AKA Anointed Kings Alliance

Minneapolis hip-hop group ministers to Generation X

The eighteen year old inmate of the Red Wing Correctional Facility wasn't excited about the visiting singing group.
"Man, you gonna start preaching to me?" he said with a frown as AKA entered the room.

He knew that the Minenapolis group performed Gospel Hip-hop. What he didn't know was that the Holy Spirit was planning to use AKA's music to change his heart that day.

"It's real cool to see these kids come out of being all rough and tough to where they are crying to God," says AKA's Damon Washington.

"That man's heart was so hardened," adds Yasiel Taylor. "That guy wasn't receiving, but he received us. We were speaking his language."

He wasn't the only on listening - 30 other men asked Jesus Christ to be their Lord that day in Red Wing, after DW, Yotman and Sta Jigga sang their songs in the outreach event.

"It was a domino effect," Yotman saya. "Guys were saved and they were going back and talking to their friends. It was the first time I ever expereienced anything like that."

"All of us used to do secular rap music before we were saved," Yotman adds. "We were rapping about women and stuff that wasn't pleasing to our Father."

After they each had come to know Jesus, they formed AKA. Yotman says that God has used connection from their past lives to bring the Gospel to unusual places, including the family reunions of unbelieving friends.

The group has played colleges like Crown College, North Central University and a 2002 concert at Behtl College with Gospel Gangstaz - as well as church outreaches, Christian events and Christian entertainment venues like Club 3 Degrees, the nations largest Christian Night Club.

"We thank God for events that aren't in a Christian environment. We like to go to the grim areas, where others won't go to minister. That's where our calling is at. We want to reach preople who won't step into a church." - Up Magazine

By Jeff Ostrum

I am NOT a hip-hop fan. It's not about the music - I dig the way the bass lines and lyrics call out energy and emotion - but to what end? For me, the phrase 'hip-hop' evokes images of ego and materialism at best, violence and sex at worst. So when I haerd about the Hip-Hop Akademy, I was intrigued.

The Akademy is an outreach of the Sanctuary Community Development Corporation. Stacey and Tryenyse Jones, Damon Washington and Jasiel Taylor work with 20 fourth-through-sixth grade minority students. They meet weekly, culminating in a performance showcasing what they've learned. The focus of the class is captured in their mission statement "To know the history... to understand the past... to creat radical change for the future."

I arrived at Willard School in North Minneapolis where Stacy was beginning to share more about the mission statement. As he spoke, I was reminded of things I had forgotten; a time when hip-hop was happy music - when it gave a voice to communities in crisis.

When the kids split up into their groups, I watched a boy work on his rap about becoming a football star. I caught myself moving to the beat as a group practiced their breakdancing moves. Suddenly, I noticed something familiar here.

These kids were being real - given a chance to authentically express what's going on in their lives. They were learning to belong, encouraging one another with words and applause. They were becoming people with hope and purpose, and they were being called to make a 'radical change' in the world around them.

These guys are teaching way more than hip-hop. They're providing skills in identifying and filtering media messages. They're using music to improve literacy. The're helping kids epxress themselves and find their unique voice. They're Building confidence and teaching the power of love over anger.

At 5pm on June 1, you'll find me back at the Willard School to watch these kids show their stuff. There is hope in Hip-hop. It's making a difference in the lives of urban youth, and at the Hip Hop Akademy, it's a positive one.
- Kingdom Now Magazine