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The Art of Rap: A two-day masterclass with Ric Flo

A short film documenting the creation of a new piece of music dedicated to Sidney Lewis, the youngest British soldier to serve in World War 1. Featuring Parkstone Grammar School.

21st and 22nd 2019 February at Absolute Music

Young people aged 14-17 joined a two-day rap masterclass, led by rap artist Ric Flo and with production support from Tony Bones, both of acclaimed hip-hop collective, Jungle Brown.

Spread across two days– this masterclass enabled young people interested in developing their lyrical skills, to immerse themselves in the genre, and understand the compositional process of writing a rap from an industry professional. Based around a creative brief, students were guided through the process of writing a rap – from idea generation and exploring the ‘rap song-writing toolkit’, to song structure and delivery.

By the end of day two, the group created and recorded their own rap in a professional recording studio. You can listen the final recording here.

The group will then be invited to reform again in the summer, to rehearse and eventually perform their piece at our major Hub Festival in July 2019.

Here you can watch a short video of this project.

Ric Flo and Jungle Brown

Ric Flo is a rap artist, educator and creative director of the hip-hop collective Jungle Brown. After witnessing the impact of his first album ‘Boy Called Ric’, Ric was inspired to begin doing public talks and facilitating workshops around the country in ‘Rap Therapy’. As a Bournemouth Care Leaver himself, Ric draws on his experience through music, and uses this to empower other young people to share their own stories.

After dropping their debut album, ‘Flight 314’, in February 2016, Jungle Brown have had a strong start. They spent most of the year in Apple Music’s ‘Best of 2016 category’, debuted at number 13 on iTunes Hip-Hop chart, shared the stage with Ghostface Killah, EPMD, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers and Prodigy of Mobb Deep, to name a few.

Jungle Brown garnered praise for their explosive live performances at Glastonbury, Boomtown and Lovebox festivals. They were played across both Digital and FM radio, including ‘Kiss FM,’ whilst attracting attention from New York with Beats 1’s very own Ebro playing their tracks.