The Hip Hop Xpress Double Dutch Boom Bus is traveling across the state and the nation sharing music and building community-driven Black cultural wealth. William Patterson drives the bus a large school bus that has a recording studio, full workshop and a DJ station so people can share their stories on the road.
Patterson said in a NCSA article that he gets people in with the music and then teaches them about engineering and STEM. Patterson, is a faculty affiliate and lecturer at the Technology Entrepreneurship Center at the Grainger College of Engineering.
The Hip Hop Express is sponsored in part by the Chancellor’s Call to Action to address Racial & Social Injustice. The project is titled “Social Music Curation, Exploration, and Co-creativity for Anti-racist Teaching in K-12 Classrooms and Community Groups via Inclusive Artificial Intelligence.”
The project was designed to support anti-racist teachings in K-12 classrooms with the help of artificial intelligence-based music and engineering. It brings in community artists, educators, and students into creative dialogue with music to develop cross-cultural skills and understanding. The ultimate goal is to create a collaborative musical album that honors and expands Black culture.