universal Language of Hip Hop"
▪ 2019 Panelist at Fordham University's Urban Studies Week: "Hip Hop as Global Language of Resistance"
▪ 2018 Hip Hop Hacks Workshop Facilitator, Queensbridge Library, NYC
▪ 2018 IUME Hip Hop Youth Summit Workshop Facilitator, Teacher's College at Columbia University, NYC
▪ 2017 Visiting Artist at Inspire! Hip Hop Academy, London, UK
▪ 2017 Visiting Artist at Universal American School, Dubai, UAE
▪ 2017 IUME Hip Hop Youth Summit Workshop Facilitator, Teacher's College at Columbia University, NYC
▪ 2017 Hip Hop Hacks Hackathon Workshop Facilitator, Spotify Headquarters, NYC
▪ 2016 headliner of the Blue Note Jazz Festival, NYC
▪ 2015 U.S. State Department Cultural Ambassador, Next Level Initiative, Kampala, Uganda
▪ 2015 headliner of the Blue Note Jazz Festival, NYC
▪ 2014 headlining solo show at the Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC (September)
▪ 2014 guest lecturer at The New School, NYC
▪ 2014 guest lecturer at LaGuardia Community College, Queens, NY
▪ 2014 guest artist at Scratch Academy, NYC
▪ 2014 performance at SXSW Music Festival
▪ 2014 Juicy Arts Festival headliner with Italian pianist Perla Cozzone (Brooklyn)
▪ 2013 CMJ Festival featured performer in “Taiwan Meets USA” Concert
▪ 2013 WNYC Battle of the Boroughs Brooklyn Representative
▪ 2012 Atlantic Antic featured performer (Brooklyn)
▪ Resident DJ for the 14th st Y Gala 2012 -
▪ Resident DJ for the 24 Hour Plays On Broadway 2008 - 2012
▪ Resident DJ for the National Book Award Reception & After-Party 2010 -
▪ Artist-in-Residence at the Mama Shelter Hotel (Paris, France) August 2010
▪ Artistic Programmer at M.O.B. Restaurant (Brooklyn, NY) 2011 – 2012
▪ Resident DJ of All Good Saturdays weekly Hip Hop party (NYC) 2005 - 2011
▪ Co-host of a monthly all-elements Hip Hop show at Bowery Poetry Club 2003 – 2006
▪ Workshop facilitator at Contact Theater with Young Identity, Manchester, UK 2012
▪ Workshop facilitator at Re:Definition Poets Collective, Amsterdam, NE 2010
▪ Commissioned performances at internationally renowned venues, theaters & museums including:
-A38 Boat (Budapest, HU) -Mama Shelter Hotels (Paris & Lyon)
-Archa Theater (Prague, Czech Rep.) -MOCA (Museum of Chinese American NYC)
-Brooklyn Museum -Museum of Jewish Heritage (NYC)
-Contact Theater (Manchester, UK) -Museum of Japanese American (L.A.)
-Hip Hop Kemp (Czech Rep.) -NBC Café at 30 Rock (NYC)
-La Mama Theater (NYC) -NJPAC (Newark, NJ)
-Lucerna Muzik Bar (Prague) -Seoul Institute of the Arts (South Korea)
AWARDS, HONORS & ACHIEVEMENTS
Experience The Ride, Cast Member: Featured Freestyle Rapper, 2013 - 2015
▪ 2013 Drama Desk Award Nominated show: Best Alternative Theater Show
▪ Performance of topical/themed improvised raps in multiple daily shows
Independent Release of Second Solo Album Prospect Avenue, 2013
▪ Prospect Avenue reached #4 on CMJ Hip Hop (#20 overall for 2013 CMJ
Hip Hop Charts) and #1 on College Radio Hip Hop
▪ Prospect Avenue featured on HipHopDX, MTV Hive, 2DopeBoyz, Okayplayer,
RapReviews, Village Voice, SoulCulture and many more global publications
▪ Spring 2014 U.S. National Tour & Fall 2014 European Tour in support
▪ Crowd-funded vinyl pressing & merchandise package
▪ Follow-up to 2008 solo debut and 16th release since 2002
Collected & Notable:
▪ 2019 EOW U.S. Vice-Champion
▪ 2019 EOW MC Challenge Champion, Season 19, Episode 3
▪ Hip Hop Education work featured in the New York Times, CBS Early Show,
Huffington Post, NBC’s Cause Celeb, The Daily Forward and more
▪ Music videos premiered on HipHopDX, Okayplayer, 2DopeBoyz, and MTV
▪ 20-time Freestyle Mondays “Off the Head Freestyle Game Show” Champion
▪ 2010 End of the Weak MC Challenge U.S. Co-Champion
▪ 17 independent international tours in Europe & South America, 2008 -
▪ Responsible for introducing the Hip Hop Subway Series to Europe
▪ Ordained wedding officiant, recently performed 13th wedding
▪ Head Coach on MTV’s Made as Beatbox instructor for a 16 year-old, June 2008
▪ Resident DJ at The Lesson at Arlene’s Grocery, NYC, 2014 –
▪ Co-Host of La Mama Theater’s 50th Anniversary Block Party, Fall 2012
▪ Guest lecturer/performer at Scratch Academy (NYC), 2012 –
▪ Featured musician on Occupy This Album compilation, 2011
▪ Guest-starring role on Showtime’s Nurse Jackie, 2010
▪ Featured interview on Europe 1 Radio, France, 2010
▪ Successful realization of a $20,000 Kickstarter campaign to relaunch
Say Word Entertainment 2017
▪ Featured internationally onstage alongside Aloe Blacc, Antibalas, bell hooks,
Biz Markie, Black Sheep, Blue Man Group, Camp Lo, Common, DJ Rob Swift,
Doug E. Fresh, Fishbone, Homeboy Sandman, J-Live, Last Poets, Prince Paul, Robert Glasper,
The Roots, Rosie Perez, Slick Rick, Soulive, Talib Kweli, The Coup, Tauk... among many more.
